Leadership Programs
Local 254’s leadership team is deeply committed to fight for opportunities to expand our market share and keep our members working. This is no small task. If we are to achieve the UBC’s stated goal of 70% market share we need more leaders to emerge from our ranks to take up the charge.
The UBC offers courses to give you the skills to become the next generation of our Union’s leaders: the UBC’s 3rd Year Apprentice Program: Helping Build Our Industries, and Journeymen: Leadership for a Strong Future. Here at the local, we also offer our own leadership courses: the Shop Steward Certification Program, and coming soon – Forman Leadership Training. The Brotherhood’s most transformational program is without a doubt, the Journeymen: Leadership for a Strong Future Program held at the International Training Center (“ITC”) in Las Vegas. The brothers and sisters who are selected for this course are already leaders on the job; they are our “300 Hitters”. When they return from the ITC, they have the skills and insight to become leaders of our communities by getting involved on school boards, planning boards, and running for office and our Union by putting their improved communications skills to work on the jobsite, getting involved in organizing campaigns, or joining the Volunteer Organizing Committee (“VOC”).
All of these educational programs support the UBC’s priorities of growth through organizing; craft training and professionalism; and organizational effectiveness through resource management, communication and political action. Many of our most active and effective members and staff have gone through all of these classes.
There are so many ways to get involved with our Local — maybe you’re thinking about running for local office or your town’s school board, or you have great computer skills and want to perform research. Perhaps you want to be a part of a more structured opportunity – ask about your local’s VOC or 300 Hitters Club.
Our Union’s next generation of leaders are members who go the extra mile, whose workday extends beyond the jobsite. They work hard and inspire those around them to do the same. Education is a central part of making this happen. But education is wasted if you do nothing with it. Cast aside the notion that leadership is someone else’s responsibility. The most powerful thing a member can do to support his or her union is to make the transition from union carpenter to union leader. Once you do this, you’ve moved beyond simply working in your union to working for your union.