Carpenters Union Offers Concrete Form Builder Pre-Apprenticeships

CHICAGO — The Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters is joining Helmets to Hardhats to increase veteran, female and minority participation in the construction workforce. Starting Monday, Aug. 12, the program will be accepting applications for future concrete form building pre-apprenticeship training. The classes will provide participants with skills and training to successfully complete a four-year apprenticeship in the carpentry trade.

Carpenters do more than just applying framing, siding and roofing to houses and buildings. They also do the concrete forming needed for the high rises downtown; frame the interiors of office buildings; insulate the exterior walls of hospitals; apply drywall in college dorms; lay the flooring in high schools; create the woodwork for the restaurants, weld the heavy gauge framing for the exterior shell; rebuild the steam turbine in power plants; and drive the piles needed for the bridges. A union journeyman carpenter makes between $24 and $47 per hour, depending on years’ experience and advancement in skills, according to the data-research site PayScale.

Candidates must be at least $17. Reserve, retired and transitioning active-duty military service members, as well as women and minorities, are especially encouraged to apply for the concrete form building pre-apprenticeship training. Candidates must present the following documents when applying:

• Letter of recommendation on local union letterhead, signed by a union officer.
• Driver’s license or state ID showing proof of age.
• Copy of high school diploma or high school transcripts (must have the official school seal), or a copy of GED certification.
• Copy of Social Security card or a receipt showing that a duplicate card has been applied for.
• Copy of DD Form 14 (discharge papers)
• Non-refundable $25 application processing fee (money order and cashier’s check only).

All of these documents must be submitted at the time of filing, or candidates will not be permitted to file an application. Applicants must come to the Apprenticeship Program Office, 1256 Estes Avenue, Elk Grove Village, to fill out an application and complete the registration process. Office hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. The application period will be open through Sept. 12.

Applicants who meet all the criteria shall be eligible to take the aptitude and qualifying tests required for entry in the program. Tests are held at various times, measuring reading comprehension, mathematic computation, reasoning power and natural talent for carpentry. Applicants will be notified by mail of testing dates and times. Following the aptitude tests, a mandatory orientation session is held for all applicants.