Micron needs electricians — big time. Union is on it.

Local 43 is building a $7M class space addition and doubling its training program.

Rick Moriarty rmoriarty@syracuse.com

After 10 years as a cable TV installer, Shannon Thomas decided it was time for a career change. The rapid growth of streaming television services might one day make cable obsolete, he figured.

So he chose a trade that is sure to have a bright future in Central New York — electrician. He’s now finishing the first of what will be four years of classroom and on-the-job training as an apprentice with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 43 in Clay.

“We provide the power for all the other construction trades,” said Thomas, 44, of Syracuse. “Everything has to be plugged in these days.”

Demand for electricians is expected to soar in the next few years. Micron Technology, the country’s largest maker of computer memory, is going to need up to 2,000 electricians to build its giant semi-conductor plant in Clay and up to 600 full-time electricians to help operate and maintain the high-tech complex once it’s built, according to the IBEW.

To help meet that demand, Local 43 is planning to expand in a big way. With help from a $1 million state grant, the union is to begin construction in August on a $7 million addition that will nearly double its classroom capacity at its training center on Waterhouse Road in Clay.

The union operates a 12,160-square-foot classroom building and a 6,000-square-foot hands-on training facility a five-minute drive from White Pine Commerce Park, where Micron plans to build a memory-chip fabrication facility employing up to 9,000 people. The union accepts 50 people a year into the program to replace those who graduate to journey-level status after five years. (The term “journeyman" comes from the fact that trades people traditionally must travel, or “journey,” to many different job sites.)

Alan Marzullo, Local 43’s business agent, said the union plans to double that to more than 100 new apprentices a year while shortening the training program from five years to four.

Marzullo said the addition will add 8,470 square feet to the classroom building.

Local 43 has 1,500 members, including its apprentices. More than 40 contractors in the union’s 11-county territory, including Onondaga County, have agreements with the union to hire its members for their construction projects, which include hospitals, schools, distribution centers, manufacturing buildings and residential developments.

Marzullo said Micron has told the union it will need from 1,000 to 2,000 electricians while constructing its chip plant.

After construction, it will need 400 to 600 full-time electricians to help operate and maintain the giant facility, he said.

GROWTH GOALS
Local 43 hopes to eventually double or even triple its membership to help meet the needs of Micron, the many sup-ply-chain companies that Micron is expected to draw to the area and those of the union’s existing clients for electricians. “Our goal is to grow,” Marzullo said. Micron says it will begin construction on its chip fabrication plant next year and start production in 2026. It will take years, though, to double or triple Local 43’s membership. In the meantime, Local 43 will draw traveling members from other IBEW chapters throughout the country to help meet Micron’s needs.

Marzullo said he expects some of the union electricians who come from elsewhere to work on the Micron project will make Central New York their home and join Local 43, helping the union meet its goal of expanding its membership.

“We’re anticipating that,” he said. Apprentices like Thomas attend eight hours of classroom and hands-on training at the center on Waterhouse Road one day a week. The other four days of the work week, they work at job sites under the supervision of experienced electricians. While working, they are paid by the employers at base hourly rates ranging from $17.60 to $35.20, depending on their apprenticeship level. The pay ranges from $31.72 to $65.33 an hour when benefits consisting of pension, annuity and health insurance are included.

After five years (soon reduced to four years), apprentices graduate from the training program, becoming master electricians who can work without supervision. Applications to become an apprentice can be filed online at the union’s website.

COMPETITIVE APPLICATION PROCESS
Entry into the training program is highly competitive. About 500 people a year apply, which in the past has meant an acceptance rate of only 10%. That rate could rise as the union accepts more people into the program.

Applicants for the apprenticeship program must be 17 to apply and 18 to work. They must provide a copy of their high school or GED transcripts. Prior electrical experience is not required, but applicants must pass a basic reading comprehension test and a 9th-grade-level math test.

Applicants who pass the reading and math competency tests are interviewed by a committee of three Local 43 mem- bers and three contractors. They are then ranked based on the testing and interviews. Those with the highest rankings are accepted into the program. Marzullo said the union looks for people who work well with others and can be counted on to get to job sites on time.

“We look for someone who is team-oriented,” Marzullo said. “You don’t have to have any electrical experience because we’re going to teach you that.”

PATHWAYS TO APPRENTICESHIP
Local 43, which was founded 126 years ago, has been working with Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh’s administration to attract women, people of color and veterans to its apprenticeship program.
It helped to design the city’s Pathways to Apprenticeship program, an 11-week course that prepares city residents for building trades’ apprenticeship programs.
Thomas is among the first 100 people to go through the pathways program and one of six who have entered Local 43’s apprenticeship program after graduation.
He said the program, which included a field trip to the IBEW training center, helped him decide he wanted to be an electrician.
“I’m 44, and if I can get a good solid 20 years in, I’ll be well off,” he said. “The pay and benefits are good. Overall, it’s a great job.”