Your Cert Gets You In the Door.
Your Arm Gets You the Seat.
Turn your paper into a paycheck. Twelve seats. One shot. The only UA Local with a fabrication apprenticeship is introducing an Accelerated Welding Program built for welders who already did the coursework and are ready to prove they've got the arm to match.
Keep Your Momentum Going
You didn't sit through the classroom hours, pay for the program, and walk out with a certificate just to come this far and stop.
Maybe you're running structural steel. Maybe you're doing general fab work that doesn't touch what you actually trained for. Wherever you're at, if you've got a welding certificate in hand, you've already done the hard part. What you haven't had is a fast lane to put it to work at the highest level.
This fall, UA Local 400 is running the first Accelerated Welding Program (AWP) of its kind. Ten weeks. Twelve seats. One outcome: guaranteed, immediate employment with a Union Contractor and a full benefits package the day you graduate.
AUG 17 - OCT 23
7 AM - 3:30 PM
Monday - Friday
Orientation is Monday, August 3rd at 7:45 AM
- Free Tuition for the Top 12 Qualifiers
- $100 Per Day Stipend
- $500 Bonus for Each Weld Test Passed
- Guaranteed Employment for Graduates
Wisconsin is for Welders
The demand is real, and it isn't slowing down. The American Welding Society projects the industry will need roughly 320,000 new welding professionals nationwide by the end of the decade, driven by a wave of retirements and a workforce that's aging faster than it's being replaced. The Great Lakes region is one of the heaviest concentrations of that workforce in the country. Wisconsin is at the heart of it, with its manufacturing concentration running nearly 3x the national average. Translation: the work is here, the jobs aren't going anywhere, but the seats in this program are.
WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR
- You're 18 or older
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Authorized to work in the U.S. (visa sponsorship is not available)
- Hold a valid driver's license
- Can pass a drug test
- You hold a welding certificate — any recognized program, technical college, trade school, or employer-sponsored training counts
- You've got real pipe welding chops in GMAW, GTAW, or FluxCore and you can prove it with a weld assessment
- You live in Northeastern WI or are ready to plant roots in Wisconsin's New North after graduation. These jobs are here
Already thinking about a move? If you're welding in the United States and have been kicking around the idea of a change, this is your sign. Twelve seats, a guaranteed job, and a career ceiling most welders spend a decade chasing. All a tank of gas away. Read about working in Wisconsin here.
All training happens at the UA Local 400 Training Center in Kaukauna, WI. If you're coming from out of town, we can help with hotel and long-term housing discounts available for the length of the program.
ZERO COST. ALL UPSIDE.
Show Up. Get Paid. No tuition. No fees. Not one dime out of your pocket. Instead, you'll draw a $100/day stipend for every day you're in the program.
Pass Your Gates, Stack Your Cash. Every evaluation you pass along the way puts an extra $500 bonus in your pocket. The faster you sharpen up, the faster you get paid.
Graduate. Go to Work. Every single AWP graduate is guaranteed immediate employment with a Union Contractor and a full benefits package. No job hunt. No waiting around. You walk off the training floor and onto a crew.
WHAT YOU'RE BUILDING TOWARD
This program is your on-ramp. What's waiting at the end of the road is a Local 400 journeyman fabricator's Total Package — wages plus fully covered health insurance, pension, and continued training — currently valued at $79.39 an hour.
THE NEXT STEP
Register for orientation on Monday, August 3. Our staff will provide details of the program, and then you'll show us what you can do with a torch.
We're not looking for perfect. We're looking for the best base skill we can polish into an X-ray-quality weld.
At your assessment, you'll run:
– 2" SCH 80, GTAW, all positions, uphill
– 2" SCH 160, GMAW root downhill / FCAW cap, uphill
You only need to prove out on one, TIG or MIG, not both. No minimum years in the field, no expiration date on your papers. If you're good enough, you can earn a seat in this high-level, no-cost Accelerated Welding Program.
QUESTIONS? TALK TO THE MAN RUNNING THE PROGRAM
Dave Brazzale, Training Director UA Local 400, (920) 462-0400
