The CWB Association brings you a weekly podcast that connects to welding professionals around the world to share their passion and give you the right tips to stay on top of what’s happening in the welding industry.
When the sparks fly from Riley McElroy's welding torch, you can bet the warmth rivals her family's unconventional Christmas gatherings. As a seasoned welder from Calgary, Alberta, we wrap our discussion in a cozy blanket of holiday spirit, balancing it with tales from the welder's bench, where Riley reveals how deadlines heat up even in the chill of a Canadian winter. This episode takes an educational twist as Riley navigates her Apprenticeship journey with the support of the Boilermakers Union, welding together her journey to becoming a Red Seal Welder. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee fills the air as we talk about seasoned welders gathering to share job leads, a testament to the tight-knit fabric of the trade community, and the significance of mentorship, especially for women in the trades.
Follow Riley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/riley-mcelroy-2163a1231/?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app
Thank you to our Podcast Advertisers:
Canada Welding Supply: https://canadaweldingsupply.ca/
WeldReady: https://weld-ready.ca/
There is no better time to be a member! The CWB Association membership is new, improved and focused on you. We offer a FREE membership with a full suite of benefits to build your career, stay informed, and support the Canadian welding industry. https://www.cwbgroup.org/association/become-a-member
The CWB Association brings you a weekly podcast that connects to welding professionals around the world to share their passion and give you the right tips to stay on top of what’s happening in the welding industry.
When the sparks fly from Riley McElroy's welding torch, you can bet the warmth rivals her family's unconventional Christmas gatherings. As a seasoned welder from Calgary, Alberta, we wrap our discussion in a cozy blanket of holiday spirit, balancing it with tales from the welder's bench, where Riley reveals how deadlines heat up even in the chill of a Canadian winter. This episode takes an educational twist as Riley navigates her Apprenticeship journey with the support of the Boilermakers Union, welding together her journey to becoming a Red Seal Welder. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee fills the air as we talk about seasoned welders gathering to share job leads, a testament to the tight-knit fabric of the trade community, and the significance of mentorship, especially for women in the trades.
Follow Riley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/riley-mcelroy-2163a1231/?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app
Thank you to our Podcast Advertisers:
Canada Welding Supply: https://canadaweldingsupply.ca/
WeldReady: https://weld-ready.ca/
There is no better time to be a member! The CWB Association membership is new, improved and focused on you. We offer a FREE membership with a full suite of benefits to build your career, stay informed, and support the Canadian welding industry. https://www.cwbgroup.org/association/become-a-member
Alright, I checked, checked, I'm good. So I'm Max Ron. Max Max Ron. Cwb Association welding podcast podcast. Today we have a really cool guest welding podcast. The show is about to begin.
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Speaker 1:Hello and welcome to another edition of the CWB Association podcast. My name is Max Ron and I am always climbing every mountain and swimming through every river on this nation and beautiful world of ours to try to find the best talents and stories I can find. Today, during our wonderful seasonal break of Christmas to New Year's we have, we are recording a show here on the 29th of December with Riley McElroy coming to us from Calgary. Alberta Riley, how are you doing?
Speaker 2:I'm doing really well. Thank you so much for having me on.
Speaker 1:It's fantastic and for the listeners. If you notice, my voice is off. It's been a long week, all right, so I'm going to try to hold on. Hopefully my voice doesn't come out on me, but we're going to do this, right, riley? We're going to do this.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, we're going to power through.
Speaker 1:All right, perfect. So, riley, how's Calgary? How's Christmas? Tell us about this last week. How's it been?
Speaker 2:It's been relaxing. It's been great. I got the week off work, so I got to hang out with the family and eat lots of really good food, so I'm quite happy about that.
Speaker 1:What is the traditional food eaten in the McElroy household over the season?
Speaker 2:It's either turkey or ham. We always do a Christmas Eve dinner, usually just with the immediate family, so my mom, my dad and my older brother and then we usually go to my aunts or my grandparents for the actual Christmas dinner day and it's just a lot of food and a lot of naps taken from eating so much turkey.
Speaker 1:So where did you guys go this year? To the answer to the grandparents. Yeah and they're good.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, no, doing really well.
Speaker 1:So and I got to ask, out of your Christmas presents, what was the best one you got?
Speaker 2:So my family doesn't really do the gifts because we're all grown adults. It's like if I need it, I'll go and buy it. You're one of those families, so our gift to each other is not making each other have to go gift shopping. It's not something we all really enjoy. It's more of getting to see each other and spending time. That's where we're all kind of at.
Speaker 1:So you didn't get a single gift, is what you're telling me.
Speaker 2:I got one gift. I got a pair of socks and I love socks. I was so happy about it. It's funny. You know, when you're a kid, you're like socks, I'm a gift. And now I'm an adult and I'm like socks. I'm so excited.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know I'm on the other end of that man. I love shopping. I'm a shopaholic If anyone knows me, I could spend the whole day at the mall. I can. I love shopping. I love I start planning on Christmas gifts like six months in advance and I've had people try to cap me and be like no more than 20 bucks or, you know, don't buy for that person. I'm like, screw all your rules down with the pay, the hierarchy of this madness, and I just buy what I want when I want, and I buy everyone gifts, as many gifts as I can. I love it. I love it.
Speaker 2:That's awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm always super awkward with gifts.
Speaker 2:I love people who are like. I love gifts. I love you know, I love giving, I love seeing the reaction and I'm over here going. I have too much anxiety. What if I get the wrong thing? What if somebody else got them that earlier? And then I'm the one handy. It's just, it's too much for me. I'm like I'm here, I want to spend quality time with you. That is your gift. You have to put up with me.
Speaker 1:Well, I feel really shallow now and non appreciative. So for all the people I buy gifts to, I actually do care about you as well. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:That's one of the five love languages, though. Okay, like some people it's quality time, some people it's the gifts, like it just depends on where you're at you gotta find people that appreciate your love language.
Speaker 1:So so, aside from Christmas, you got the week off, or how long? How much time did you get over the season?
Speaker 2:So I got last Friday and I'll go back on the on the second I go back to work.
Speaker 1:Okay, same as pretty much everybody. So you know where. Where is the break from what do you do.
Speaker 2:So I'm working in a pressure shop and working on exchangers, industries and Calgary and actually if we didn't get a certain job finished, I was going to have to come in Wednesday and Thursday of this week to work, so there's quite the incentive to get it done.
Speaker 1:So you're in Calgary, Alberta, you're a welder and, as people that are outside of Alberta may or may not know, in Alberta welding is a compulsory trade, right? So as a compulsory trade, that means that you had to go through the entire apprenticeship program in order to be welding now to do the job as a welder. So let's go back in time and figure out when Riley decided she was going to be a welder, because it's something that you got to do school for in Alberta to do. It's not like, like I mentioned, sketch one. You can just like go out and get a job as a laborer and slide into welding in Alberta. You kind of have to go through the whole proper process. So you know, when did Riley realize that, hey, welding, welding is something I want to do, or how did you figure that out?
Speaker 2:So the high school that I went to, I was accepted into their PBA program, which is the Performing and Visual Arts program. I went under for artwork, so like sculptures, drawing, painting, that sort of thing, and my older brother was taking welding and auto body at the Career and Technology Centre that's right across the parking lot for my high school. I was like, oh well, you know, I'll take welding class, why not? And the very first project we did was a metal rose and I was like I can do metal sculptures. This is really cool.
