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Hydroelectric Maintenance Machinist
Hiring Company: The City of Seattle, City Light Department. Seattle City Light is a public electrical utility which provides electrical service within the Seattle city boundaries. Seattle City Light owns and operates three major hydroelectric dams at the Skagit project in
Washington's North Cascades National Park and one hydroelectric dam at Boundary in the Northeast corner of Washington State. Seattle City Light also owns smaller generating plants in the Pacific Northwest.
The Work: This is a four year apprenticeship program which trains you to become a qualified journey level Hydroelectric Maintenance Machinist. Apprentices will perform progressively more difficult, physically demanding and complex work assignments such as maintaining and repairing equipment and machinery; analyzing and diagnosing problems; and disassembling and machining unavailable parts.
Apprentices will learn the machinist trade while working beside journey level Hydroelectric Maintenance Machinists. The machinists are part of a crew that maintains and repairs large hydroelectric turbine generators at each of the dams. These turbine generators were originally installed when the dams were built in the early 1930s through 1964 and still work efficiently because they are maintained on a regular schedule. Approximately once a year, Seattle City Light begins rebuilding a different turbine at one of its dams. Most of the worn parts are recreated or repaired at the South Service Center machine shop by machinists and the apprentice.
Apprentices will use progressively higher levels of math and problem solving skills and be required to perform progressively more intricate, detailed work on complex machinery. These skills will be learned during the apprenticeship; however the most competitive apprentices will already know algebra and have an aptitude for performing very detailed work on large and small machine parts.
Required Qualifications: Apprentice applicant must have six months experience working in a machine shop, machinist or related trade or six months of documented education in machinist trade or related fields. Washington State Driver’s License is required. Must be willing to attend classes in Bellingham and in Seattle. As part of City Light's Apprenticeship Program, individuals selected will be required to rotate annually between Seattle and Skagit sites.
School: Apprentices attend classes at Bellingham Technical College (60 miles north of Seattle, 60 miles west of Skagit) and South Seattle Community College. on their own time one or two evenings per week; City Light pays for tuition, parking, and books. Apprentices learn about math, shop theory, gears, metals, and other topics related directly to the machining trade.
Work Location: The work location rotates between the South Service Center (4th Ave. and Spokane St. in Seattle) and the Skagit Hydroelectric Project (3 hour drive north of Seattle). Each rotation lasts approximately one year. Apprentices are responsible for their own lodging, meals, transportation and other normal costs of living. On occasion apprentices may be required to work at the Boundary Dam (2 hours north of Spokane) for a two week period. During this Boundary assignment, City Light pays for transportation, food, and lodging. Once the 4 year apprenticeship is completed, new journey level machinists will work at their original hire location. The journey level position also requires occasional travel to various work sites for up to two weeks at a time.
Wages & Hours: Apprentice wages begin at approximately $15 per hour and increase every six months until they reach the highest pay step of approximately $22 per hour during the last 6 months of the apprenticeship. Wages are negotiated between Local 79 and the City of Seattle. Employees work from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 a.m. Monday through Friday. Occasionally, there may be optional overtime.
Union Affiliation: Apprentices must join Machinist's Local #79 within 30 days of employment. Initiation fees are based on the wage. Initiation fees and first month's dues are approximately $130. Thereafter, City Light collects dues by payroll deduction. Note: WWD Lodge #160 office location at 9135 15th Place South, Seattle, Washington 98108; phone number: 206.762.7990, ext. 450.
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Customer Service
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Call (206) 684-3000
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City of Seattle
24-hour
job line:
(206) 684-7999
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