NEWS ARTICLE –

May 11, 2015

From the desk of Steve Kantoniemi:

Hello All,

On April 25th BAC and the Tile Apprenticeship held its Local Tile Contest to determine who would be representing BAC LOCAL # 3 in this year’s Western States Regional Contest. Here is a little write up on what the tile project consisted of and the winners, as well as those who helped and worked hard to make this year’s competition a great success.

Tile Project for 2015 Apprentice Contest

The project consisted of a typical method W222 Mortar Bed (one Coat Method) on the wall and method F111 Unbounded Mortar Bed on the floor. The walls had 4 1/4″ white body wall tile with a dark green band on both walls and a light green tile simulating a ribbon wrapping around the dark green tile with all tight joint trimmed A106.

The floor was set over a fresh mortar bed using sheet mount 2” x 2” mosaic tile with 1/8” grout joints. Contestants had to show proper technique on layout, float, setting, grouting, caulking, use of tools and cleanliness. Besides the main techniques, the judges had to determine whether the installers had a clean, flat, square and plumb float.

On the tile installation part of the test the installers show proper setting skills on both walls and floor the judges would be looking for the following; smoothness of the tile, proper joint spacing and cutting of tile using a hand cutter (cutting board) as there was no tile saw allowed.

The grouting and finished part of the project was judged for proper grout mixtures using the proper amount of water, washing of walls, joint uniformity, smoothness of the joints, caulked joint uniformity. The judges also checked for any sealants left over on the surface of tile, no grout haze left over on the entire tile project and final appearance.

Winners:

1st Place: David Salas

2nd Place: Ramiro Lopez

3rd Place: Uriel Casas

Best Tile Finisher: Charlie Alarcon

Tile Layer Contestants: Juan Bernal, Ed Parker, Eligio Ramos-Ramirez, Efrain Rodriguez

Tile Finishers helpers: Joseph Borden, Omar Buenrostro, Angel Casillas, Luis Ceja, Jonathan Contreras, Charlie Dunlop, Oscar Garcia, Manuel Hernandez, David Hokett, Jorge Lopez,

Mario Lopez-Contreras, Cenobio Mendoza, Jose Luis Navarro, Jack Smart-Foster, Alfonso Tapia-Orozco.

Judges: Robert Panak, Pablo Rodriguez, Steve Vogel

Spring of 2015 brings us continuing increase in work hours, and some of the lowest out of work membership list to be seen in recent years.

As the Field Representative for San Francisco County and San Mateo County; I am very happy to report that there are more and more PLA projects being approved, along with prevailing wage and high-rise private projects that are committed to being all UNION. There are currently over 40 Cranes that can be seen while driving through the city of San Francisco. Some Projects are coming to a close, while others are just breaking ground. These current and new projects will encompass the majority of all BAC Covered work and crafts. So the outlook for continued work and increased work hours is positive.

With the continued increase in warm weather and summer month’s right around the corner; please remember the importance of staying hydrated and cool. If you are working under the sun for long periods of time; you must allow yourself proper time for Rest, Water and Shade. Keep an eye out for each another; Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke can happen to anyone of us.

Thank you and Regards,

Steve Kantoniemi

BAC LOCAL 3 CA.