KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- — Construction work must continue, despite COVID-19, and, according to one Kansas City metro union, the virus shouldn't discourage people from applying for jobs in the industry.
"A lot of these fringe benefits, especially health and welfare and pension, you have to qualify for those and those all come down to one thing, and it comes down to work hours," Jason Mendenhall, Heavy Construction Laborers' Local 663 president, said.
In order to meet demand, the Construction Industry Laborers' Training Fund is offering 100 online classes to make sure apprentices are still funneled out to job sites. In-person classroom sizes were reduced.
Many online courses are taught via Zoom so members can still receive the instruction they need.
Some of the more hands-on classes for asphalt, concrete and pipe might need to be scheduled at a later date, but Mike White, the training director, said this isn't slowing them down.
"We have a lot of work, a lot of need for new people," White said. "Come this spring, we have a lot of work on the books."
Additional sanitation procedures and safety precautions are being taken to help protect workers from the virus on sites such as the Kansas City International Airport terminal project, Mendenhall said.
"Everybody is brought to the job site in buses," he said. "Those buses are at 50% capacity. Everybody on those buses is required to wear face mask."
The port-a-potties at the KCI job site also are sanitized twice per day.
The need for laborers is higher now, they said, and anyone who was previously laid off due to the pandemic can find work with a union.
"I had a hard time last year just providing apprentices, meaning entry level positions, to contractors," White said. "All that work put on hold during the pandemic has got to get done, so it's going to be there in the spring, as well as the new work."