Speaker 2:So, that really sparked the interest for it and all through, like for grade 11 and even like a bit of grade 12.
Speaker 2:I was like I'll just do welding as a backup plan. Backup plan, I had taken so many blocks of welding that they were running out of material to give me. And grade 12, I actually challenged my first year of welding and then, after graduating high school, I went to the boiler makers. Kayla came in and gave a presentation which, for seeing another, you don't meet very many women that are welders to begin with, yet alone have one come and talk to you in school. So, like I knew there was female welders, I knew there was a possibility of me being able to go and do that, but I'd never met somebody. It was a female welder and it was like really moving for me. I'm like this is possible, I can actually do this.
Speaker 1:And Kayla's awesome.
Speaker 2:Oh, she's amazing. She has been such an amazing mentor and an amazing representation of a woman in the trades.
Speaker 1:So let's back up. Let's back up. You know you're an artist. You probably figured out early in your life that you liked art, because people that are usually artsy are pretty artsy since they're kids. You know, speaking as a non-artist person, I was never artsy, so I get it. I saw another people. Now you know, when you, when you were in these arts programs, or you got you enrolled in this arts program and you decided to take a welding class, was it because your brother was already in welding? Was there other welding influences in your life? Like you know why, why, what was that initial pull towards the welding? Well.
Speaker 2:I got an older brother and so I'd always see my dad working on the cars or fixing things around the house with my brother and I always felt really left out and I wanted to be a part of it, because I'm a bit of a daddy's girl and my mom was also raised as she was one of three sisters, so when something needed done she was the one that was helping grab out. So that's kind of I got that. I have a very independent, you know self-sufficient mom and I have a very handy dad, so it was just kind of it made sense. I liked working with my hands. I had the visual like the visual arts.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it was just that's just kind of how it came about. It was like cool, my brother really likes it. I'll give it a shot.
Speaker 1:So did your brother just kind of check off? Did your brother follow through with it?
Speaker 2:No, my brother's actually a heavy duty mechanic. Oh. Yeah, so when he's working with the company he works with, he does a little bit of welding on stuff when it just needs to be put back together. And he does auto body on stuff when guys, you know, scrape the paint off, didn't fender his other stuff like that. So it's also very, very handy.
Speaker 1:So the program you had in high school you know it must have been a pretty good program that you could challenge your level one, like your first block, right out of grade 12 or before you even done grade 12. Is that something that's like standard across Alberta or is it something unique to your area or your school?
Speaker 2:I don't know across the province to be 100% honest, but I know that there are a few high schools that are now starting to offer it, and so my teachers were Travis Boyce, Ron Blazik and Ray Rhodes, who are absolutely phenomenal mentors and amazing, amazing instructors.
Speaker 2:And so basically how they ran, that is, we got the material, we went to the. I think he pre-bought the books or we bought the books and they got delivered and then so we sat there with this massive stack of books and we do like we have four blocks in a total day. We'd spend one block working on the theory portion, which is like an hour and a half, and then we'd spend an hour and a half in the shop for a whole semester and that was how we challenged it. I think I was one of 12 that did the actual course and I think nine of us passed challenging it, and I think we need to have more opportunities like that, like we're in such a demand for welders and for people in the trades having that opportunity for them to challenge it. I mean, why wouldn't we be giving them that opportunity?
Speaker 1:I think it is happening across the country. I know there's a lot of programs coming up that I see where it's opportunities for people to get ahead in the program. There is some inherent issues with that and maybe you're a good person to discuss, because there's the concept of maturity. Like, are you mature enough at 16, 17 years old to have that first block and get out there and be in the trades and, especially as a female 17 year old Riley, getting your first work term out and through apprenticeship, what was that like? Obviously, boilermakers gives you quite a bit of protection because the Boilermakers are a very strong union and they protect their own. It would be much different for someone just going out into industry on their own. But for you, did you find any issues in terms of maturity?
Speaker 2:So, again, that was one of the big reasons why I did go with the Boilermakers is having that fear. There was such a. You know, there's still a bad stigma around the trades and I was still somebody who didn't know much better when I went out into industry as 18, just graduated high school, took the summer off. I didn't know anything.
Speaker 2:It was like such like I'm not going to play when you're a first year, like for me at least, when I was a first year I was like constantly scared that you're going to mess up, kill somebody, kill yourself. There was just that fear, like. And then the second year is when you get a bit cocky, and third year where it's like okay everything just settles down. You know what you're doing.
Speaker 2:So that was it for me. But I think every person is different and I know, talking with other people, it just it depends. Like we just had all these kids come out of COVID as well, like the way everything went, like that's about really messed with a lot of kids and their social skills and maturity. So it's really hard to say.
Speaker 2:I think it's more of a base by basis kind of thing, I think if you have the personality for it then you're all right, Then again, I've also worked with 40 year old men who have the you know minds out of a 14 year old, so I don't know. Yeah, it's hard to say, right, so?
Speaker 1:So that's what I did. Now, do you think that if Kayla wouldn't have been the person to speak to you guys, you would have had the same influence towards the Boilermakers had you already been thinking about the Boilermakers and she kind of sealed the deal, or you know?
Speaker 2:so I did the weld rodeo when I was in grade 11. So I had been to the testing facility. I got to see everything, got to compete, won some really awesome stuff, and it was in the back of my mindset. But, like you were saying, kayla really sealed the deal for me. You know, honestly, like I think back on this a lot, I honestly don't know where I would have been if I didn't join the Boilermakers. I don't know how easy I would have found employment being an 18 year old girl who you know, knows the bare minimum, can weld well enough to pass the first year test.
Speaker 2:Like I, have no idea.
Speaker 1:Had you thought about the other unions at all, like the pipe fitters or the iron workers or mill rights or anything like that?
Speaker 2:Not really, I didn't know of any of them I like the. Boilermakers were the only ones that had like, presented themselves to me Like if I did my own digging, I'm sure I would have found other unions. But there was no upfront Like I don't want to say advertisement, but kind of like hey, this is who we are, this is what we do. Come join us. Like there was no, there was none of that going on. It was kind of go and find your own way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, and it's such a, it's such a turn. You know cause? I've been in welding for 30 years. My dad was a Boiler maker. Um, I was never really union. I did a little bit with the pipe fitters and a little bit with the iron workers throughout my career, but never really stuck with the union. So I kind of have all the angles in in my career that I've kind of seen and throughout my 30 years the Boiler makers were kind of like hard to get into.
Speaker 1:They were very like specific about their numbers. They were very like cautious about taking on too many people. They wanted to protect the work, protect the jobs you know, which everyone understands. That's how unions run. They got them. You know, be careful. Um, but really in this last I'd say, five, six years, I've seen a lot of people, even a lot of people on this show, be like hey, the Boiler makers came into our school or the Boiler makers came to see WB right now is working with the Boiler makers on a YouTube program where training Boiler makers across the country, and it's like is there that much work for Boiler makers right now? Like is it just an insane amount of, you know, under two inch pressure welding that needs to be happening, which is kind of the Boiler makers stick right, cause anything over two inches it's going to be a pipe fitter and anything structural is going to be an iron worker. So is there in your experience, you know, in your time, is there that much work?
