Brothers and Sisters,

Training the next generation of UA craftspeople is an investment in our future.

New blood is vital to our union and our trade. To both replace our retiring baby boomer members and meet the labor needs required for our current crush of projects, UA Local Union 393 has nearly 400 union Plumber, Steamfitter, and HVAC/R Service Tech Apprentices currently in training at our Loyd E. Williams Pipe Trades Training Center in San Jose. More than 70 of our members are giving back as instructors, bringing their first-rate credentials and field experience to the classroom. Additionally, Assistant Business Manager Rudy Carrasco, Business Agents Wayd La Pearle, Al Gonzalez, and Steve Flores, and Organizer Ricci Herro do their part in helping coach and mentor our apprentices on the importance of learning our trade and being the best we can be. And thanks to partnerships with dozens of different contractors, these students are acquiring the high-quality skills to work in a variety of groundbreaking industries like internet technology, consumer electronics, semiconductor, energy, biopharmaceutical, healthcare, aerospace and more.

As technology and the industry changes, so have we. UA Local Union 393 opened our training center in 1961 with a single classroom and a welding shop. Today, it’s grown into a state-of-the-art,100,000-square-foot facility with 48 classrooms. It’s here that we’re helping workers launch competitive careers — ones that come with good pay and benefits that will support them and their families — and prepare for the challenges of tomorrow.

This work is the heart of our efforts to ensure that we can continue to innovate and land solid, middle-class jobs. In 1936, the UA created the very first nationally registered joint apprenticeship program. We’ve been training professionals longer than anyone else in the construction industry, and our apprentice program is considered the best in the world.

At the same time, recruiting this next generation of workers is essential to keeping the labor movement alive. Young workers are less likely to join a union, yet studies show that across all age groups, 18-29 year olds have the most positive view of unions. We must close this gap. We need young workers to join our fight against the current race-to-the-bottom in living standards. This next generation will play a key role in ensuring the American Dream stays within reach for all those who work hard.

Together, we’re building the iconic structures that will define the next chapter of the Silicon Valley. We’re building a stronger middle class. We’re building a 21st century labor movement.

In solidarity,

Bill Guthrie
Business Manager, UA Local Union 393