Beyond the routine of meetings and emails lies the true foundation of our success: our people. This month, we’re stopping to get to know our very own Director of Training for a candid Q&A. From their humble beginnings to what keeps them motivated, you’ll see a new side of the person behind the training.
DOT Eric Redding, DC 35
After the recession of the late 1980s, Eric set out to make his mark in the industry, first getting elected as Recording Secretary of his Local and second, being named a foreman to the expansion project of the South Shore Plaza in Braintree Massachusetts. Soon after, he took the role of Part-time instructor at the unions training center, that lead to a full-time position in 1999 and then Director of the program by 2004.
Eric is responsible for the training of up to 4000 members across the four northern New England states. Upon accepting the position, he was tasked with building an additional training center and in the summer of 2005 a new state of the art facility was opened in Brentwood NH.
With a lifelong passion to help others, he was named as part of a unique group inside DC 35 to bring the current registered apprenticeship programs to the U.S. Department of Labor and become an accredited college.
In December of 2017 the FTI of New England became the first Registered Apprenticeship program in the New England Area to become accredited by the U.S Department of Education, thus forever changing the lives of many. If you’ve had the chance to work with Eric most likely you’ve heard him say “my job is to give credit and take the blame”, He believes in the team approach and always works to elevate them.
DOT Q & A
1. What is a part of your trade that the public never sees, but you take the most pride in?
This might sound crazy, but I take pride in the fact that when the job gets hard, I dig in and I don’t want to disappoint. The public will never know the hours we spend in the office getting things done.
2. What did you learn as an instructor?
What allows me to do my job effectively are the relationships we create. Nobody does this job alone.
3. How has the trade/IUPAT changed you as a person?
When I joined this union, I was a kid, I thought I knew everything, I didn’t but I wasn’t afraid of hard work. I grew as a person; the IUPAT & labor movement allowed me to become the person I was supposed to be.
4. What is your best advice to an apprentice?
The hardest part of your career is the beginning; nobody knows you and everything is new. Don’t get disappointed because you can’t do something yet. Get focused and keep moving forward.
5. What is the best piece of advice you received as a DOT?
Stay in your lane
6. When people hear your name ten years from now, how do you want to be remembered?
That I was part of a team that never stopped trying to better the lives of our members, that we did our part to make the labor movement a better place for all workers.
published in the iFTI May newsletter
DOT Kevin Harned, DC 58
DOT Q & A
1. What is a part of your trade that the public never sees, but you take the most pride in?
I am committed to providing opportunities for our members, and ensuring members return home safely to the families who depend on them.
2. What did you learn as an instructor?
Looking back on over two decades in the field, I survived the field on a mix of luck and telling myself “it would be alright”. I placed myself in harm’s way more times than I can count – often without realizing it. Normalization of Deviance is the number one unseen enemy, not just on the job site, but in every aspect of our lives.
Every time I bypass best practices, it establishes a deviant norm that will eventually be tested in the future. We see it in the way we drive, the way we eat, and the way we show up in our relationships—we keep pushing the boundary until the boundary finally breaks.
My goal is to replace that ‘it won’t happen to me’ mindset with the technical mastery and awareness I wish I’d had back then.”
3. How has the trade changed you as a person?
Out of urgent need, I quit high school halfway through my senior year to begin working as a non-union Drywall Finisher and Painter. When I was 19, I was offered an opportunity to work for an IUPAT signatory shop, took it, and have been a member since. This enabled me to purchase my first home at 21 and provide a living, insurance, and pension for my family.
At 30 years old, I took my GED because not having my diploma always bothered me. Some coworkers asked me ‘Why bother?’ They argued that it wouldn’t add a dime to my paycheck as a painter. I told them simply: ‘It’s just something I need to do for myself.’ More than a decade later, my diploma was an essential credential that allowed me to be hired as an IUPAT instructor and step into the role of Director of Training.
4. What is your best advice to an apprentice?
This career can change your life and the lives of those you love, but you have to want it. Only you can decide that.
The best job security you can have is to have the foremen ask for you by name. Be teachable, nobody will fight you to teach you. Be dependable, be on time, and stay off your phone and yes texting is on your phone. If you do not understand what you’re asked to do, ask questions. Do those things and you will have a long career.
5. What is the best piece of advice you received as a DOT?
This is not an hourly job. If you go into it believing that it is, you will be greatly disappointed.
6. When people hear your name ten years from now, how do you want to be remembered?
My goal is to make an impact on the lives of our members. I’m here to make a lasting difference, not just to check boxes or collect a paycheck.
published in the iFTI April newsletter