International Operating Engineer - Summer 2017

Education & Training
Engine Mock-ups Add Fuel to Job Corps Mechanics Training
Holding Her Own: Member Promotes Union Values
Member Spotlight
SUSAN “SUSIE” KRINGEN is many
things: Wife, mother, biker, mentor,
Local 3 Political Action Committee
(PAC) member and native North
Dakotan. She’s also one of the best allaround
Local 3 operators on the USA
Parkway job in Nevada.
Some women have memories of
playing with Barbies in giant doll houses
– for Susie, they’re of big equipment
and moving dirt. Consequently, she
became an expert early on by sheer
exposure.
Local 3 Operator Susie
Kringen works on the USA
Parkway job in Nevada.
[article & photo] Mandy
McMillen, IUOE Local 3
THE NATIONAL TRAINING
FUND’S (NTF) Job Corps Heavy
Construction Mechanic Training
programs have historically faced the
challenge of training on a limited
budget, coupled with a lack of variety
and availability of actual equipment
repairs. Recently, an initiative was
undertaken to create diesel engine
mock-ups to represent various
common repairs trainees will face once
employed in the field. The talents of
these Mechanic Instructors are evident
in the design and construction of the
new diesel engine mock-ups they
have produced for the NTF Job Corps
programs.
The ultimate goal of the engine
mock-ups is to function as originally
designed. They offer the trainees the
hands-on experience of repair and
maintenance of a diesel engine and
its’ support systems. The completed
mock-ups were a compliment to the
NTF Job Corps mechanic instructors’
abilities and desires to assist their
trainees in becoming successful entry
level apprentice mechanics.
Once the engine mock-ups were
put into use, the trainees were not
only able to see the components of a
diesel engine and how they function,
but also remove and install the various
components and parts; all while
learning to recognize wear and failure
in the process.
By utilizing the engine mock-ups
during early days of training, as well
as other drive train and hydraulic
mock-ups created by the mechanic
instructors, the trainees are able to
relate much easier to the equipment
repairs they must perform on a daily
basis. Utilizing the new training mockups
has resulted in students performing
more timely repairs, requiring less
guidance, and completing the tasks
with confidence.
Any local IUOE apprenticeship
programs interested in engine mockup
design and manufacture should
contact Joe Dixon, IUOE NTF Job Corps
Regional Coordinator at jdixon@iuoe.
org
“My dad and grandpa and stepdad
had gravel trucks and worked in
excavation; that’s what I was around,”
she remembered. “I was always in
gravel trucks, dump trucks, loaders –
you name it. I grew up in the dirt.”
Even though her first husband was a
union member in North Dakota, Susie
didn’t know much about the union
or what it had to offer. That changed
when they moved to Nevada in 1995,
and Susan joined the Laborers right
away. At first, however, she didn’t have
many local connections, so she got into
warehousing.
“I saw these women working
paycheck to paycheck, and I didn’t
want that,” she said. “I wanted to do
something with my life.”
That “something” was joining the
Local 3 Apprenticeship Program in
Nevada in 2006, and the experience
changed everything for her.
“This is exactly what I wanted …”
she said.
She journeyed-out in 2010 – still has
the belt buckle to prove it – and worked
at the Granite Lockwood Quarry, where
she operated the crusher. In October
of last year, she was sent to the USA
Parkway job with Ames Construction
and has been there ever since,
operating everything they put in front
of her and enjoying the connections
with the crew on the job, including two
other female operators.
Throughout her life, Susie has put
a high value on people, networking
with them, connecting with them
and learning from them. After joining
Nevada District 11’s PAC, these
values have helped her, while she
gets an insider’s look at the political
issues Nevada faces. Last year, she
participated in Nevada’s giant weekend
precinct walks, benefiting from the
new perspective of sharing the union
message with local residents right at
their front doors.
“It was so interesting,” she said.
“You’re scared to walk up to somebody’s
door, but there was passion this year
about what we wanted to have happen
with the country. Just to go out and
hear the people, from their own words.
You don’t know what you’re going to
get every time you knock on a door.”
As she is known for, Susie held her
own, and felt connected in a much
bigger way after the experience. “It was
fascinating for me to see all the people
[precinct walking] from California,
even the Retirees. It really opened up
my eyes to see how you really vote your
paycheck.”
This paycheck Susie has worked so
hard for and precinct walked to protect
is important to her, to all women, she
explained.
“Women should be able to stand
on their own two feet. I make my own
money. I know I can take care of myself.
That’s so important.”
She has been a great advocate of the
Apprenticeship Program to women,
often volunteering at career workshops
for them.
“I’ve met a lot of people that I just
want to help,” she said.
She also brought the benefits
of a union career to her stepson,
Thomas Willliard, who joined the
Apprenticeship Program last year.
“I love my job and am able to have
nice things, able to afford luxuries,” she
said. “[Local 3] changed my life for the
better. I look forward to going to work
every day ... and me and my husband
are set up to have a bunch of fun.”
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INTERNATIONAL OPERATING ENGINEER
SUMMER 2017 11