Training

On Sept. 24, 2015, Local 5 hosted an open house at our brand new, 53,000-square-foot training facility in Lanham, Maryland. UA General President William P. Hite joined Local 5 Business Manager Jim Killeen in a pipe-cutting ceremony to begin the festivities, and an estimated 500 people toured the school.  

The facility includes a 4,800-square-foot welding shop, four plumbing shops, medical gas, fixture, residential plumbing & HVAC service and repair, and blackflow labs, and large classrooms with room for future expansion. The entrance interior features a classic red brick facade and tin ceiling tiles, reminiscent of the early 1900s. Glass cases display various artifacts of the trade, including a wooden water main that dates back to the early 1800s. The highlight is the gas lamps, which resemble those used for street and interior lighting before the advent of electricity. Green technology in use at the facility includes 100-kilowatt photovoltaic solar panels for electrical generation, vacuum tube solar panels for heating of domestic and building water, LED lighting, radiant floor heat, variable refrigerant flow heating and cooling systems, and a state-of-the art rainwater harvesting system. 

At our 125th Anniversary Gala in April 2015, U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez called Local 5 "the gold standard for training and apprenticeship." We agree. Graduates of our apprenticeship program are the best-skilled, most qualified workers, bar none. We aim to keep it that way!

More photos and information can be found on the training facility Facebook page:  

www.facebook.com/local5training.