Sheet Metal Workers` Local 104 and Bay Area Training Fund is a joint Labor-Management Trust dedicated to providing the men and women of the unionized sheet metal industry the highest level of training skills and knowledge in this trade.
The sheet metal trade is unique because it is one of the few crafts that starts with raw material and then creates a component, installs, and maintains the product.
In a shop, workers determine the quantity and type of material they will need to correspond with blueprints and specifications. Using a combination of mathematics, layout tools, hammers, drills, hacksaws, plasma and laser beam cutting systems, computers, cutting, forming, seaming or welding machines, workers manipulate the material into the product desired. Pre-fabricated parts are transported to construction job sites for installation according to blueprints and careful coordination on the jobsite.
The maintenance sector includes start-up, preventive maintenance, repair, testing, balancing and sometimes certification of the installed systems. Items commonly fabricated and installed include HVAC systems, metal roofs, kitchen hoods, various flashings, gutters, decorative architectural features and many other items made of a variety of metals.
Workers constantly meet new challenges, using their hands, visualizing and analyzing how components can be made or installed, how mechanical systems work, and practice human relations in working with clients and coordinating with other workers. It is an interesting and evolving field with exciting growth potential.The apprenticeship is an earn-while-you-learn program involving paid full-time work and related classes.