Mike Rowe testifies before US Senate about the skilled trades

[intocarss]

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[Track Junky]

There certainly isn't a shortage of skilled labor in Northern California and I dont think I'll be moving to Alabama in this life time.

I do appreciate him giving us recognition though.

[Vegas69]

I watched this video a month ago or so. The biggest point I took from it was the fact that most kids don't grow up wanting to be plumbers, electricians, etc. anymore. It's like the country looks down their nose at the hard working laborers in our society. We all can't be Bill Gates and we need skilled workers. I thought it was an excellent point. I also feel that things will start going back that way naturally in our NEW reality.

[GregWeld]

Wow -- That's really powerful in a very simple kind of way. And so dang true!


My son is always hot for me to BUY some exotic car... and I've always told him that doing that is for guys that don't have the skills to build their own... But I was really saying to him -- IMHO it's better and enjoyable to do it yourself if you can. And he knows I'm the kind of guy that never calls the plumber... I go out to the shed grab a bucket of tools and fix whatever it is that needs fixing. My friends think I'm an idiot.... well....and a lowlife... :lol:

[Musclerodz]

Wow -- That's really powerful in a very simple kind of way. And so dang true!


My son is always hot for me to BUY some exotic car... and I've always told him that doing that is for guys that don't have the skills to build there own... But I was really saying to him -- IMHO it's better and enjoyable to do it yourself if you can. And he knows I'm the kind of guy that never calls the plumber... I go out to the shed grab a bucket of tools and fix whatever it is that needs fixing. My friends think I'm an idiot.... well....and a lowlife... :lol:No, your just still grounded and they are the disconnect Rowe is speaking of. Kudos to you.:thumbsup:

[GregWeld]

I watched this video a month ago or so. The biggest point I took from it was the fact that most kids don't grow up wanting to be plumbers, electricians, etc. anymore. It's like the country looks down their nose at the hard working laborers in our society. We all can't be Bill Gates and we need skilled workers. I thought it was an excellent point. I also feel that things will start going back that way naturally in our NEW reality.



Dude! I thought maybe Kelli took your keyboard away.... Good to see you still have some manhood intact and can post once in awhile. :cheers: :woot:

[Vegas69]

Been busy living that American Dream. :lol:

[Bucketlist2012]

It seems like the days of learning from your neighbor down the street, how to change your clutch, or how to install a manifold, or a faucet, or a Light fixture are gone...

The days of the Metal Shop, Wood Shop, Auto Shop days are gone.

[Sieg]

I watched this video a month ago or so. The biggest point I took from it was the fact that most kids don't grow up wanting to be plumbers, electricians, etc. anymore. It's like the country looks down their nose at the hard working laborers in our society. We all can't be Bill Gates and we need skilled workers. I thought it was an excellent point. I also feel that things will start going back that way naturally in our NEW reality.

A friend along time ago said "face it the fact is not everyone is college material, more are canidates for tech schools than college" I've never forgotten that. The US labor market is way over-priced and under-skilled and I believe much of that is due to lack of competition in the market place. The lack of balance impacts the white collar ranks with over-saturation. The expectation on kids to go get a college education puts a lot of stress on them as well. The one's that are college material end up with a career and peace of mind, the one's that aren't quite there end up working their butt off to be mediocre when they could have had a skilled trade education that rewarded daily with a sense of accomplishment and personal pride for a job well done. There needs to be a paradigm shift, but the colleges are big money machines that will fight that shift.

I watched that video a while ago and wanted to shake his hand and buy him a beer.

[CRCRFT78]

It seems like the days of learning from your neighbor down the street, how to change your clutch, or how to install a manifold, or a faucet, or a Light fixture are gone...

Isn't that the truth. The damn city ordinances are killing most chances of this being passed on neighbor to neighbor or father to son. I've been rebuilding the front suspension of my truck and have it sitting on jackstands in my driveway 15 feet from the curb. Not only did I get a citation to move it or else, but I also got a "friendly" visit from the city enforcement police about it. WTF, some of these people should be proud to see someone having enough pride to take care of their possessions.

Kids don't have much to look forward to as far as the trades go in school. Its sad really.

[youthpastor]

I watched this video a month ago or so. The biggest point I took from it was the fact that most kids don't grow up wanting to be plumbers, electricians, etc. anymore. It's like the country looks down their nose at the hard working laborers in our society. We all can't be Bill Gates and we need skilled workers. I thought it was an excellent point. I also feel that things will start going back that way naturally in our NEW reality.

right on the money Todd

[Spiffav8]

Mike Rowe has it right. There's nothing wrong with getting in and getting dirty. It's clean, honest work that one can be proud of and take pride in.

