CWA News
The voice of the welding industry in Canada
November, 2006
HAMILTON CHAPTER CHALLENGE
In March 2006, the CWA’s Hamilton chapter donated $104,844 in welding equipment and supplies to southwestern Ontario high schools. Chapter members saw the need to supply up-to-date equipment to high schools to help students learn the latest technology. The equipment and supplies were donated by members and non-members, suppliers, fabricators and retailers – everyone across the spectrum of the welding profession.
The chapter also generated funds through the Mike Irvine Memorial Golf Tournament and other activities. They made 19 gifts of $100 to welding students as they graduated. Some of these students qualified for Canadian Welding Bureau certification. Their education, in part assisted by our Hamilton chapter, puts them in the lead for positions in post-secondary technical programs as apprentices or in colleges.
On November 2, the chapter hosted a press conference at which reporters from local newspapers, radio and TV publicized the chapter’s efforts and goals of raising $500,000 in welding equipment and supplies for high schools.
The Hamilton chapter challenges all other CWA chapters to join in the effort. And they will share their good practices in generating such a successful fund-raising campaign.
CHAPTER ASSISTANCE
The workload for volunteers who run our chapters was a topic of major concern at our recent board of directors and annual general meetings. Effective immediately, the Canadian Welding Association’s national office will offer the following support services to chapters:
- Provision of lists of speakers on welding topics
- Registration for events
- Announcement of chapter events to members (and non-members on chapter lists) by email and/or fax
- Processing of Visa and MasterCard payments
- Webpage services, including event announcements, sponsor listings, etc.
- Monthly announcements of chapter events in this newsletter
We will assist as much or as little as chapters want. Interested chapter chairs should contact the national office for details.
MEMBERSHIP CONTEST
Our membership needs a boost and we need your help. And there are rewards for success.
The rewards are available to all active members of the association. Recruit a NEW individual member ($70 per year, including GST) to the association and you will receive a gift certificate for $25 for use at RONA or Canadian Tire. Recruit two members and you will receive two certificates. The more members you bring in, the more certificates you will receive. The promotion also applies to sustaining memberships (on a similar percentage basis).
MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS
As part of the CWA’s ongoing efforts to add value to membership, the association is establishing preferred purchasing programs with several national suppliers. Details of the first of these will be announced shortly. It will be a full range of telephone, cellular and internet services at discounted rates that will be made available to all individual and corporate members, as well as employees and family members. Watch for details of this and other value programs.
CANADIAN WELDING ASSOCIATION JOURNAL
The Fall 2006 issue of the Canadian Welding Association Journal has gone to press; you should see your copy in the middle of this month.
Last month, we published a listing of themes for the next five issues. We are currently gathering articles for the Winter 2007 issue and appear to have some excellent contributions. The issue’s theme is steel construction. If you have an article on that theme to contribute, send your proposal to the national office right away. We have space for another article or two.
For Spring 2007, the theme is pressure vessels, and again, we certainly could use your input. Do you have any suggestions for articles or authors? Consider writing an article. We can offer you editorial assistance if needed. Send us a brief proposal for an article, and we’ll let you know if the article would be appropriate for our use.