Union ads aim to recruit new generation of 'Cowboys in the Sky' - By MICHAEL COWDEN, AP Wire, Centre Daily Times, PA
The union has already put up 30 billboards in Pittsburgh and surrounding cities that read, 'We don't go to the office. We build it.' It has also created a Web site and plans to run radio and online ads to encourage potential workers to apply to its apprenticeship program.
'A lot of people think of going to college. They don't think of going into the building trades,' said William Ligetti, executive director of the Pittsburgh-based Ironworker Employers Association. 'But you can make a very good living at this.'
That is especially true now, Ligetti said, because of a possible building boom spurred by construction and infrastructure projects across the region.
New hires to union's apprenticeship program make $15.50 an hour plus benefits after passing a basic reading and math test, a physical, and a drug and alcohol test. They make about $28 an hour after completing the three-year apprenticeship and learning skills such as how to weld and read blueprints.