September 10, 2006 - 5:00pm
To achieve guaranteed employment, a starting income of $50,000, great benefits and opportunity for advancement, all Charlene Storti needed was nine months of training and the confidence to embrace a traditionally male job.
On September 11 the 45-year-old single mom started her new career as a pulp and paper worker for Eurocan Pulp & Paper in Kitimat, after completing a unique training program developed by Nanaimo’s Malaspina University-College.
"There’s tons of opportunity," Storti said. "Women who are changing careers – this is where the wages are, as long as you don’t mind doing some physical work."
Storti came to Malaspina’s Pulp and Paper Operations program after 25 years as a commercial diver, which offered well-paid but intermittent work. As she aged, Storti realized she wouldn’t be able to continue a job that required her to carry more than her weight in gear while working underwater.
"It’s extremely heavy work and there are no benefits," she observed.
When she researched training and wages for traditional female jobs, Storti discovered 10 months of office training at a private commercial college would cost $15,000 for tuition, and result in an annual income of $21,000 to $25,000.
By contrast, the nine-month Malaspina program costs $5,000 for tuition and prepared students for jobs at an entry-level wage of $24 an hour. Plus, all of the students from the first year of the program had been immediately employed, including a woman hired by Catalyst Paper Corp. in Crofton.
So Storti moved to Nanaimo from Campbell River and enrolled at Malaspina in January 2006.
"It’s a really great program that Malaspina has designed. We toured mills and had guest speakers from all the mill departments. We covered the safety hazards, learned how the equipment and the process works, and how our jobs fit into the mill. So I feel really comfortable going in there," Storti said.
Although Storti and her classmates start at entry-level, they can take apprenticeships in the wide range of skilled trades utilized within the mills.
A further bonus for Storti is that most shifts are arranged in a four-day rotation, with employees working 12 hours a day for four days, then enjoying four days off. Storti expects the schedule will allow her to spend more time with her 15-year-old daughter, Sarah.
Coordinator/Instructor John Marshall said the training program was initiated at the request of the province’s pulp and paper industry, which needed people trained for entry-level jobs in today's technologically advanced mills. Because the course was designed in cooperation with the industry, graduates meet mill requirements exactly and are all-but-guaranteed employment.
"To date, many of our graduates have received multiple job offers," Marshall said.
Storti may be unique now, but she won’t be in the future, as more women turn to trades. Although Storti was the only woman in her class, Marshall anticipates 30 to 40 percent of the incoming January 2007 class will be women. For program information, go to http://www.viu.ca/.
"This is an excellent time to enter the industry." Marshall said. "There will be significant opportunities for advancement in the next 20 years. Women are recognizing this – there are going to be more ‘she’ in what was once only a ‘he’ industry."
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