Good day Brothers and Sisters

Recently there has been some confusion regarding Red Seal Certification and Local 110.

The Insulation trade became Red Seal Certified in 1991. Since that time there has been little notice of this certification by contractors, clients, and engineers when it came to our trade. However this is starting to change.

Engineering groups have been adding the requirement for “Red Seal Journeyman and Registered Apprentices” for installation of mechanical systems for a number of years. This specification is usually followed and checked for most mechanical trades on a project. However for insulation this specification is over looked due to the lack of knowledge of our trade by general contractors, as such most of this work is being performed by nonunion contractors. A number of Local throughout the United States have used similar wording in the mechanical specifications on capital projects to have nonunion contractors replaced with signatory contractors.

Clients have started to ask about the percentage of Red Seal Journeyman, Certified Journeyman, and Non Certified Journeyman that make up the membership of Local 110. Certification is an easy benchmark when comparing Union labour to Non Union labour and the cost of labour on a project.

As such Local 110 in partnership with the Insulator Training Trust of Alberta, have put in place reimbursement for the cost of obtaining Red Seal Certification for all Journeyman members of Local 110 and are currently developing a Red Seal Upgrading Course for Local 110 Journeyman. These steps are being taken so that Journeyman members that want to obtain this certification will not have a financial burden or lack of formal training standing in the way. If you are a Brown card Journeyman through our International you have already completed all the prerequisites that Alberta Industry Training require for the Red Seal Certification.

In no way is it mandatory to obtain the Red Seal Certification.