[GregWeld]

When I was in high school - there was a trade school called Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland Oregon where I lived -- I wanted to get in there so bad... but you actually kind of had to get kicked out of a regular high school to go there! WTF.... It's turned into a regular school now.

[Flash68]

There certainly isn't a shortage of skilled labor in Northern California and I dont think I'll be moving to Alabama in this life time.



Ha, you got that right. Although it's been harder and harder to find good qualified skilled trades people in the last few months. A step in the right direction here locally.


The biggest point I took from it was the fact that most kids don't grow up wanting to be plumbers, electricians, etc. anymore. It's like the country looks down their nose at the hard working laborers in our society.

Todd, you and I know the good ole Midwest appreciates blue collar labor as much as anyone, but I agree with you as far as the nation as a whole.

There is also a big problem with this country's lack of work ethic in these skilled trades (I have been in the construction recruiting/staffing business for 13 years now in Northern Calif) and it ain't getting any better here. And the sense of entitlement for the available jobs out there is all too common. I don't want to segue too far off here, but the people that relocate from the countries south of us for many of these skilled trades are just as skilled and have a superior work ethic overall. That's a big problem I've seen for years.

[Bucketlist2012]

Ha, you got that right. Although it's been harder and harder to find good qualified skilled trades people in the last few months. A step in the right direction here locally.




Todd, you and I know the good ole Midwest appreciates blue collar labor as much as anyone, but I agree with you as far as the nation as a whole.

There is also a big problem with this country's lack of work ethic in these skilled trades (I have been in the construction recruiting/staffing business for 13 years now in Northern Calif) and it ain't getting any better here. And the sense of entitlement for the available jobs out there is all too common. I don't want to segue too far off here, but the people that relocate from the countries south of us for many of these skilled trades are just as skilled and have a superior work ethic overall. That's a big problem I've seen for years.
Without getting off topic, the attitude of many now days "feels" like they deserve better...Better ?? Top Mechanics,Plumbers, and Electricians, do pretty well.

I have worked for years in the Solar business in Northern California.. Plumbing and electrical in high, steep, Dangerous places.. Doing the work on the ground is child's play..

So you want to teach BOTH Plumbing, and Electrical to new people while they train, and work... What a bunch of Lazy bums... most cannot hack working at all, let alone self starting, thinking on the fly, problem solving, critical thinking, multi tasking...ZERO..

This isn't McDonalds!!! This is a Skill you can take to any other industry...Home Electric or plumbing. Car work... Life skills...fixing your own Home...Oh wait, they will never have one because they are TOO lazy, and entitled.

My God, Doctors are plumbers and electricians...Of the Body... I have a plumber, a Cardiologist, and an electrician, my neurologist...

Knowing things is cool, can save you money, and can make you income...

Youth of America....HELLO...:willy: :willy: :cheers: :lateral:

[LS1-IROC]

That was a great speech!

[SWAPMEETCRAZY]

^^^^^x2..........Could see my now 24 yr old was plenty smart for 4 year college but not patient --So we sat down after high school and discussed it--He had gotten the TOPS program grant (state money for top grads) so we decided a local trade school would work better for him.....stayed out 1st semester after H.S. and worked and then completed 2 years of trade school in plant processing (While working also) ...........Just got on permanent job in local polymer plant ....in 1 1/2 years will be fully vested at $33 hr. I'm like Greg ...U talk to them---then see if the plan works--they always stray ....but I consider it my job as father to steer him to a better situation so HE can make his future..NOT me give him everything ...nobody learns from that.......my 2 cents.....jim

[WSSix]

I didn't graduate college until 30. I tell people college is where you find out what you want to do with your life. You may find out college is not it and there's nothing wrong with that. I graduated from UGA at the same time my friend graduated from Athens Tech. I have a mech engr degree and he has his physical therapist's degree. He's also only two months older than me. Our first years out, he's making basically the same as me and can go higher as well. His degree was only a two year degree and he was the only one in that class that didn't already have a four year degree. There was even a person with a masters degree in his class.

Also, my job is engineer in title only. Most of my counterparts have high school diplomas or a two year tech degree. You can go to any of the boom areas right now and make 100k a year easily doing my job or even just being an operator which is basically a laborer. You'll have to work long and hard hours though. You'll be away from your family too. You'll also have potential to move up. All that with a simple two year degree or a work ethic and willingness to better yourself.

