Welding classes designed for members of the Stationary Engineers local 39

By Larry L. Harris

Times Staff

San Jose City College is now home to a state of the art welding lab training 30 welding apprentices from Stationary Engineers local 39.

Vice President of Administrative Affairs, Jorge Escobar said in the first issue 2016 of its monthly newsletter “The Campus View” that, “I believe that the combination of welding stations, welding equipment, and fume extraction system is perhaps the only one of this kind in the West Coast.”

The class is career centered developing real world problem solving skills

“I really like the Class and I hope to get proficient in welding all sorts of structural steel.The program is good, it is informative, you get a lot of lab time.It is real hands on and is beneficial to the companies we work for because you learn to do the things you have to do on the job.”

According to Associate Dean of Career & Technical Education, Maniphone Dickerson and citing from the California Labor Department, the Occupational outlook for welding skills is robust with:

–         2014-2015 total number employed in welding occupations: 6,400 just in the Bay Area

–         2016 projections for welding occupations: 1,874 for California with projection of total openings for the Bay Area estimated at 30-35 percent (560-650)

–      2017-2022 projections for welding occupations: 30,600 for California with projection of total welding occupational annual openings of 930.  The Bay Area welding occupation projection is at 30-35 percent (279-325 welding occupation annual openings.)

Dickerson went on to state the midrange starting salaries begin in the mid to high $60,000 range. The current welding programs consist of three welding classes designed for members of the Stationary Engineers local 39 as part of their apprentice program. The program will eventually evolve into an AS degree in welding and be open to all interested students.