Speaker 2:So I spent my three years of my apprenticeship out in the field and I'm right now working in a shop. So I honestly can't speak of right now. But as of last year, you know, we were having jobs that had retention bonuses on them, like as long as you don't get fired and you don't quit and you stay and you do your job well, you got a retention bonus. I think only just last year's jobs kind of stopped doing that. But I think that was also kind of getting back into the normal pace of things from again. Covid kind of through a wrench in everybody's plans, especially for shutdowns. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I I see that we do have a lot of work coming through, like when it's our actual season for working. There's a lot coming through and it's nice knowing that we have that many people advertising for the Boiler makers to get new people in Cause again. The rate of people joining the trades in general is less than the amount that is leaving, which you know. That's all. That's lost knowledge.
Speaker 1:And something that comes up a lot is the kind of like the knowledge hoarding of the older generations and how they're not great and it's I. I almost put myself in that older generation cause they used to be like those damn boomers but now it's like, well, the boomers are kind of gone, like they're kind of gone now. So it's my Gen X, you know generation. We're coming up on the fifties, we're getting close to retirement age, you know, and I never considered myself to be a retention you know hoarder or a knowledge hoarder, because I obviously I love to be a teacher and I love sharing. But when I look around my age group I think I do see it, you know, in your experience as a young person coming up in the trades. Do you see it still happening? Do you still see like the 50 year olds being like we don't want to teach you, or is it? Or is it pretty open now?
Speaker 2:You know, most people think being a female in the industry you're kind of at a disadvantage for a lot of things. But in that case I think I'm at more of an advantage. Guys are more willing to help me. If I reach out and say, hey, I'm struggling with this joint, I'm not really sure what to do with this, they're like okay, this is a trick for this, this is how you do that. You know, try this. You know, for the most part I haven't had an issue. And again, there's, you know, bad eggs everywhere you go.
Speaker 2:So, there's going to be a few guys that just tell you to go pound sand and to that you just say it right back. So okay, yeah, yeah, I mean screw you, screw you. Okay, well, we're already, but now I'll go find somebody else. That's going to be useful.
Speaker 1:So, did you struggle much with school. You know through the blocks, you know you talk about your three blocks and and you know what was that journey like.
Speaker 2:Well, it was so funny. When you look at the stack of books that you go through at. First year is like this absolute mountain. Second year is like yeah, that's okay. And then third year it's like where's the material? Compared to the rest of them.
Speaker 2:First year because I challenged was extremely difficult. I'm not even going to lie or sugarcoat that it was really hard because most people again through their apprenticeship they go and work for a bit and then they go to school. I'm this high school student who has no practical application other than welding a booth in my high school.
Speaker 2:So, that was really difficult, but it was in some ways nice having that. Now I have the knowledge. So when I went to the field and looked at something, I'm like, oh, I know exactly what that is because it was. You know, it was kind of a toss up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and where's the hall located? You know you're, you're part of 146, right?
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, so we have. We have our main hall located in Edmonton, which has our beautiful practicing facility for a lot of things, not just welding, but it's also for rigging and a few other amazing courses we have. And then we have our practicing and testing facility here in Calgary.
Speaker 1:Okay, so it's one union for the whole province, or is there a second boiler? Yeah, no, just one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so um Alberta's, most provinces only have one main kind of headquarters for their local, but we have two. Just because of how, how much work is in Alberta and how many of us are just so spread out, it's just easier to have us in those two big city hubs.
Speaker 1:And and what was the first jobs you got? You know you said in the first couple of years you were doing a lot of field work and out on the road, which you know most people cut their teeth on the road. I did, most people do. So what? What were those jobs like? What were the type of jobs you'd get?
Speaker 2:Um dirty jobs. It was dirty. It wasn't like this clean shop where you, you know, you show up your welding machines right next to you. It's your lug and cable all the way up. You're setting up for a job that night shift is going to do. You know, um, I learned so many different skills out in the field that I would have never learned in the shop, because how things roll is so completely different. Like, if you're grinding something, you have to have not only your spark watch there, if it's outside the vessel or if you're inside, you need your man watch and then you have to have your QC standing there and usually your NDT guy. So you got two to three people always watching and will you work?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so did you enjoy it? Did you enjoy that environment? Do you miss being in the field?
Speaker 2:I do, I miss the cause. There was always the buddy system. You don't go anywhere in the plant by yourself, Just just the safety thing, Cause if you go down, who's going to find you? So that's why you always go into. So you always had somebody to talk to. You always had someone to bounce ideas off of If something wasn't going right and you needed help or something you know. You wanted to learn what this unit was doing. You could always ask the journey when you were working with and they were like oh, this unit does this, this is the processing for whatever.
Speaker 2:So I really enjoyed that kind of one on one and working as a team. Again, if you already know what you're doing, some people are like, ah, this is my way to do it. It's the only way. I like learning all the ways. If I can learn a million ways to do one thing, I feel like I'm set. Cause if you only know one way to do it. If something goes wrong, you can't do it that way. You're hooked.
Speaker 1:So, aside from the books, for that first year it sounded like. It sounds to me like you had a pretty good apprenticeship journey, like fun jobs, learned lots. Year two and year three weren't too bad. There are no real obstacles that popped up that you're like oh man, why am I doing this? I should, I think this career.
Speaker 2:So the one downside about being in the field as an apprentice is you again like you have to have a ticket to weld. If you want to weld on something you have to have your CWB ticket. As your first year and as a second year I got my C pressure. So when I went into my third year job I actually did the UTIP course at the hall. It was an amazing course, really enjoyed it. But I went out into the field because I had my C pressure. It was kind of like, okay, well, we can test her, but we got to jump through all these hoops to get the paperwork so she can just weld on site period, get a loan to the company and it was just. It was a lot of hoops to jump through but hopefully for the next round of people going through all of those courses it just gets a lot easier. Because I was the first group to go through the Calgary Halls. We were kind of the guinea pigs for it, but it's just. The one downside was there wasn't as many welding opportunities. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like, if you want to be welding every single day, that just wasn't the place for it. But I got to learn rigging, I got to learn fitting. I learned so many other amazing skills that I wouldn't have learned if I wasn't out in the field. So now I'm just kind of back stepping and learning the other skills now.
Speaker 1:So explain to people that are listening, because every province is different and around the world it's different, the difference between a C pressure and a B pressure and you know, and is there other? Is there an A pressure, Is there a Z pressure? I don't know, Like what are, what are? What are the differences? Because even in Saskatchewan we have a different system of of qualifying our pressure tickets.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:The Alberta's the only place I've done that.
Speaker 2:I thought I was going to ask Okay, well, I'll tell mine first.
Speaker 1:and then you tell yours I'm actually really interested to hear that.
Speaker 2:So in Alberta we have our B ticket, which is your B pressure. It's you can weld on any pressure vessel as long as you have the specific. So if it's an in-canel pressure vessel you'll need to have your separate in-canel techs for that, but your B pressure is just kind of like your. Okay, I'm allowed to weld on pressure. Now you do smaller board pipes. To give you your specifics, what's your testing for? Are you testing for stainless? Are you testing for carbon? Are you testing for in-canel, whatever? So you do your initial test and that basically says you are capable of doing the smaller tests, and then they just do the smaller tests for you afterwards. So that B pressure ticket is with you for life, unless you mess up majorly multiple times in a row and then they take it back.
