Related Articles
Related Articles
ETOP Opens Doors Wide May 2001 IBEW Journal At superb training facilities across the United States, IBEW members are putting the power of education to work through a program called ETOP. The Enhanced Training Opportunities Program, Inc. - a joint labor-management skills training and education organization - is building on a 15-year record of great success. Widely acclaimed for its excellence, ETOP's mission is to serve as a "Bridge to a Brighter Future" for IBEW members and their employers. Currently serving some 16,000 IBEW manufacturing members, ETOP is now emerging into a multi-employer program - and opening its doors to even more IBEW members. "We are pleased to announce that ETOP is now available to all IBEW manufacturing locals and their members," International President Edwin D. Hill told those gathered for the IBEW Manufacturing Conference in Chicago, Illinois, on February 28, 2001. ETOP has received the praise of industry, labor, government representatives and academia. A joint non-profit organization of the IBEW and participating employers, the training program was established in 1986 as a product of collective bargaining between the IBEW and AT&T Corp. Initially, it was created exclusively for members of the locals that were part of IBEW System Council EM-3, employed by AT&T's manufacturing operations. Since 1986 ETOP's customer base has evolved as AT&T spun off its manufacturing operations to establish Lucent Technologies. With the current and projected future spin-offs of multiple Lucent properties, ETOP is expanding on a multi-employer basis. As of October 1, 2000, ETOP's charter and bylaws were amended to permit all IBEW manufacturing members to participate. "Now that ETOP has become a multi-employer organization, I urge all IBEW local unions to become part of ETOP," said International President Hill. "Through education and training we can prepare our members for tomorrow's jobs. In an era of plant closings and movement of industrial jobs to other nations, ETOP is a valuable method to provide a more secure future." A World-Class Training Organization Emerging technologies, global competition, mergers, acquisitions, deregulation, trade liberalization, spin-offs ... today's business world and the manufacturing sector are characterized by rapid change on every front. For working people and their employers, the challenge of competing on the world stage, combined with the acceleration of electronic business practices, requires a strong emphasis on workplace skills training. "Providing training and up-to-date occupational skills for manufacturing workers is not an option - it's a necessity," said International President Hill. "ETOP has developed into a world class training organization, and I am proud of its efforts on behalf of our manufacturing members." Administration of ETOP The streamlined administrative structure within ETOP results in the ability to implement new programs quickly - from conceptualization to development and from assembly of materials to classroom deployment. Headquartered near Chicago in Itasca, Illinois, ETOP is governed by a Board of Directors comprising an equal number of IBEW representatives and company representatives. It is professionally managed by two co-executive directors. The IBEW members on the board are International President Hill, Manufacturing Department Director Robert Stander, International Representative Michael D. Quinlan and System Council EM-3 President Stephen Lynn. The co-executive directors - Nick M. Falcone, from the IBEW, and William J. Dussling, from Lucent Technologies - implement the policies set by the Board of Directors by managing the day-to-day affairs of the program. They consult with professionals within IBEW and participating partner companies, as well as with recognized sources in the fields of education, industrial psychology and vocational training. The directors oversee and direct the efforts of the Enhanced Learning Centers with the assistance and collaboration of the local joint and administrative committees. ETOP Creates New Opportunities For employees who haven't had the opportunity or the resources to pursue their education dreams, ETOP represents the threshold to an enhanced career and future. The program provides workplace skills instruction, computer skills development and academic-career counseling specifically designed for IBEW manufacturing workers. A comprehensive program that enhances a company's future through the development of its employees, ETOP can easily be customized to suit specific needs. ETOP courses are designed to provide IBEW represented employees with learning experiences that: expand their occupational and communication skills, increase their knowledge of relevant and emerging technologies, and create new opportunities for professional and personal growth. To date, ETOP has funded more than 150,000 career development courses in a diverse spectrum of fields ranging from electronics, clerical, technical, computer training and health care - to management, accounting, APICS, personal development and basic refresher courses. "We cover everything from basic skills to GED, to computer skills, electronics, associate degrees," said ETOP Co-Executive Director Falcone. "Anything