Cal-Nev JATC Policy
Our Mission
JATC is dedicated to creating and maintaining a system that will educate and assess line clearance tree trimmers from step 1 to the Journey level. These steps will be recognized, for the first time across the industry in California.
Our Policy
This is an 18-month minimum training program for the beginning utility arborist consisting of on-the-job training, online learning, and field assessments.
Minimum Requirements
You must be at least 18 years old.
You must be an IBEW union member.
You must already work for an Electrical Line Clearance Contractor who participates in the training trust for JATC.
The Process
These IBEW Line clearance contractor companies are allowed to enroll students and may enroll anyone who is on track to be a journeyman climber/aerial lift operator.
Only workers who are having JATC contributions made on their hours by the line clearance contractors can be enrolled in the program.
We cannot enroll Safety, Training personnel, or General Foremen unless and until contributions are made in their name to the training trust (by the employer).
Participants will be placed at the step level according to their current pay grade and issued a digital badge corresponding to their step level.
The Steps mirror the language in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)
Step 1 Trainee: first six months.
Step 2 trainee: seven to twelve months.
Step 3 trainee: thirteen to eighteen months.
No participant will be demoted or stepped down from their current employer’s pay scale by the JATC.
This Step advancement will be valid to all the participating contractors.
Our program is intended to add to the participant’s company-provided training with our online study component, a series of field assessments with our trainers and a final written evaluation after each six-month period.
The final written evaluation for each step will be proctored monthly at any convenient location. We will schedule one Saturday per month at our Woodland JATC facility.
The three final evaluations will be taken at a participating test facility on the trainee’s own time.
Each final written evaluation, if passed, will result in an advance to the next Step level.
The trainee will be awarded a digital badge showing their new Step level.
If a trainee fails a final written evaluation, they may take it over again at the next months scheduled evaluation date.
A trainee who fails the final written evaluation three times must wait three months before taking it again.
Upon successful completion of the third Step trainee’s field assessments and the final written evaluation the trainee is awarded a journey worker certificate and digital badge.
Trainees entering the program who’ve previously attained second or third step level will only have the field assessments appropriate to their level.
They must pass the final written evaluations for previous Step levels prior to being allowed to sit for the final in their level. Example: A trainee who enters our program with a third step rating from their company will only have the last two field assessments. They must still pass the first step final written evaluation and the second step final written evaluation before taking the third step final written evaluation. That trainee will be awarded badges upon successfully passing each final written evaluation.
In no way does their badge affect a reduction in pay with their current employer. It can only increase their pay when they advance to a higher level than their current pay grade.
When a participant passes a step test which would result in a pay increase, the JATC will send an email notification to the local union and the HR department of the participants employer.
The Details
The program supplements each company’s in house training.
In our program, we utilize the KPA education platform to make modules available from beginning to advanced.
There are 16 modules.
Modules one through six must be completed before sitting for the first step final evaluation.
Modules seven through twelve must be completed before sitting for the second step final evaluation.
Modules thirteen through sixteen must be completed before sitting for the third step final evaluation.
If a trainee falls below 80% score on the final evaluation, they must retake that evaluation no sooner than the next month.
This is the home study component of our program. Each module has several assignments that are studied at the trainee’s pace, until understood fully. A quiz follows each assignment. The quiz may be from five to twenty points, but these are only used for documenting the trainee’s progress, not for grading these workers. There are unlimited attempts at the quiz. The online study material is in English and Spanish. Some of our instructors are bilingual. All have a working knowledge of the material and were previously either Line Clearance Arborist (LCA) foremen, General Foremen, or trainers with a high level of training expertise.
There will be six in-the-field assessments given at approximately three-month intervals. For example, if a participant is enrolled by the contractor on January 1, 2022, they would be due for scheduled assessments somewhere in March, June, September, and December of 2022, and then in March and June of 2023.
The two field assessments per level must both be passed before the trainee is allowed to sit for the final written evaluation.
Assessments will be performed by JATC instructors using the assessment forms created by the JATC or the assessment forms created by North American Training Solutions (NATS) which are being used by the PG&E assessment team.
Unsatisfactory assessments must be done over at the instructors next field visit.
If a trainee is unable to pass climb assessments due to no climb trees being available in their area, they must make arrangements to be transferred to a climb crew until they are able to pass the climbing assessment.
It is allowed for a currently working journey worker, with over 18 months documented experience in the trade, to obtain a JATC journey worker certificate/badge in the program.
After passing the aerial lift, climbing, electrical hazard, tree felling, and rescue skill assessments, they must pass a written evaluation. This is the same as the third step final written evaluation. The evaluation has two parts. The first part is 20 – life threat– questions which must all (100%) be answered correctly to pass. The second part is 80 questions which requires 64 correct answers (80%) to pass.
Prior to the written evaluation, the worker will be given access to KPA to prepare.
After three failed attempts at the written evaluation, it will be closed to the applicant for three months.
A student who fails to show up or call in by 8 AM the day of the test will receive a strike equal to a failed test.
The incumbent worker who passes the written evaluation, the bucket evaluation, and the climb evaluation will be awarded a journey worker badge and JATC certificate.
If the incumbent worker passes the written evaluation and the bucket evaluation but declines or fails the climb evaluation the worker will be awarded a Limited (non-climber) journey worker badge and JATC certificate.
There is a provision for obtaining a CDL-class A or B.
If the worker pays for their CDL training at a qualified CDL school, the school’s tuition fee will be reimbursed by the JATC when the employee passes the curriculum. Reimbursement will be the actual cost of the school up to $4500, paid to the employee who successfully passes the school’s curriculum. Only one reimbursement per employee is allowed. The JATC does not reimburse DMV fees.
Unless an employee is restricted from driving company vehicles, obtaining a CDL is required for trainees to graduate to journey level.
For purposes of obtaining a CDL, an exception to the minimum requirements listed in this policy can be made if the person is a student at Butte College’s network of community colleges offering the line clearance pre-training curriculum. Community colleges can be reimbursed up to $2100 per student who successfully passes the both the LCTT class and the CDL course.
Suspension
When a trainee is no longer working as a LCA trainee, they will be suspended from the training program. On returning to line clearance work, they will be reinstated at the same step level as they were before suspension.
An incumbent journey worker who is laid off may sit for a test if all field assessments are complete.
Remedial Training
We can offer remedial training to JATC enrollees who fail the PG&E assessments.