My daughter, a college graduate, is thriving as a fourth-year apprentice carpenter, building New York City's water filtration plant in the Bronx.
Thomas, of Pasture Road, Moreton, a first year apprentice at the K.W.K. engineering factory, at Park Street, Birkenhead, was told along with other apprentices by the managing director, Mr William Kaminski, to get his hair cut properly.
"They're just happy that you can pull your weight," said Eva Paz, 36, a second-year apprentice in the carpenters' union, who has a "No Cry Baby" sticker on her hard hat.
Joseph Glynn, a second-year apprentice — "I learned to weld in the Navy, and I joined the union through a program called Helmets to Hardhats" — followed up on the discussion of imports by describing the black exhaust smoke that is emitted by oceangoing vessels, most of which are powered by a form of petroleum called residual fuel oil.
As a third year apprentice he scored 15 goals for the club's reserve and youth team.
As a first year apprentice he played for the youth and reserve teams and due to his great goalscoring record, which led him to be named on the bench for two first team matches in the League Cup, they decided to keep him on for a third year.
Starting pay for a first year apprentice is usually not too much more than minimum wage.
But Christopher Marron, a 39-year-old first-year apprentice ironworker who once worked on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (he was there the morning of 9/11), seems to speak plainly for them all: "I look forward to getting here.
Emma Chilton is a second year logistics apprentice at Unilever UK & Ireland, based in the company's deodorant manufacturing site in Leeds.
