Industrial & Engineering Technology: Jason Fierro: Boilermaker
Industrial & Engineering Technology
Jason Fierro: Boilermaker
By Mike Yoshiura
As a kid growing up in the world’s surfing capital, O‘ahu’s North Shore, Jason Fierro never really got into the surf scene. Instead, he was more interested in working with tools and building things with his hands.
His first structural masterpiece was a tree house that he constructed in his backyard with his older brother, who taught him the basics behind using hand tools. When Jason entered the ninth grade, he signed up for auto shop. He enjoyed it so much that he continued it throughout all four years of high school. Since he already knew he was good with his hands, he thought working as a tradesperson would make the most of his practical skills and talent.
CALL WAITING
When he graduated from Waialua High School in 1994, he immediately went down to the Hawai‘i Carpenter’s Union looking to get his professional career rolling. “I never took the time to really consider anything else because I thought it would be easy to find a job,” Jason says. But he was mistaken. “There wasn’t a lot of work at the time,” Jason explains. “They put me on their waiting list. I never got a call from them.”
As an alternative, Jason looked into the Union of Operating Engineers. Like carpentry, this trade turned out to be another dead end.
In the late 1990s, many of the state’s construction companies were forced to make cutbacks, downsizing their staff and taking smaller contracts. “It was something that I hadn’t really planned on. I was at home and out of work. I really needed to find something,” Jason says.
BUILDING A FOUNDATION
In 1999, he got a break. Giordano’s Painting, a sandblasting contractor, called about a vacant laborer’s position. It wasn’t carpentry, but it was a job.
Through his work at Giordano’s Painting, Jason made a lot of solid contacts in the trade industry, including his mentor Gary Aycok. Gary was the assistant business manager for the Boilermakers Union 627. He took notice of Jason’s work ethic and encouraged him to join the union.
“Jason was working with the boilermakers and doing similar work, except without the welding. He handled himself real well,” Gary says. “I encouraged him to join the union because he showed potential, and I knew he had a family to support. There are so many benefits to being a part of the union.”
Jason wasn’t immediately sold on the idea, but after discussing it with his family he thought it was the best thing for them.
THE JOURNEYMAN
Jason joined the Boilermakers Union in December 2005. The 31-year-old recently completed all of his apprenticeship requirements, which included 6,000 hours of on-the-job training and a minimum of 144 classroom hours per year. Through his apprenticeship he learned set-up and assembly rigging, welding, and blueprint reading and layout. And today, he is an official journeyman boilermaker.
Boilermakers make, install and repair boilers, closed vats and other large vessels or containers holding liquid or gas. The boilers heat water or other fluids under extreme pressure, generating electric power or providing heat in buildings and ships. They can also store chemicals, oil and even beer. In addition, boilermakers maintain air pollution equipment, blast furnaces, water treatment plants, storage and process tanks and smoke stacks.
THE DEMANDS
Most boilermakers are highly skilled at using acetylene torches and power grinders, and due to the extreme temperatures of the water and metal, they are always at risk of being severely injured. Although their line of work can be physically exhausting and is often done in cramped quarters that are dark, damp and poorly ventilated, boilermakers are also in high demand.
He often works 12-hour shifts, six days a week, for months at a time. Overtime work is often necessary in order to meet production deadlines. “It’s great, because when I work overtime I get paid time and a half, but it really takes away from your personal life. It’s a sacrifice that I have to make,” he says.
Unlike a decade ago, there is no shortage of work. In fact, Jason finds himself turning down jobs. “They ask me to work month-long projects on the outer islands,” Jason says, “but I turn them down so I can be here with my family.”
