Attitude beats age any day!
Would he borrow $150,000 to get even deeper into long distance trucking, or would he take a headlong dive into the world of Local 1325 scaffolding?
“After 10 years behind the wheel of a semi-trailer truck,” says John Schuurkamp, “I was really ready for a change. I wanted to move into scaffolding, but I wasn’t sure I would be accepted into the union.”
In his late 50s, John and his wife had moved out to Alberta from Nova Scotia to pursue better opportunity and lots more togetherness.
“Almost always, my trips would take me down into the States, then back up into Western Canada, then back to the States again,” he says. “I was always away from my family for weeks, and once even for six months. It had to change.”
In Alberta, John pursued his two clearest career options. He had done some construction work in the past, and his wife’s brother was a Local 1325 member, so he paid a visit to Union Education Coordinator Bill Alton and they talked, but nothing specific was offered.
Concurrently, he and his wife decided that if the union didn’t call, she would get a Class 1 driver’s license, they’d buy a new Peterbuilt tractor, and they’d go ‘on the road’…this time together.
“We were within two days of the truck deal going through, and it looked like fate would make the decision for us to go back to the road.
“But then Bill called and invited me to an orientation.
“He assessed my experience as 2nd year carpentry and 1st year scaffolding, and the rest is history,” he says, wearing a big, BIG! grin on the day before he completed his Journeyman scaffolding program…at the ripe young age of 60.
Up on the hanging scaffold he built as part of his final program, John moves like a 30-year-old. He’s confident, sure of his moves. Very quick, he wastes no time – even an outsider can see that he’s incredibly efficient up there.
“I’ve always had a naturally high level of energy – bordering on the hyperactive – once I get working on anything. The rest of the time, I’m actually pretty laid back,” he says.
John’s really happy with his new province and his new career.
“Scaffolding is a lot less stressful than trucking. On the road, you’re always worried about other drivers, animals, the department of transport people and, most of all, you’re always fighting fatigue.”
“Coming to Alberta turned everything around for us,” he says.
“I’ve always been kind of flexible and progressive, so for me it’s never too late to start a new career,” he says.
“I plan to work for at least another eight or nine years.”
