Those out of work consider asbestos removal training, among other trades

Due to the current economic climate, throngs of unemployed workers are filling their work-free days with classes in the hope that with a wider skill-set they may soon be able to find work. Nationwide, many laborers with experience in the construction trade are going back to school to learn new skills, including the handling, removal, and disposal of asbestos.

These important skills protect workers and occupants from exposure to the material, which has been repeatedly linked to cancers like mesothelioma, which are capable of killing within months of being diagnosed. Asbestos-related cancers like mesothelioma can affects thousands of new patients every year in America, as well as thousands more abroad.

In DeForest, Wisconsin, teacher Al Friedl has actual had to turn people away from his classes because they are already over-booked.

“I need a bigger building,” said Friedl, director of training for the Wisconsin Laborers Apprenticeship and Training Center, “and it’s only four years old.”

Construction jobs are usually hard to find during the cold winter months, but with the recession still gripping most of the country, and the holidays just around the corner, more and more workers are looking to augment their income and increase their job security.

According to Tom Fisher, a worker that can tackle asbestos removal has a better chance of finding and keeping a new job. Fisher is the president and business manager of the Wisconsin Laborers’ District Council.

“It’s going to be a long, cold winter for a lot of people here who are in the construction industry,” Fisher told reporters.

Friedl says that his current crop of students seems to be more dedicated and focused than those he taught in the past, because they chose to enroll rather than being sent to the classes by an employer. “The majority of them now, they want to be here,” he said. “They want to improve, and I guess that’s part of the reason we have a backlog.”