OTTAWA, Aug. 23, 2013 /CNW/ - Two Canadian United Association apprentices took top place in their categories at the UA International Apprentice Competition held last week, August 11th to the 15th in Michigan, USA. Competitive fields at the event included Pipefitting, Plumbing, Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning Refrigeration (HVACR), Welding, and Sprinkler. The event was held as part of the annual UA Instructor Training Program at Washtenaw College in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Gian-Paul Roman, a steamfitter from Local 527 in Kitchener, Ontario, and Derek Sisera, an HVACR technician from Local 787 in Brampton, Ontario won in their respective Steamfitter and HVACR categories.
"This just goes to show the calibre of apprentices we have within our membership," says John Telford, Director of Canadian Affairs, UA Canada. "We know our members uphold a standard of excellence that results from our top notch training programs and it's great to see that play out in competitions as well," says Telford.
The competition, which took place over five days, was a result of local union, state, and district contests that were held across North America, to produce five winning Apprentices from each of the six districts for a total of 30 successful competitors. These competitors all complete a series of theoretical and practical skills tests in their individual fields that challenge their trade knowledge and practical application understanding to produce five finalists, one in each of the five trades that are part of the event. There was also a plumbing apprentice from Australia competing as part of the new agreement that the UA has signed with the plumbers union from that country.
Five apprentices in total competed from Canada. "We want to congratulate the winners of the international competition, and thank them and the other three Canadian competitors for their hard work and dedication to the UA," Telford said.
The other competitors from Canada included: plumber Jason Pritchard (Local 527, Kitchener-Waterloo) welder Keegan Keeshig (Local 67, Hamilton), and sprinkler Gerard Beliveau (Local 853, Markham ).
Telford also recognized John Germann, Business Manager of Local 527 Kitchener, Ontario, and Training Coordinator Ray Lemieux as well as Andrew Tarr, Business Manager of Local 787 and Training Coordinator Shane McCarthy for their efforts in producing quality Apprentices for the industry.
About UA
The United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada (UA) is a multi-craft union whose members are engaged in the fabrication, installation and servicing of piping systems. There are approximately 52,000 highly-skilled United Association members who belong to over 30 individual local unions across Canada.
Image with caption: "Canadian Team participating at UA International Apprentice Competition. From left to right (back row) Larry Cann, Administrative Assistant to the General President, Derek Sisera, Gerard Beliveau and Larry Slaney, Director of Canadian Training; (front row) Gian-Paul Roman, Jason Pritchard and Keegan Keeshig (CNW Group/Cape Consulting Group)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130823_C7774_PHOTO_EN_30094.jpg
SOURCE: Cape Consulting Group
Contact:
Annie Levert
UA Canada
(613)-565-1100
[email protected]
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