Speaker 1:So do you have to retest it every now and then?
Speaker 2:Your initial B, you do not need to retest. It's an eight inch 5G. So again, you put it up in the 2G, do your quarter section and then you flip it down into the 5G and finish welding it out.
Speaker 1:So what's?
Speaker 2:a C pressure ticket. Then A C pressure ticket is your. Basically it's a baby B ticket. It's like your. It's the ticket you can get as an apprentice before you're a journeyman. It's kind of like a. So the differences is the exact same. Well, test the B pressure. It is eight coupons that are cut out and bent. The C pressure is six coupons that are cut out and bent. Don't ask me which two they decided to take out for the C pressure, because I can't tell you. I have no right to question of this. I know that I had. I had eight cup for mine when I did my C pressure. There we're just like no, we're cutting eight for you because everybody else was doing their B. So they're like we're just gonna keep it simple. Yeah.
Speaker 2:What if I failed with who's two spots? I mean, come on, guys.
Speaker 1:So you don't have to. I find it very interesting that you don't have to research like every two to three years Just smaller bore stuff. Okay.
Speaker 2:So, like your two inch and stuff is your research. So for your carbon, your RIA4F, those again the smaller bores, those you retest every two years. I believe to be out into the field and again, when we as boiler makers, when we go into the field, we get job tested, every job. So I could have worked two weeks at one job, did a well test for it and now I have to go work two weeks somewhere else and do another well test. So it's not like in the shops where you do your one well test and you're good for a year or two years and then they'll test you again. So you're constantly testing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so in Saskatchewan it's an initial six. The initial six inch is your 2G, 5g, with your six cutouts, bends, and that is considered your basic. So it's like your basic pressure ticket is just a six inch and you can go a sked you could do a sked 40, or, no, a sked 80, so you get a max deposit on it, on a six inch, and then if you get your two inch, so you have to have your six inch before you can go for your two inch, two inches. Same thing you can do on sked 80, so you get your max out and then, once you got your two inch, you don't have to do your six again as long as you maintain your two. But if you lose your two or if it expires, you gotta go back and do your six again.
Speaker 1:Right, and yeah, and they just call it your initial six and then your max out two. There's no A, bs or Cs and it's really confusing across the country because every province has their own testing procedures on pressure and their own words. So lots of times. So Northern Territories use Alberta's pressure system, the Prairies have their own, out East has a mix and the Maritimes has their own. So often Alberta welders will be like I got my B pressure and everyone's like what's that? And it's funny because in Alberta I don't think they teach that other provinces are different. They just think that everyone else has B pressure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no idea, no idea.
Speaker 1:So it makes for confusing. That is so strange and it's interesting that you test on an eight inch, two G5G for your initial.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was either an eight inch or a six inch, because an eight inch is way easier than a six. Yeah. It's been a while I'm like trying to think of with my hand measurement I think it was. It might have been a six inch.
Speaker 3:Again, I try not to think about it I passed it.
Speaker 2:That's all that matters. Okay, we're not looking back, we're not redoing it, we don't need to worry about it.
Speaker 1:But you got to keep that two inch, you got to keep that small diameter right, Like that's where it's, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so for again testing up a haul. I can just call up and say I'd like to test for this, and they'll tell me okay, you can test next week on Tuesday. I show up, I test for it and I have my ticket.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and your welds, I imagine, are the same. They're going to be an F3 as a 60, you know cellulose four, low hydrogen F5,. F6 is Tegan flux core, f40s are the in canals. Then there's the duplexes and the stainless has the 22s and I imagine those are all the same.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's all the same test. And also like again, different sites will specify if they want a specific other test that you test for, and so we have the practicing facility. Show up two days before practice for two days. Do the test. Head up for work.
Speaker 1:And is there a way to pay union dues, like what are the benefits of being in the union? What do you get from the union for the people? I don't know.
Speaker 2:So, as a wild earth, biggest benefit that you get is you get to use the practicing facility and you don't have to go in and pay for time. You don't have to pay for material and there is people there that are willing and like, eager to train you and help you when you're having difficulties or you wanna learn a new skill. So I can be. I look at the amount of dues that I've paid and the amount of material I've gone through when I because we work shutdown so we have work six months for six months off, so I'd be in the hall just practicing the amount of material I've gone through man, I should be paying way more in dues.
Speaker 2:But that's one of the main things that it goes to. It's not the main thing, but it goes to our materials that we use. It goes to just upkeep in our buildings, goes to paying their staff and it goes towards our really really good field benefits. That were amazing and I didn't know what benefits were when I joined the union. I didn't know what a pension was. Adulting was not the thing that I was focused on.
Speaker 1:Well, not at 18 years old right.
Speaker 2:No, it was just like cool, I'm 18. I can legally go to the bar now and that was all I cared about. But I was like oh my God, you got a pension. I'm like what's that? So that is one of the really great things and it's a good pension.
Speaker 1:You guys are like six or $7 on the hour or something. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is really. We have a really, really amazing pension, so I'm very fortunate for that, now that I'm you know, semi an adult and understanding what a pension is so yeah. And then it's also resources for training people. So training for our rigging courses, our job steward courses, all of that gets you know, is funded by our union dues.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm. Well, that's awesome and it's always one of the things that has attracted me and it's one of the strengths that unions bring to the industry in general, whether you are a union worker or not, is that the union's kind of set a standard for wages, pensions, benefits that the rest of the industry kind of has to follow. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so every few years we get again. We go back to the drawing board. We get, you know, our new contracts. Whether they reinstate the current contractor, they give us a whole brand new one for our field work, Our shop work, is different. Each shop has their own contract. But yeah, that is one of the really really nice things is that I know for a fact I'm getting paid. What I should be getting paid is that I'm getting paid the exact same as the man next to me and that I don't have to raise my voice and go. I should be treated the same. And another good thing is, when you have a union, is that as strong as ours, when you go to fight for things. Once we're able to get our foot in the door and get what we want, other unions are able to kind of stick their toes in too and be able to get better options for their union members as well.
Speaker 1:So no, that's true and it's awesome. All right, this is a good time to take a break. We're gonna take a quick break here for our sponsors and supporters and then, when we get back, we're gonna talk about what is it that you actually do on the day to day? And I wanna go back to the art and see if that's still a part of your world. So we're gonna come back here with Riley McElroy from Calgary, alberta, right after these messages here on the CWB Association podcast.
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Speaker 1:Visit Weld-Readyca now to get Weld Ready. And that's no bull. And we are back here on the CWB Association podcast. My name is Max Saron and I'm sitting here with Riley McElroy from Calgary, alberta, who is a boiler maker and a journey person Red Seal welder. So, riley, you are a boiler maker now and to be a boiler maker I'm just trying to remember do you have to be a welder to be a boiler maker, or is there jobs in the boiler makers that are non-welding?
Speaker 2:No, so the boiler makers is an actual trade itself. It's one of the actually original five trades that were created, started off in I believe it was England over in the UK, and then, when the Industrial Revolution happened, it's spread out and we kind of gained more.