[CarlC]

There are only two car guys on my block. Want to guess which two guys everyone else on the block turns to when something stops working in their house? Yeah, and were the one with the smelly, loud, obnoxious cars in the Nazi Homeowners Association neighborhood. Go figure.

I deal almost exclusively with heavy industry customers. In just about every case there is a ton of both skilled and tribal knowledge that is being lost because there are not enough skilled younger workers that hang on long enough to get the hands-on education from the journeymen that is sorely needed. Those that do stay are few and far between, and they have to be paid well to stay. Let's face it, working hard in a dirty, loud, hazardous environment is not for everyone, so you have to pay to keep the good ones. The journeymen are retiring faster than they can be replaced.

There has been a movement afoot at several major manufacturers to go back to the old-school training programs. They have found it cheaper to have their own formalized training program that teaches their workers exactly what they need to know to get their jobs done right. It does pay in the end, since at $1M/day downtime it does not take much of a mistake to be upside-down in the +/- columns.

I've also always though it funny that some people will poo-poo a job, say a plumber for instance, that is until the poop starts floating around on the floors, and then all of the sudden they are begging the plumber for relief.

[GregWeld]

^^^^^^ Carl -- That sounds like when I used to do fireworks.... everybody wanted to come out and do a fireworks show ------ and some would even last part of a day! Hot as hell - humid - hot steel and sand and rust - you're covered with it - we call it getting corn dogged.... working inside a 40' trailer that's stacked with mortars... spent gun powder... and bits of paper from last years show - all black and stinky... No air movement whatsoever... and it's 50* hotter in the trailer than out in the hot sun... OH -- and you have about 10 days of that from 7AM til 5 or 6 at night...

Or trying to build a show in Denver for the Winter Olympics... and you're fingers don't work....

Or carrying EVERYTHING UP 6 flights of stairs to do a show on the roof of the Treasure Island in Las Vegas... and then carrying everything DOWN those same stairs after the show is done... the only good news - we shot the shells... but all the mortars and racks and cables and controllers....

Some guys would work one whole show --- then you never saw them or heard from them again... ONE AND DONE. :woot:

[Vegas69]

I've done manual labor, a lot of it. I was a contruction laborer digging holes, running a jack hammer, etc. Unloaded trucks and stocked shelves at a grocery store. A lot attendent at a car dealership mowing the lawn, taking out the trash, cleaning the shop, boxing up transmissions, etc. I've worked on farms doing misc. work. I was an auto mechanica for a few years.

One thing I miss about those jobs is the satisfaction of accomplishing a task every day. Notice none of those jobs require spending 3/4 of your day staring at a bleepin computer either. There are many days I stare out my office window wishing technology wasn't such a large force in my business.

It ain't all peaches and cream on the professional side.

[Track Junky]

These times are definitely not like the old. I spent my earliest years as a Union residential framer in the Bay Area and we had to bust are butts to keep our jobs due to the high costs of labor for these framing companies being affiliated with the Unions and paying into our annuities, vacation, and health care.
Back in the day as a youngster in the trade I remember getting yelled at alot to hoof it and I kept my mouth shut, busted my butt, watched and learned. I was lucky enough to work with some talented journeyman and they would always ask for me when they needed help.
Today I can cut roofs and stairs with the best of them. I've got a ton of plumb and line tricks and my work is second to none. Laying out foundations from property pins and nailing the elevations is fun also.
As a suprintendent I let alot of guys go if they weren't hoofing it. Why? Because thats how I was brought up in the trade.
I never had to wait around in the hall for a job because the companies I worked for new I busted my ass.

Today anything residential is non-union. Only the commercial and Public works projects are Union and the costs of these projects have quadrupled mainly due to job safety requirements which is not a bad thing.

I think about my childrens future and wonder how they will see things in the future. My main concern is that they are happy in whatever they choose to do in life but one thing they know for sure is that there are no free rides.

It's a parents responsibility to teach their kids the realities of life.

[GregWeld]

I always told my kids -- "get a college education" -- then if you want to drive a truck for a living, or be a cop or a fireman... fine... but at least be doing that because it's what you WANT TO not because you have to. Big difference in my book.

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

John has been trying to bring this to our attention for years, and it really is a scary thougth, especially when you hear his reasoning at the end.. It is undeniable, but we go out of way to ignore it..



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[Sieg]

We need to see more tables being turned like in the last segment of this video:
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:patriot: