60 Years of Excellence - glancing back at where we came from

It was 1948, bread was 10 cents a loaf and Boilermakers earned $1.40 an hour. The country was emerging from World War II with a vision of a bright future. It was with this vision that sixty three men at the Sparling Davis plant in Edmonton voted to join the National Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Iron Ship Builders of America.

On May 12, 1948, The National Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Iron Ship Builders of America granted a Subordinate Lodge Charter to form Local Lodge 146. National Vice President Archie Milligan, who had spearheaded the organizing drive, installed the charter at a special called meeting in June 1948. Gerry Carr acted as temporary Chairman while the membership elected Brother St.Pierre as the first President and Brother Neil McEwen as Recording Secretary.

The discovery of Leduc #1 in February 1947 had created an economic chain reaction that was to bring new opportunities for Boilermakers in Alberta. New refineries and petrochemical plants were under construction and new power plants had to be built to meet the growing industrial needs. Contractors such as Sparling & Davis, Foster Wheeler, T.I.W., Kellogg and Burns & Dutton were employing Boilermakers from Lodge 146 and the little local grew. In 1952 Brother Ray Weeden was elected to be the first Business Manager of the Lodge.

By this time the wage rate for Boilermakers in Construction had risen to $2.20 an hour but the boom had begun to slow. It was to remain that way until the early 1960s when construction at Dow Chemical in Fort Saskatchewan and at Wabamun Power Plant began. In 1964 construction began on the Great Canadian Oil Sands project in Fort McMurray. It was the world’s first major oil-mining complex and employed a peak workforce of 4,000 tradesmen during construction. By the end of the 1960s, the Lodge employed business representatives to meet the needs of a growing membership and discussions began on building a suitable home for the Lodge.

The early 1970s was a period of huge growth for the Lodge. In 1971, the membership endorsed the Executive’s recommendation to purchase our first location at 14705-116 Avenue. In 1972, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Lodge 146 purchased our 1^st building for $110,000 and paid off the $70,000 mortgage five years later in 1977.

A training coordination was hired and in February 1972 the first training class was held at the hall. Lodge 146 has produced the winner of the National Apprenticeship Competition: Ken Fredericksen, National Champion in 1995, went on to become the first Canadian to win the International Championship in Kansas City and Curtis Booth took top honours at the 1998 National Competition.

In July of 1973, the members of Lodge 392 in Calgary voted overwhelmingly to join forces with Lodge 146, with the main Lodge in Edmonton and sub-office, complete with training facilities, in Calgary. The growth continued as construction began on the massive Syncrude Oil Sands project which at the peak of construction employed 7,900 construction workers. In 1976 the Lodge was granted an extension of its territorial limits to include the District of Mackenzie in the Northwest Territories. By 1978 the rate for Journeymen Boilermakers had reached $12.21 per hour.

The late 1970s and early 1980s saw the economy slide rapidly. After the huge boom of the early 1970s, the recession hit Alberta with a vengeance. New construction dropped off sharply and the demand for skilled construction workers diminished, however the Boilermakers persevered, doing maintenance work on plants they had constructed many years before.

In spite of the faltering economy, the membership continued to look to the future. A computer system was installed in 1982, making Lodge 146 one of the first in Canada to enter the computer age. New training programs were developed to ensure that Lodge 146 members were among the best trained in the country. The Lodge was able to not only survive the downturn of the 1980s, but was able to move forward at a time when many organizations were struggling to stay alive. Much of this can be attributed to the “Can Do” spirit of the Boilermakers. The membership’s reputation of getting the job done on time, the first time has won the respect of contractor and client alike. In 1994, the members of Boilermakers Lodge 146 were nominated by Horton C.B.I. and subsequently awarded the International “Can-Do” Spirit award for completing the construction of two storage tanks at Suncor on schedule, on budget and without lost time incidents.

Working with contractors and clients, the Lodge continues to expand its horizon to secure the future of its members.

In 2002 our members invested in a world-class training and administrative facilities, in both Edmonton and Calgary, to provide security and stability for Local 146 for many years to come. We purchased our current location at 15220-114 avenue for $6.5 million and paid off the $5 million mortgage five years later on September 3, 2007.

We continue to forge ahead, building for the future with new administrative and training facilities for our Calgary office to better serve our members in the south of the province.

Our “little local” has grown to approximately 4000 members and we are now the largest Local in the International Brotherhood. We continue to be recognized throughout the industry as having the most highly-skilled and qualified tradesmen and women that can be counted on to get the job done right.

Sixty years ago, a group of men saw an opportunity to improve their lives through solidarity with one another. They joined together with others from across North America with the same vision and forged an organization of which we can all be proud. Throughout the years, many individuals have made great contributions to the growth of Lodge 146, sharing their vision, their wisdom and their leadership. Today the membership of Lodge 146 continues to build the future on a solid foundation forged by those 63 men at Sparling Davis.