Speaker 2:Sub-trades More scopes, yeah, more kind of. We kind of absorbed some other trades into it and yeah. So the work that boiler makers do is they do a lot of rigging, fitting all the vessel work, so all the interior vessel work, the exterior vessel work, anything like that. That is what we do. We do a lot of work in refineries, pulp mills, we have work in the nukes. I'm trying to remember shipyards as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, anything that's steam lines, small bore, small diameter piping, pressure vessels and even non-pressure lines, I think are under your guys' scope, and I don't know. My dad explaining it to me like this is what a boiler maker does and I was like I don't wanna do that because I didn't wanna be a boiler maker. My dad was like why?
Speaker 2:The funniest thing about the boiler makers is a lot of people don't like. Even boiler makers themselves are like I don't know how to describe it. I just am one. I have one buddy that was so tired of trying to explain it. He just lied and said he was a welder when people asked what he did Because he didn't know how to explain it. It is, it's truly. It's kind of a joke going around that it's hard to explain what we do, but once you know what we do, you know when was I going. I had a total like absolute brain fight there. I was like on a roll.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you were talking about the UK, the UK, and there was trades and vessels. Wow, that's embarrassing.
Speaker 2:I thought we got it together. But oh, the original question is what exactly is a boiler maker? So again, it's its own trade ticket. Our school is. There's one school in Alberta, it's in Edmonton, it's at Nate, and that is the only place in Alberta that you can go to school for it. And in order to actually be a boiler maker, like have that trade ticket, you have to be a part of the union. So we kind of have a stronghold on that for kind of obvious reasons. But so as a welder in the union I can backfill as a boiler maker, but a boiler maker can't back weld as a welder. And that's how we can do it in our province. I know a few other provinces. Their boiler makers do scaffolding. They do more than just what are like. Again, every province does it differently, which is why. Why wouldn't we just make it cohesive?
Speaker 1:Well, a lot of it has to do with the red seal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know the answer for that and the reason is just because there's a lack of supporting trades in some places. So, for example, if there's a boom happening in Alberta and all the boiler makers are tied up in Alberta and all of a sudden there's a giant push for pressure vessels in Ontario, other trades will have to come in and backfill, which is not a happy time for unions, I know, because they don't like sharing work like that necessarily. Like I mean, there's a scaffolding union, scaffolders don't like hearing that other trades are picking up scaffolding work, right, like that's why we have a scaffolding union, but there's only X number of scaffolders in Canada, right. So it is tricky.
Speaker 1:I navigated my way through unions because, specifically I was a stainless steel welder. I had all my stainless steel tickets, like from top to bottom, like every new stainless that would come out I'd go get the ticket for it TIG, mig, stainless Flux or TIG Mixtec and Fluxcore, all processes. Then I would contact the unions and be like hey, shutdown's coming up, got any stainless work and then I would get picked up on permit to go work with the unions. But that also doesn't make unions very happy when there's a whole bunch of permit workers coming out, like me, right?
Speaker 1:So it is a very tricky world, like exactly where you were going. You know, like different provinces, even different jobs I wouldn't even say provinces, like different jobs require different things. So I would come in like, for you know, in the example you're talking about, if all the welder boiler makers are busy and there's no boiler makers left, then how do they complete the welding work? People like me come in from the outside with permits to weld but then, as soon as the job's done, we're like. We're like and we got no benefits and we got no pension or nothing, right?
Speaker 2:So yeah, so I've been on a few jobs where we've actually specifically like hired backfills so that we didn't have another union come in for it, because we have your union guy who's backfilling for us to do this job, which I know is kind of frowned upon.
Speaker 2:But great guys, it was great for the guys who were on the tools with them because, like you, get to learn what they learn at their union, their union works. And they also get to come and see ours and see how we work and maybe they'll jump ship and come to us, you know you know there's, there's a possibility there, right? You know, you gotta really sell that pitch to them when you're working with them. Oh, your union does that. Oh no, you should come to ours, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you never know. You never know which is where it's gonna go right, like I mean, like I said, I worked with two unions well, three in my life and I didn't stay with any of them and it would really frustrate my union friends being like why, why do you leave? This is the best place to be in the world.
Speaker 2:It's it's. Everyone has their own stuff going on in their own lives, and for some people it just doesn't work out that way, right? You know, a lot of our work is traveling, unless you're in Edmonton, where all of our shops are, or you're in Calgary, and we have one pressure shop here, which is where I'm working, you know. So if it doesn't suit your lifestyle, then I don't see it being, you know, coming and joining us just cause we're not in there. I mean, you could come and join us and then try and convert your shop into a union shop.
Speaker 1:But you would have to need the work for it, right? You need that full-time work coming in the door, which is tricky, right?
Speaker 2:So what's your-?
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's a lot more hoops involved. What's your best skill Like? What do you best at Like when? What's the work that comes in the door, the foreman's look at it and they say that's Riley's job. That one's going straight to Riley. What is it that's your niche work in your skill set.
Speaker 2:Sweeping the floor I'm really good at it. Oh stop, oh stop, that's it. No tube end welding. So where I'm at is exchanger industry so we do a lot of hand welding for all of our exchangers. All the tubes that come out the end that have to be welded Roll welds so it's not a fillet around the tube. You kind of eat at the tube and you roll the weld down to the inside of it. That's my favorite. That's honestly the thing that I invest at. I'm really quick and it's all TIG.
Speaker 1:So it's beautiful.
Speaker 2:it's clean, I'm not dirty, I don't stink. When I get in my car to go home I am happy.
Speaker 1:Sounds like these are new ones, but repair ones either.
Speaker 2:Yes, so being in the shop is all my work, because repairing those tubes sucks, Cause you got to cut out the end slide them out slide new ones in hope they're the right length.
Speaker 1:That's a deadly job and sometimes there's like hundreds of them.
Speaker 2:Like we just got. I think this one was like 10 feet in diameter in the center.
Speaker 1:How many tubes was there? I want to do the repairs on that.
Speaker 2:I'll weld it when it's clean and brand new.
Speaker 1:I am not doing the repairs all that. And is it mild steel? Is it stainless? What's material?
Speaker 2:It is stainless. It's either stainless. Carbon or duplex Are kind of the three ones that we really do. Carbon not a huge fan of, honestly. Duplex, like I know some people really hate it, but once you've done it enough, you just get so used to it and you know exactly how it's going to react when you're welding it. You're like I got this.
Speaker 1:I liked welding duplex. I thought it was in harder to weld than any other stainless, really, but it doesn't pass as often. That's what I didn't like about it. It's like oh, that looks beautiful, that's fantastic. Then the X-ray and they're like actually, no, that's terrible. It's like what? What do you mean? It was perfect. What are you talking about?
Speaker 2:So for us, when we do that to Ben test, is we weld on, like we weld this kind of mock little jig up and then they cut it in half. So the start the LPI first and then they cut it in half, and then if it passes, all that you're good. So again, cause it's the tube sheet and LPI is wet for the people listening.
