Cement Masons Joint Apprenticeship Program

Applications For the apprenticeship program sponsored by the Cement Masons Joint Apprenticeship Committee are accepted Monday through Friday (except holidays) between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. daily in the Apprenticeship Office for the Cement Masons, at the Construction Training School, 6301 Knox Industrial Drive, St. Louis, Missouri, 63139. The telephone number is 314-644-1550. Click here to begin your application online.

To apply for the apprenticeship classes, you must be 18 years of age and present valid photo identification. Prior to making application anyone may read the Cement Masons Apprenticeship Standards, which are available in the application office. After satisfactorily completing the application requirements, all applicants are given a list of signatory contractors to solicit for employment.

Those who find a cement mason apprentice job with a contractor must present a letter to the school on company stationary stating that the contractor agrees to hire them as a cement mason apprentice. This letter is called a letter of intent to hire. When the letter of intent is brought to the school, the applicant will be scheduled for drug testing. Upon receiving negative test results, the apprenticeship agreement will be signed. This agreement registers the person with the United States Department of Labor as a Cement Mason apprentice.

Before starting work, new apprentices will report to Cement Masons Local #527 union hall to apply for union membership and pay initiation fee. At this time apprentices may report to their contractor for scheduled work. Apprentices are notified by mail to report for training in school. Training classes are December thru March, 1 Week Monday thru Friday at a time, for 8 hours a day, excluding holidays. Cement Mason apprentices are scheduled into school for a MINIMUM of 160 hours annually for three years.

Periodically, a form is mailed to all active applicants who have not entered the program to determine whether they are still interested. Those who reply remain active. The records of those who do not reply or those applicants who reply but indicate they are no longer interested are placed inactive.

All inactive records remain in storage for five years and are then destroyed.
If the applicant wishes to return to the active position after being placed inactive, the applicant may do so by notifying the school. This must be done within the five-year period or a new application will have to be completed including the pre-apprenticeship requirements.

Each apprentice term constitutes an individual’s accumulation of various requirements as listed below. While training is primarily competency based, OPCMIA rules for Apprenticeship and Training require a minimum of 3 years and 3600 hours of on the job training.

References

If you’re interested in finding out more about the Cement Mason trade or apprenticeship, look up “Cement Mason” in the Occupational Outlook Handbook, published by the U.S. Department of Labor.