Apprenticeship Redux

I love it here at SSGM when readers give us feedback. E-mails and letters are always welcome, whether you agree with my opinions or not, and my column about the problems of apprenticeship in the automotive aftermarket certainly struck some raw nerves. Judging by the reactions, I feel it’s time to lay out the facts as I see them, especially in the new economic climate of 2009. What is the point of apprenticeship? There are many. The primary one is training that leads to journeyman/master certification, as in other skilled trades. For society as a whole, it means better quality service and for the trade itself, a limit on entry to the trade, keeping up wages. But does it do these things?

Wages

Light vehicle repair, relative to other skilled trades, is woefully underpaid, especially considering the safety critical nature of much of the work. Why? The industry has suffered chronic labour shortages for years; in most professions, shortages boost wages and improve working conditions. Neither the pay nor the working conditions make this an attractive trade today, despite attempts to convince young people today.

Training

Ask any shop owner today about the job readiness of apprentices and they’ll tell you that the real training happens on the shop floor. Few high school and community college programs can keep up with the current pace of technological progress in light vehicle technology and newly minted techs can expect to sit next to veterans in the continuing education training sessions needed to stay current today. Training is a lifelong part of the trade and most of it will continue to come from non-institutional providers. I’ll bet that a kid with strong computer skills but “stone hands” could be trained into a valuable and productive diagnostician in today’s shop environment without ever taking a formal automotive tech class.

Service

Here in Southern Ontario, a huge proportion of mainstream service work like brakes, exhaust and ride control, are performed by installers working for mass-market franchise operations. While there’s a “Class A” somewhere in the shop, count how many are doing the work in the trenches. It’s been suggested for years that anyone who does anything under the hoist should be licensed. No politician, in Ontario at least, would dare try that kind of legislation, if for no other reason than there’s no evidence that there’s a safety issue with the current system. And this doesn’t even begin to address the huge number of “back yarders” and illegal shops all over the country.

What’s the answer? Surely not more of the same system that we’re using right now. I think we need to rethink training and start qualifying techs system by system, but then require that training for each type of job. Brake and muffler shops should have certified brake and muffler techs, without the need to train them in systems they’ll never service. Let young techs earn more qualifications as they work, until they have enough “merit badges” to earn journeyman or master status. If they’re happy with a career as an A/C specialist or an engine control software diagnostician, let them tailor their training to suit. I could care less if the kid balancing my tires knows fuel injection, but I’d like to know he understands tires. In fact, what I’m talking about is really already here, at thousands of brake and muffler shops, box stores and underground garages across the country, except without any training or control at all. We need to do something, or the trade will die of old age … and the current system just isn’t working.

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So what do we have? A training system that prepares young techs for low wages and poor working conditions, and yet more training, often at their own expense.