Speaker 2:Oh sorry, thank you. Liquid penetrant testing. So what that does is they spray a red dye on first and it seeps into any pinholes, any cracks, porosity slag. It'll also stick to that. And then what you do once you spray it on, you let it sit, you wash it off with water or a special cleaner and then you spray it with a white chalk kind of developer and then the little yeah, the little cracks will come out and these red lines or there's the little pinholes will be with these red dots. And then you know he kind of messed up and you gotta go clean it out and re-weld it. It's not a fun time when it comes back.
Speaker 1:And it smells terrible.
Speaker 2:I don't ever smell it. I've never noticed that.
Speaker 1:Really the red dye. Like I have some of my garage cause I have to do some small gig work in my garage so I have to do my own LPI in my shop and whenever I spray the dye, people like my wife will be like what is that smell? It's like it's pretty strong smell. Maybe you have burnt your nose out cause it's pretty strong.
Speaker 2:Probably I've worked in a coca for like seven months straight man. I could have burnt those nose hairs right out. Smell Not a thing to taste? Probably not. No, I've never noticed it had a smell. I mean, I've worked as far worse environments, cause I've never noticed it had a smell.
Speaker 1:Oh, maybe you know what, maybe they made a safer one, who knows? Maybe what I have is a bunch of old, deadly stuff that they're like don't use that, just keep using it.
Speaker 2:It's fine, everything's fine. I'm seeing three of you, but everything's fine.
Speaker 1:So you said the shop that you're in is one of the only shops the BoilerMakers has in Calgary. Is there still a lot of other BoilerMaker work around the city of Calgary outside of your shop?
Speaker 2:Medicine hat. I can't remember the name of the plant off the top of my head right now. We have work down there. We don't rent deer jaw free. We have work around jaw free.
Speaker 1:So it's pretty specific to areas and to industries, right, it's not? You don't have just BoilerMakers rolling around on trucks picking up work. No, no.
Speaker 2:So we have there's specific contractors and they bid for the job and if they're a union contractor they call us BoilerMakers, union pipefitters, union scaffolders, all of that kind of deal. That's just kind of how it works for us. We go where the contractors pick up work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so do you ever go on site anymore, or do you want to?
Speaker 2:Part of me really does, because I've learned so much now that I feel like I'm a little better rounded at what I do, but I also really like sleeping in my own bed and eating my own food. You know, not having to do laundry in a communal laundry area, really enjoy being back at home. Yeah. I think I have to go do it, maybe in a year or two, depending on how things go here at the shop. Yeah.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, have you done much traveling with the BoilerMakers like outside of Alberta? Because I mean, that's one of the things with union work is that you get to travel if you want. You know, have you picked up other province work or in the States or anywhere?
Speaker 2:No, so as a journeyman it's really easy. I could just go pull a slip and Saskatchewan if I wanted to work in Saskatchewan or BC or Ontario, but anywhere journeyman is super easy. As an apprentice, I would have to take my blue book and I would have to. But that's also one of the great things about the union is I don't have to. I don't handle my my blue book at all. I didn't touch it. I would touch it to sign it and send it back to them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Alberta was one of the last All the hours, everything. Alberta was one of the last provinces to still use a blue book. Every other province has gone digital, like 10 years ago.
Speaker 2:Are you serious? So how is it the like?
Speaker 1:Actually, I think Alberta is digital now. I think it's what you just submitted electronically just goes into your system and then you can look it up on your account anytime. Oh my God, because I remember when I was teaching at SAS Poly I used to teach welding for like eight years here in Saskatchewan I'd have Alberta students come in and be like all right, here's my blue book for you to go through, and I'd be like what the hell is this thing? Like you actually wrote in this, like with your fingers, like what is this?
Speaker 2:I can't believe that we haven't done that yet Because, like just thinking about it, the amount of people that have to handle it, the amount of time it has to get mailed oh my God, I think it switched.
Speaker 1:Actually, I was at a meeting this year or last year maybe, but I think it's changed now. I think Alberta is switching everything to digital, like I think it's all going to be online now, which makes it way easier to travel and to look it up and find it like oh, yeah, Well, that makes it way easier.
Speaker 2:Anyway, you know the dinosaur age when I had to deal with mine. Yeah, back in the old days, back in the old days, right, you know, years ago, like what I just I can't believe that. But you know Alberta never got behind that that it took them that long.
Speaker 1:Alberta is a stubborn province. They're stubborn, and you know it. You know it, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm not denying that I'm well aware of it.
Speaker 1:But have you ever wanted to go work in another province?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've wanted to do so, Kayla being one of my mentors. She always talked about the shipyards, so I've always wanted to go and do that. I've just honestly been too scared. I have family up in Port McMurray so if anything ever went wrong, I have people immediate family there that could help me. So that was kind of always why I sticked around for McMurray. And as much as I hated camp, I liked not having to worry about finding a place to rent and go in grocery shopping.
Speaker 1:I would just show up Foods ready every morning I'd have my own room yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, as much as food sucks some days, you know you could always get away with eating chocolate cake for dinner. Yeah, I'm a stop. Yeah, really. So that's kind of why I never did those traveling jobs as an apprentice is the blue book and at the end of the day, I don't want to be dealing with that much stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but you're young, you're young, you got a whole career ahead of you. Like, I would definitely recommend doing some travel work it's been some of the and just watching how like learning how other areas do your same job is always interesting. Like even in Saskatchewan for me to go out into the mines and see how they do potash mining and doing the shutdowns for potash mining, the different machines, the different equipment, the different things. And then you realize like oh, this is kind of the same machine that they did for this job, just a little bit different. Or this is kind of like that, but a little bit different. You know, it's always super fun.
Speaker 2:So what other, like what other places would you recommend somebody work and try and say like say, if they were in a shop for their whole apprenticeship and into their journeyman and they wanted something different, what would you recommend?
Speaker 1:So I would recommend, first of all, the things that you build in your shop where do they go? Right? So if you're building things that go into things, check out where those things go to and see if you can work there. So that's what I did. I was working in a shop for my apprenticeship and for lots of my younger time building things for mining. So I was always building things for mining, building things for mining, and I was like, finally, one day I was like got my red seal and I was like I want to know where these things go. Like where do I'm building all this stuff in a shop all the time and it's fun and it's clean and I'm learning so much stuff, but where does it go? So I, you know, I started chasing down those jobs, Like when is the shutdown for the place where this thing went? And so I started picking up mining work for those shops and then, through those mining jobs, they start.
Speaker 1:You start talking to the people at the shutdowns and they're like, oh, you should try to get in at this place. They really cool place. Or. And then other welders, you know, you know, around the coffee, the lunch room, they'll be like, oh, if you get a chance to do this or that or you know, and that network, I find, is how you really figure out where you should be, because other welders will tell you you know what, what's up, and you you can tell by how they like their job or what, where they've been as as advice. Yeah Right, so like, if you're doing a lot of exchangers you know like well, you know, and they're shipping all the time to Ontario, Well, maybe pull a slip and see if you can see where that thing and be on a part of the install crew for that same thing that you always build, right, Cause then that you get to see that end of it and that's really fun and you're more confident, cause you actually know what that thing is already Right, it's not like you're completely blind, right?
