| Stop
Whining
I
write in response to a letter from Mr. Charlie Hinders, labeled
“No Union Shortages” (ENR 9/29 p. 5). Mr. Hinders
states “Richard Tucker and his friends at ABC have missed
the bus when it comes to this supposed skilled-labor shortage,”
blames contractors for the shortage and states that until
we are willing to increase pay and benefits, we will always
“claim” to have a shortage of skilled labor.
Realistically, there is no
one reason why there is a shortage, and there is a shortage.
In general, young people are not encouraged to enter into
the trades. Half the high schools in my state do not even
offer shop classes anymore! The overall perception is that
if you are in construction, it means you couldn’t get
into college. Finally, I have no affiliation with ABC, but
I am a hard-working contractor who has been frustrated by
employees who want top-dollar pay for next-to-nothing performance.
It is not just about money and
benefits. We need to raise the level of respect for the tradesmen.
Mr. Hinders should quit being so short-sighted and look beyond
“what’s in it for me?” You will see that there
are many reasons for the shortage of skilled labor in construction.
Flawed Concept
Your
cover story on continuing education, “Courses Are Expanding
to Meet Gradually Growing Goals,” completely misses the
point (ENR 10/27 p. 32). The issue is not the quality level
of the courses; the real issue is the entire concept.
There is no doubt that an
engineer needs to educate himself to stay current. Moreover,
unless he happens to have an extremely narrow practice, the
issues he needs to stay current on are diverse and would not
be covered in any single 15-hour course. Rather, this self-education
is achieved by such things as everyday contact with one’s
profession, the research one routinely does when handling
a problem, the study of new codes or regulations as they are
published or contact with manufacturers of equipment. At the
very least, the active practice of one’s profession alerts
one to the need for additional or new information on a subject.
The practitioner may then decide to attend a seminar dealing
with the particular issue or, simply, do more learning and
research on his or her own.
In practice, the formal continuing
education requirement means that everyone tries to find a
course offered at a convenient time and location that does
not cost too much. If the subject matter happens to be of
interest, so much the better. But as long as it is acceptable
for continued registration, its contents and level are of
no real consequence and, in reality, are not being considered.
The only people this system
serves are those who sell their services to satisfy an artificially
created bureaucratic need. Otherwise, it is of benefit neither
to the individual, nor to the public we serve.
|
