It’s National Apprenticeship Week!
Meet Morris Bell – A laborer’s apprentice.
Morris was a forklift operator at Menards when he heard about a program call Building Strong Communities. BSC is a free, multi-trade apprenticeship readiness program that educates participants about the unionized construction industry. He had heard about the union, the benefits and pay from family members and decided to see if it would work for him. BSC helped place him in a union apprenticeship program being a laborer. “I love what I do right now. There are so many levels to what you can do as an apprentice. Being a Laborer means that I can do different things all day.”
Morris says that working in the union and being an apprenticeship means job security, and benefits such as vacation time, health care and a pension. “If I need to take time off, I have the comfort of knowing that I have vacation days that I didn’t have at my last job.”
“I feel like I’m an asset at my job not just a number. I do what I need to do, I do a good job, and I recently got a $3 an hour raise which means to me that I am valued at my job.”