Speaker 2:I mean that was part of the thing that I did really enjoy about the shutdown is that you could jump around, even just like on one site like Suncore base plan. You could jump around and work on so many different things. I really did enjoy that, that kind of changing pace. For one day you're here, the next day you're there, you're, you know you're doing rigging. One day you're grinding indications, the next you know I like that kind of flip flop. Some people don't.
Speaker 1:I do, and you get good at everything Interesting.
Speaker 2:Yes, it makes you really versatile, which, like again being in the shop where I'm at right now, you know I do the for the most part same thing, same thing, same thing. Then some days they're like, oh well, we're going to test you for this. And then it's like, okay, well, here's a little bit of change of pace for a bit.
Speaker 1:Well, shops all inherently have that. I like shop work. I ended up like climbing through shops. That's how I ended up like getting into management is through shops, which is why I didn't stick around to welding or in unions. There's a lot of people like why didn't you stick around with unions? And for me it's because I wanted to get into management. So, like to get into management, you kind of have to get out of unions, because it's really long road to get into management at unions. Like it's a long line. You know what I mean. And I was like too ambitious, I wanted to climb faster. So that was, that was my stick. But you know, if, if you can have the opportunities to to learn more skills, then that's where the game's at right. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So what's up? Sorry, you know, in the beginning of this conversation, when you talked about how the whole start of this journey for you for welding came from art, Where's art been all this time? You still, you, still artsy, you still do stuff on the side. Is there an art side of Riley that comes out, or or did you have to leave it aside?
Speaker 2:You know, that was one of the things that I also really liked when I joined the union was having that much time off to focus on art. But I spent all that time decompressing and dealing with my body, with all of its aches and pains at my young age, so I can't imagine how bad it's going to be when I get older. So I kind of left it and I haven't touched it at all.
Speaker 2:I've been really bad. No, the last time I went and touched it because, again, I'm so used to working on these you know, he's really high quality, big machines and then I go to my garage and like I'm spoiled. I know I'm spoiled, I'm a wiggler. I have a plasma cutter? I'm not. I'm not even going to lie. I got a plasma cutter and a welder and all the tools he could ever need. My dad even has a sign in his garage that says he who dies with the most tools wins.
Speaker 2:So everything that I could need. I just I don't. I don't have that passion for it anymore.
Speaker 2:I've lost that spark and I wanted that, Like I've just lost it. Like last time I went into the garage it was just really frustrating because, like you know, I'm used to using these big machines and I do this to the big machine and it does that, and I do it to my little machine and it just goes out to lunch. So I don't have the patience for this. So I'd always get frustrated, throw something and then I go back into the house. So that's kind of how it went. I'm hoping, you know, come this year I'll be able to get back into it. I've just been focusing on the main career.
Speaker 1:Well, how long have you?
Speaker 2:had your red seal for now. Less than a year, yeah.
Speaker 1:So you got, you got time, girl, you got lots of time, like it's not, like you're in a rush, right? No.
Speaker 1:Have you thought about any other red seals that you'd like to chase, like where do you see yourself in? Like five years, 10 years? Like dual tickets is a big thing. Now I'm triple sealed, so I have two red seals and a blue seal and that helped me lots in my career and I see that becoming more and more popular. Now Even people on the show more and more often people that are coming on the show have two red seals, which 10 years ago was unheard of and now it's like more and more common. Have you ever thought about pursuing another seal or another, even avenue within the boiler makers?
Speaker 2:So I was thinking of doing my blue seal and then recently I started looking into getting my bachelor's degree in education to be a welding teacher, welding instructor. So I was looking into that. I've also been looking into NDT, so I just I haven't figured out. I'm not going to leave welding until I feel like I have accomplished enough so that in 10 years, if I decide to come back to it, I feel competent enough to be able to do that.
Speaker 1:Oh for sure I've left welding twice in my career. Twice I've walked away being like I'm never touching another rod, I'm done with this, and uh, and twice I came back. So like I mean, I I wasn't able to leave for very long.
Speaker 2:It seems like you have a pattern there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and it's hard to find another career that gives you these opportunities, right, like. That's the thing I always explain to people. It's like you know, you, if you want to be an engineer, be a weld engineer. If you want to be a salesperson, be a salesperson for welding, like I mean, there's just every possible job exists in this trade, right Like.
Speaker 2:Well, that's a great thing about trades in general. It's kind of like your stepping stone is your foundation. You can go so many different avenues. You can go up into management, you can go into engineering with it, because now, like, you have that practical application, you're not just going I went to school for this. I don't actually know how the real process works, but we're going with it. Like again, I'm not saying that they're not educated, they are highly educated, but you have that other, better understanding to back you up and also to help pay for school.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Right. So yeah, I just think the trades are a great foundation and there's so many different ways you could go.
Speaker 1:Well.
Speaker 2:I hope.
Speaker 1:I hope you get into teaching. It's one of the things that we see at the top level is really suffering in Canada is we don't have enough teachers and we really don't have enough female teachers with a solid like field experience. Right, so I would. You know you're still a bit fresh to be a teacher, but you know, when you look at five, six years down the road or 10 years down the road, I didn't get into teaching until I was like 37. So I was already almost 20 years into welding. But you know it is something that's needed is good teachers, and I know you understand how important having a good mentor is. It really changes the way you look at the career having solid mentorship, you know yeah.
Speaker 2:And I, like, I want to be what Kayla was for me. I want to be able to be that female representation for other you know, women that want to get into the trades and I know it's hard to get into and stay as a teacher in the, you know, for teaching trades because it's just so underfunded. You look at teachers and they're like we can't afford to buy rod, Like we're limiting students to like three rods for one while because that's we don't have the money for it. Yeah, the high schools, high schools for sure.
Speaker 1:In the colleges, not so much in the colleges there's lots of money.
Speaker 2:No, not the colleges, but high schools and stuff. They're really suffering. It's tough.
Speaker 1:Like I mean the CWB association. That's one of the things we do is we fund high schools for consumables because they don't get enough from public funding through the government, so the provincial government. So one of the things we do across Canada is help with electrodes and rod ovens and grinders or whatever. It is a class on need because it is brutally underfunded and it's kind of a. It's a weird conversation when you hear people being like we need more trades, we need more trades, but then we don't fund trades.
Speaker 2:So like, well, I mean wonder why you can't get teachers and educators to stick around. You're not providing the funding Like I know one teacher. He sold his car, bought a truck just to haul the material from the metal shop because it was cheaper than paying them to cut it and deliver it. Yeah. That's how he was cutting costs just to have materials for his students.
Speaker 1:And that shouldn't be the teacher's job.
Speaker 2:No, absolutely not. It's ridiculous, like you have. Like we keep again. We're saying we need all these welders. The best way to get them is fresh out of high school. You could train them like. There's so much incentive behind that, yet we're not actually backing that up with the funding it needs and deserves. Yeah. So, and like I get it, everything's kind of underfunded. But you say one thing but don't do the obvious. It's kind of frustrating.
Speaker 1:Well, hopefully you can make a change and I know the boiler makers are doing a lot of great work and, and especially with the representation of newcomers, people of color, women, indigenous the boiler makers are really making a big difference. Like I talked to Kayla pretty regularly, and and Jamie, Jamie Bevin, who, and like I mean they're amazing people that constantly pushing for more stuff, right, so it's good, yeah.
