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Minister of Training, Colleges, & Universities Visits Head Office.

Local 793 business manager Mike Gallagher and other union officials met with Training, Colleges and Universities Minister John Milloy at head office in Oakville on March 20 and called on him to expand compulsory certification to include trades such as concrete pump operators and those that are voluntary such as bulldozer, excavator and tractor-loader-backhoe operators.
Milloy toured the office and training area with Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn and tried his hand on some of the equipment, including a crane simulator and then a crawler crane in the yard.
Afterwards, Gallagher and the officials held a meeting with Milloy and presented him with a brief on the compulsory certification issue.
Gallagher told the minister that mandatory training of concrete pump operators is important to Local 793 because it’s a dangerous occupation and operators need to use the equipment safely. He also said mandatory training would likely attract more young people to take up the trade.
“We need to make sure that the people are property trained,” he said. “We want you to look at this very, very seriously. We have experience with this issue and we know what works.”
Presently, there are no rules in place to make training mandatory for concrete pump operators. However, Tim Armstrong, an advisor to the minister, has been asked to review and make recommendations on the impact of expanding compulsory certification to trades that are voluntary.
At the meeting, Gallagher said he is hopeful that training of concrete pump operators will become mandatory in Ontario because more people are getting into the trade without proper training. As a result, he said, accidents are occurring.
Gallagher noted that Local 793 already has a curriculum in place for training concrete pump operators.
The case for mandatory training is also supported by both Pumpcrete and Amherst Concrete Pumping. “All we need now is the approval of the government to make it a mandatory trade,” he told the minister. Milloy assured Gallagher that he is aware of the issue.
He said he has had discussions with former training minister Chris Bentley, as well as advisor Armstrong. Other union officials at the meeting included president Gary O’Neill, treasurer Joe Redshaw and training co-ordinator Joe Dowdall.