From Tony Santos’ Desk:

Behind Our Trowels

Behind our trowels are 2 guys that get very little recognition.  These two guys are the coordinators of our apprenticeship programs.  Unlike other unions we have 2 separate and very well set up programs, both are recognized by the State of California, Division of Apprenticeship Standards.

The coordinator for brick is Michael Height.  Michael has been the coordinator for brick since 1998.  He has been a bricklayer since 1964 and joined the union in 1990.

Michael currently works out of our new Mason Development Center in Tracy.  As the coordinator he is responsible for teaching the trade, tracking apprentices, including keeping up with their progress and on the job training.  Michael is also involved with recruiting in busier times.

Michael is coordinator for 6 programs, Bricklayer/Stonemason, Pointer Cleaner Caulker, Marble Mason, Marble Finisher, Terrazzo Mechanic, and Terrazzo Finishers.

The Mason Development Center facility is capable of training about 200 apprentices as work starts to pick up, currently we have about 75 apprentices.

Michael was very involved in building our training center and developing a very thorough program.  Thanks for all of your hard work.

Lupe Ortiz has been our tile coordinator since 2007.  Lupe started the trade in 1991 when he went to work for Mullen Tile.  In 2004 he went to work for Superior Tile, he became a foreman and later a superintendent.

Lupe started as coordinator at the Hayward Adult school and about a year and half ago put together a great training facility in San Leandro.

As the coordinator for tile he is responsible for teaching the trade, tracking student progress, assistance in job hunting and placing, new product introduction and standards in our industry.

The tile school is open Monday thru Friday for week long classes.  The apprenticeship for Tile Layers is 3 years and 2 years for Tile Finishers.  Thanks for all your hard work.

Both coordinators are preparing for their local run off contests.  The brick contest is April 7^th at the Mason Development Center at 25347 S. Schulte Rd. Tracy, CA 95377

The tile contest is April 14^th at the Tile Training Center at 15091 Wicks Blvd. San Leandro, CA 94577

Please try and attend and show your support to both programs and apprentices.

I would also like to you to recognize that both our coordinators could not be so successful without the efforts of their staffs, Joint Apprenticeship Training Committees, and the support of our members.