POSTED: Wednesday, Mar. 10, 2010

New program teaches welding to Native Americans

LUMMI RESERVATION - Ten Native American men are getting an intensive course in welding that they hope will enable them to get better jobs, even in a sluggish economy.

The students train 10 hours a day, six days a week for 16 weeks, under a program through a new partnership among the U.S. Department of Interior, Lummi Indian Business Council, United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, and Native American Fabricators Welding School, a private welding school that operates on Lummi Reservation.

Art George, a welder and former chairman of Nooksack Tribe, started the school in 2008 with his wife, Rebecca. He said the demand for trained welders remains brisk at refineries, boat builders, construction sites and shipyards as the older generation of welders retires.

Students who complete the intensive program qualify for hiring as second-year union apprentices, with pay starting at about $20 an hour. After four years, they could qualify for journeyman welder status and make more than twice that, George said.

As George sees it, the intensive period of hands-on welding practice in his school is the best way to learn the trade.

"You can't help but get good at it," he said.

The first class includes three Lummis, plus members of the Cowlitz, Nez Perce, Shoshone-Bannock, Puyallup, Port Gamble S'Klallam, Haida and Navaho tribes.

The 10 were winnowed from a field of about 100 applicants. The Department of Interior covers their tuition and provides a stipend for living expenses. Lummi Nation also provides financial support to the program.

Aaron Maurer, 33, a member of the Cowlitz Tribe, is married with three children. He said he had been out of work for four months when he was accepted into the program.

"I've got degrees in computers, certification in computer repair," Maurer said. "I've had a lot of different jobs, but I've never really had a trade. ... You get a job at $10 or $12 an hour, you can't support a family on that."

George said the 10 students will get help with job placement once their training is complete, and they have made the commitment to go where the jobs are.

If the program is a success, George hopes he can enroll 10 more students in the fall. He already has more than enough students on his waiting list, if that happens.

Jerome Tsinnajinnie, a Navaho, is an instructor with the program.

"It's a great opportunity for everybody involved," he said. "It brings everybody together and creates a really great career for these guys."