Speaker 2:And as well as like the weld rodeo that we host with the hall, is amazing. I volunteered this this year. Absolutely amazing. You see all these kids come in and they're just like, so excited to be there. So excited to have this opportunity.
Speaker 2:I don't know when it's happening in 2024, but I don't think anything will top this year, 2023. Like it was may the art force be with you was the theme. So it was all Star Wars themed and they literally had volunteers come in, like I think how it happened was they reached out to us because they heard we were doing it. They were volunteers who were like cosplayers for Star Wars, so they showed up. Everybody got pictures with them, like it was so cool. It was so, so cool. I don't know how we're ever going to top that.
Speaker 1:Well, I wish I would have known that. I have a ex welding student who's a huge cosplayer now like famous. She would have been awesome there. Yeah, she got through welding, finished welding and then is a professional cosplayer and she uses her welding background to make like cosplay gear for people around the world.
Speaker 2:And that is so cool.
Speaker 1:She's very, very cool person. But you know, do me a solid and send me the info if you can find it later, like in an email for that, because I'd like to attend Like I'm going to schedule and I can just rip over to Calgary anytime and I would love to be a part of the weld rodeo next year and see what's going on there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure as soon as I know the date, I think, because again, we try to schedule it so it's not around skills so that we can have all the other students attend, so I will check in and see when that is, I believe. Actually, kayla will most likely email you about it. But we'll get, we'll get you out here.
Speaker 1:Are you really great, amazing time you brought up skills. Are you involved with skills?
Speaker 2:at all. So I competed in skills when I was in grade 11, I believe it was grade 11 or grade 12. And actually my really close friend competed. I didn't place but he got first place at for Calgary area. And he got sent up to Edmonton. So really proud of him for what he's done. But I didn't even place, I didn't even get third, I didn't get participation trophy, I mean you tried, you tried your hardest Again, grade 11.
Speaker 1:me like where, where are our?
Speaker 2:expectations. All I know is, you know, my welds have been better than some of the people I've seen in the fields weld. So snap, snap, snap, snap that that just squint, tilt your head, it's fine, it'll pass.
Speaker 1:As long as it passes X-ray, that's all that matters.
Speaker 2:Right, I can look as ugly as, as long as it passes, awesome.
Speaker 1:Well, let's wrap this interview up. I got a couple of questions just to finish it off. You know we talked about you know, like you trying to get more involved with supporting women and being a mentor. What are some of the opportunities you're seeing right now for yourself in terms of being a mentor and volunteering your area?
Speaker 2:So I volunteer regularly with our union hall. Whenever Kayla gives me the call saying hey, are you free this day? I'd love you to come do this with me. I've done the youth hiring fair with her. I volunteered at schools to talk. I've well, so have I done? I've done quite a few things. Again. I just I like being able to kind of give back. Considering how much the mentors have given to me, I want to be able to give that to somebody else Awesome.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. So I try. Yeah, it's good, it's good and that's you know. Volunteering and helping is the gateway to success. I keep saying it on the show. People ask me all the time like Max, how did you know some short brown guy from Regina get to be the director at the CWB? It's like well, volunteer, volunteer, get involved, get a part of your community. That's the way to do it, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think my favorite volunteering event that I've done was careers, next generation, women's and trades.
Speaker 1:I know that group. I did an interview with a guy from there. He was. It sounded like next generation, sounds like a really cool place for a group man like group.
Speaker 2:It was so, so cool. So they organized kind of these. I believe it was three days or two days where they talk, they it was. This all women's group went and did like I think it was carpentry and a little bit of electrician, but they came to the hall to learn about boiler making and welding. So it was all female, like all the female boiler makers and welders volunteers. It was all females coming in. And it was just like amazing.
Speaker 2:Amazing to see that many women in one room who were interested in the trades Like. I can't even describe the feeling of that.
Speaker 1:Well, keep your eyes on. Sorry.
Speaker 2:I'm so used to only like in my shop. I'm the only girl on the floor for days and afternoons.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like I'm so used to just being the only girl. So when, like, you get to be around other, like women who love the trades as much as just there's, there's that feeling. It's just like okay, I'm not alone, we're great.
Speaker 1:Keep your eyes peeled for a program called Jill of all trades. It's coming out of Ontario. They've rented in Ontario two years or three years now, but I know they're spreading across Canada and I know they're planning on doing an event in Calgary and it's huge. They're funded by like Home Depot, like major big sponsors, and I participated in a Jill of all trades event. We help sponsor it in Ontario in um we're with Cambridge, and it was like 10,000 females representing all different trades, only women from grade eight and up. It was huge, it was like amazing and it was so awesome. And I know that they're trying to spread this across Canada. So you know, definitely the Boilermakers I'm sure will be involved with the Jill of all trades in Calgary, but it's a really neat program and it's all women with like sponsored by women, women mentors, women leaders, ceos, business owners and it's it's very cool. Yeah, jill of all trades.
Speaker 2:Jill of all trades. Okay, I'll check that out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I have a question for you. You know any shout outs, any words of wisdom, any. You know if, if there was a, if there was a young Riley coming up and you can meet yourself, what would you give for advice?
Speaker 2:Well, there's two things. There's always the classic fake tell you, make it. Just keep going yeah. Do it. Okay, just keep going, you'll. It's okay, it's called going through it. I mean to get out on the other side. You just got to make it through it. And another one, like whenever I do well testing. I had a very close friend told me this you have done it once. You just got to do it one more time. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it's like seriously something as simple as that and that has helped me every time I have to do a well test. You've done it once. You just got to do it one more time.
Speaker 1:That's good advice, cause it's it's the nerves that kill you. On the well test, you know how to do the world. It's just the nerves that kill you, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So when he told me that, I was like yeah, that's genius, it's like something so simplistic and it works every time for me.
Speaker 1:Perfect, awesome, any shout outs to anybody.
Speaker 2:Oh God, put on the spot, I guess, the boiler makers to all the mentors that I have had and to the future mentors. And yeah, I think that's all I can think of.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Well, I've had a ton of fun with you here, Riley. I hope you had a good time on the show and I did. And thank you so much for taking time during your break.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you for having me on. I really appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker 1:You bet and for all the people that have been listening, make sure you check out if you're in. If you're in Alberta and you are interested in being a boiler maker, check out the boiler makers union. One, four, six. Just check them out online. Just Google boiler makers Alberta, it'll come up and all the information's on there. They got a great, great website and, riley, you know it's. It's been a real pleasure. Thank you so much for being on the show.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's been an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:All right For the people that have been downloading the show. Thank you so much for supporting the CWB association podcast. My voice is just about gone, I'm just limping through the end here, but I really appreciate. Keep downloading, keep sharing and keep commenting and let us know if you have any ideas for the show. Any people you want to, you know, get on here stories, send them our way. We're always looking. You can always email at us at info at CWB associationorg or find us on our website, cwb associationorg. Have a great time and we'll stay tuned for the next show.
Speaker 4:Thank you. You've been listening to the CWB association welding podcast with Max Seren. If you enjoyed what you heard today, rate our podcast and visit us at CWB associationorg to learn more. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions on what you'd like to learn about in the future. Produced by the CWB group and presented by Max Seren, this podcast serves to educate and connect the welding community. Do subscribe and thank you for listening.