that might be of value in an employment situation, we do it." ETOP currently operates 12 fully staffed Enhanced Learning Centers, generally located at the workplace site within steps of the manufacturing plant floor. They serve as one-stop career centers staffed by a local labor-management committee, professional skills-training and computer instructors, and academic-career counselors. All centers are equipped with state-of-the-art computers, multimedia stations, classrooms, study carrels and extensive resource libraries. The Enhanced Learning Centers are ideally suited environments to accommodate basic skill development and occupational training sessions, secondary school skills classes and undergraduate college courses. And because ETOP makes every effort to schedule courses at convenient times, either before or after shift changes, employees can go to class and to work without leaving the building. ETOP Enhanced Learning Centers provide easy access to:
These services make it possible for employees to be successful in their present positions and to work toward attaining their future goals. IBEW members praise ETOP for its onsite convenience, quality of instruction and excellent academic-career counselors. One of ETOP's priorities is to make education an enjoyable and valuable experience for everyone who participates. "It's important to make ETOP easily available because we are dealing with adult learners," said ETOP Co-Executive Director Dussling. "They have their own lifestyles .... their own commitments. They are taking training on their own time, so it has to be a reliable convenience to fit it into their lives." Training Provides Marketable, Portable Skills While ETOP provides a wide variety of success stories within the company, it also has served as a valuable resource for many former Lucent employees by helping them develop the kind of marketable skills they needed in order to rebound quickly from downsizing situations. "ETOP provides both skills that increase opportunities for advancement with a current employer and also portable skills that an employee can take to a new job in the event of an involuntary separation," said IBEW Manufacturing Department Director Stander. "ETOP equips IBEW members with skills that enhance advancement potential in their current workplace, as well as skills that are marketable and provide portability within manufacturing." Some ETOP participants have even gone on to begin totally new careers. In Shreveport, Louisiana, one former Lucent employee in the ETOP program has since become an elementary school teacher, and another is now a registered nurse. Both of them praise ETOP for making their career changes possible. Academic Partnerships Keeping in step with industry trends, ETOP engages the highest caliber instructors and programs to provide the most up-to-date training. The program has established academic partnerships with leading local colleges, vocational institutes and major universities across the United States. Through these academic alliances, ETOP has assembled professional, full-time faculty to staff each Enhanced Learning Center. The academic partners provide on-site courses and individualized counseling, and they serve as a conduit to other colleges and universities. Business Partnerships To date, ETOP's business partnerships include Lucent Technologies, the market-leading maker of telephone equipment, as well as Lucent spin-offs Avaya Communications and Agere Systems, Inc. Company executives offer high praise for ETOP's focus on enhancing a company's future through the development of its employees. "We look to our employees to continuously educate themselves, to upgrade their capabilities," said John Dickson, Agere Systems president and CEO. "The ETOP capability is very, very powerful in providing the facility for people to continuously upgrade their knowledge, their understanding." "The future is all about having ... people who understand evolving technologies, people who can learn and adapt continuously. And the match of ETOP with that requirement [is excellent]." In addition, ETOP provides training that enables workers to meet recently established Manufacturing Skill Standards, said Stander. "ETOP has tremendous credibility with both workers and management. They trust the program." "ETOP affects the work force, the employer, the union in some surprising ways," noted Falcone. "In fact, in many instances relations have been better between labor and management because of the cooperative efforts of ETOP." Local Joint Training & Administrative Committees Each location represented by the IBEW has established a Joint Local ETOP Committee (LEC) whose membership consists equally of union and management representatives. The committees assess the training needs at their location, administer the application process for funding and oversee the effectiveness of the training programs. They survey local employment requirements, evaluate job skill qualifications for available job openings and match ETOP educational opportunities with job market needs. For more information about ETOP, contact ETOP Co-Executive Director Nick Falcone at (630) 250-9440, or IBEW Manufacturing Director Robert Stander at (202) 728-6149. Explore ETOP's web site at www.etop.org.
|
|
