Where are all the 'Tradies and blue collar workers.

Who are the tradesman here or hands on blue collar workers.
Myself as posted a time served Boilermaker/Welder starting an apprenticeship January 1976.

Fabricator welder
Started June 1976 I was an apprentice to a ww2 airframe fitter who was also the foreman
There was no such thing as "that'll do" with him
I was 15 at the time and when I turned 16 I bought a Yamaha fs1e moped he never forgave me for buying a Japanese bike!

I began an apprenticeship as a cabinet maker in NYC in 1979 or '80. I worked helping an installer named Alfred Urban, who was from Austria. He was called "a merchant of speed" by some of the other mechanics (that's the term all the cabinet makers called each other) In some ways it was a backhanded compliment, meaning he was fast, but not as good as some of the other guys who were more "artistic". Alfred was amazingly skilled. I was blessed to have been his helper. He treated me great. When someone compliments me now, I tell them I was lucky to have been taught by the best of the best...

My dad was the foreman of the finishing department, so some of the mechanics definately went out of their way to encourage me. I had met many of them before working side jobs with my dad as a teenager on the weekends. My first week, Paul came up to me and said, "You need to learn to steal!" and after I responded, "What????" he said , "steal with your eyes!" He meant that I needed to pay attention, watch, and learn all the tricks, which I did.

By age 25 I was an inside guy at a different union company, meaning I worked in the shop as a "benchman". I eventually worked for their prototype group making "one of a kinds" with a lead man who just turned the pages of the blueprints all day long and another benchman with whom I split the work on these prototypes.

A nice man who worked maintenance there had a heart attack one day right near my bench area, I did CPR on him and kept him alive until the paramedics relieved me and got him to the hospital. He lived for 2 weeks and then died in the hospital of a massive heart attack. I decided to leave the union and go out on my own... which had completely different challenges... but I had my skills thanks to my apprenticeship and the mechanics who taught me...

Finished up my much delayed college edu. in ‘78 with Eng. Tech ticket worked a couple of 6 month contracts with Gov , no joy ... went to work for sawmill Trail cutting in winter ‘78 lasted till ‘80 then got on public works crew as boss , maintained , built ,watched over all pipe works , pumps , lift stations , bridges etc. ....and spent winters in woods until done in ‘96 .... then left for Superintendent of works job in another town .... too far to commute so got a small room for wk nights in winter on location , spent nights learning water treatment and subsequently challenged Prov. Labour exams and then returned back to my hometown to assist in operating our new water treatment plant which in due time I retired from ....my original employer hired me twice , was a good worker maybe .....

Union Carpenter since 1976. Father was a millwright and maternal grandfather was a locomotive mechanic. "Mechanic" is a generic term in the trades for anyone who manipulates hand and power tools as opposed to "laborer" who leans on a shovel.

do teamsters count? I was truck driver for 15 years also painted houses.. went on to work in libraries after that then entered newspaper/magazine journalism 25 years ago..... odd jumps in 'careers'

started out in a trade school taking a course in drive train than moved over to engine rebuild and machine shop. after that i went work doing cylinder heads at a local crooked shop. my dad was pardners with a guy racing sprint cars and ran a transmission shop during the day. moved over there starting on the bottom rung and moved to rebuilder in a couple of years. most of the 70's i was rebuilding 2 transmissions a day no matter the make. also spent some time in the late 80's in another machine shop doing the block machining and balancing along with building 6 engines a week. had my own transmission shop for 16 years and semi retired in 94 bought 21 acres in NE Tn and built a small motorcycle campground and in the process of building our retirement house. the better half will retire from teaching at the end of 2020 and will will move full time to Tn from central Fl.

1975 started as a apprentice mechanical maintenance fitter at Alcan. Moved on to a chocolate factory maintenance fitter and stupid visor etc. Back to heavy stuff in a cement works as a machinist . Much the same as chocolate but bigger ! Has kept me in beer n bikes. The Rolls Royce tutors i had in my youth grounded my future . Cannot thank them, as they have gone with Concorde unfortunately. Time moves on. BSA bantam 175 first proper bike so I was in with the old boys ! We don't talk mopeds, as mine was a glorified bicycle including rubber front brakes . No joke.

Bill : with your background maybe you can answer a couple questions .... are the “rubber band” CV transmissions found in ,for example Nissan and Subaru cars worth while, plus I have heard they not serviceable or rebuildable .... do you have any comments , thanks

these have been hit and miss as to how long they will go without issues. there have been some go out around 60,000 miles and others go 150.000 +.the belt is a push belt instead of a pull belt as in most applications. as to service as of now there is not much for parts availability so at this time it is pretty much a disposable unit.my advice is to run away from them and most definitely NEVER tow with one.

Craig said:

Bill : with your background maybe you can answer a couple questions .... are the “rubber band” CV transmissions found in ,for example Nissan and Subaru cars worth while, plus I have heard they not serviceable or rebuildable .... do you have any comments , thanks

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Went to college at 16 (1975) to do motor vehicle technology, fed up with no money so worked a couple of nothing jobs until 77 when started at a GM plant as production worker, semi skilled machining and TJ ,TK gearbox assembly. Left in 79 and did 30 years as a metro brigade fireman, (not until 4 years employment did you get full pay) also, started painting/decorating early on in service so effectively worked 2 jobs for 30 years and carried on after retirement from Fire Brigade. I sometimes wonder how I used to fit it in, but my dad used to say "if you want something done always ask a busy man cos a lazy bastard won't do it"

Started my apprenticeship as a Precision Engineer in June 1978 turning, milling & fitting etc. Back then there were at least eight shops in a one mile radius, & within a ten mile radius around four times that amount including BAC ( British Aerospace) ICI, GEC & Goss amongst others.
With the exception of British Aerospace they have all gone. Even one of the three B.A. sites is now a housing estate. God only knows what the people living there do for a living. I imagine they work in a call centre & call me every few weeks, as it seems I have been involved in yet another accident!

Martyn.

When I failed a few subjects in my Matriculation exam, I got a job and went back to night school. I was trained in the Australian Government Analytical Laboratories them moved to the aircraft and defence engineering industries. I was always a middle manager and worked alongside the tradies developing better techniques and materials. I might be a bit strange, but when push comes to shove, I always stand with the men. I have occasionally had to front the unions - I recognise the legitimacy of their role. There is a thing many people do not realise about industrial democracy - if 'continual improvement' is to be achieved, it is essential.

Conservatives like to talk about class envy and class warfare. Am I really supposed to feel guilty because my parents did not send me to a private school and set me up in a business ?

:https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot

I might be a bit different from many other professional scientists - I can actually use my hands. I was a kid in the 1940s and 1950s. I had an uncle who was like a brother to me. He had a 1953 Triumph Thunderbird which he rode from Melbourne to the Atherton Tablelands in North Queensland. When he returned I helped him rebuild the bike. In 1954 he took me to a road race meeting at Fishermens' Bend where I watched Geoff Duke ride the Gilera fours. I just had to do that. When I was working, I manoeuvred so that whatever I did was associated with manufacturing hardware. I've had motorcycles since I was 15 - about 1955. In those days bikes were as cheap as chips. I had two given to me. I can drive a lathe and a mill and I can weld a bit. I have rebuilt many motors and gearboxes. In the four factories in which I have worked, there was sufficient expertise to build the best motorcycle on the planet. - ALL GONE NOW !

I was watching a TV programme on the ABC a while back. There was a panel of experts and one of them said 'I wish I could fix a gate'. They went around the panel and none of them had any manual skills. Why would you be born with hands, if you were not going to use them ?

The secondary modern schools in the UK used to have both woodwork and metalwork classes when I was at school age. That was then, now due to 'health and safely and government cut backs most have now gone, such is progress in education. Now there are classrooms with computers so kids are taught this way on how to use computers but all I see everywhere I go are people playing computer games - which is all that holds their interest- don't know where the improvement in education comes from this , or is it just me?

People are programmed these days to get someone in to do that particular job
IE stand on the side of the road with a phone when your car or bike has broken down instead of attempting to fix it
In my trade a(fabrication welding) you are not allowed to use power tools until you are 18
So you immediately lose 2 year's of training right there
We have had nobody coming in at 18 and staying
Getting them to come in 5 days in a row is a struggle
It's only when they are 25 or older that they will work a whole week
This is just my experience

When I worked at the Cowley old Morris plant new line workers had a weeks induction, they all stayed for that but on the first day on the track 25% never bothered coming back due to the physical effort. Then after the first week on nights the next lot dropped out but only because after 2 nights they had enough money to go out on the razzle in the night clubs but then found out they had lost their job when they turned up the following week.

Wow, you could get some high end tools from the Cowley plant when i lived in Banbury. Liberated by the workers and sold on cheaply. Did some contract work there a few years ago and a bit different now BMW run it.

I read somewhere that some very smart people did a study on happiness/satisfaction in work place and beyond , it was discovered that using your hands in combination with mental challenges results in happiest most satisfied workers .... was explained that manual work of some type is in our DNA and that it very healthy for all to try and do something with tools you born with .... I’m sure it has been proven false by now ...