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Thursday's Internet Edition, March 18, 2010.
Historical book chronicles RM Operating Engineers
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Photo courtesy to River Valley Times
The historical book titled 'Breaking Ground: The History of Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3' includes this photo of then Governor Ronald Reagan and OE3 Business Manager Al Clem in April 1973 at the dedication of the RM community development.
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By Sheri Barile
River Valley Times Reporter
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The community of Rancho Murieta and the community-based Operating Engineers Rancho Murieta Training Center (RMTC) are featured in a just-released historical book titled “Breaking Ground: The History of Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3.” The book documents 70 years of the largest construction union in the United States.
RM is home to the union’s only training center in California and is the primary training center for the entire nation, according to Associate Editor Jamie Johnston with Operating Engineers Local 3 (OE3).
Johnston, who worked on the book with author and Local 3 Communications Director Charlie Costello, said it is the first historical book from this union. “It’s been many, many years in the making,” Johnston said. “It just came out at our 70th anniversary, so we’re really excited.”
Several of the 176 pages in the coffee-table-style book are devoted to the opening of the training center that Local 3 staff commonly refers to as “The Ranch.” Photos in the book include beginning construction at the RMTC and an invitation to the dedication ceremonies on Nov. 15, 1969.
“Breaking Ground” also highlights photographs of then Governor Ronald Reagan attending the dedication of the RM community development in 1973. The development was built with the help of the OE3.
The book’s author portrays the completion of “The Ranch” as a progressive move, particularly considering the politics of the time. “Under the Tax Reform Act of 1969, Nixon proposed a devastating 75 percent cutback on construction projects,” Costello wrote. “However, the ‘60’s were a decade of continued growth for Local 3, and despite the prospects of losing highway construction projects, the decade ended on a look to the future, training future operating engineers.”
To put the scope of the training facility dedication into context, Costello rears the legacy of the notorious bandit Joaquin Murieta and reminisces about the height of the gold-panning days on the Cosumnes River. Not since those days “had this small community seen such a big event,” he wrote. “Dignitaries such as Mayor Joseph Alioto of San Francisco, Mayor Richard Marriot of Sacramento, IUOE President Hunter Wharton and, of course, Clem (OE3 Business Manager Al Clem) spoke at the event.”
As part of the dedication ceremony, a team of skydivers - led by Operating Engineers Paul Schissler and Pete Kalthoff - parachuted into the training facility grounds.
Schissler still remembers that jump very clearly. “I recall the weather wasn’t very accommodating that day,” he said. “We had a very low ceiling, and I was the last to jump because I had a special parachute with the union colors and a big ‘3’ sewn into the middle."
Schissler continued, “By the time I jumped, the plane was low, and I had very little time. I almost opened my reserve shoot, which of course didn’t have the union colors. But at the last minute my main shoot opened and everyone got to see that big number '3.'”
The RMTC was built on a section of land totaling 3,500 acres that had been purchased by the Operating Engineers Pension Trust Fund. Today, most of that land is the community of Rancho Murieta, according to Kris Morgan, executive director of the Joint Apprenticeship Committee for Northern California.
Morgan, who oversees the training center, outlined how the land is currently deeded. “The Operating Engineers of Local 3 utilize eight acres of that original Pension Trust Fund land for campus facilities and 100 acres for the heavy equipment training center,” Morgan said. “In addition, PTF still owns 760 acres of undeveloped land around Bass Lake, Lake Clementia, Lake Chesbro and Lake Calero. We also own the country club.”
When the RMTC opened 40 years ago, it was prepared to house and train 48 apprentices. Today, there are 120 trainees in campus dormitories, according to Morgan. Trainees exceeded 115,000 man-hours in 2009.
Morgan has a copy of “Breaking Ground” in his office and has read it from cover to cover. “The book is quite explicit,” he said. “And I’m a big history buff myself. I always collect historical materials when I travel. Plus, I’m a 31-year member, so I’m a big fan of Local 3.”
In “Breaking Ground,” Costello also writes about the first Old Timers’ Day at RMTC, held in October of 1973. It drew a crowd of 647 members and their spouses for a tour and lunch.
Morgan said that tradition continues today with a new name. “We call it the Retirees’ Picnic, and they all come in campers and RV’s,” he said. “In 2009, it brought in around 2,000 people. It’s a big event.”
“Breaking Ground” pre-sold more than 600 copies, and the first print run produced 1,250 books. It retails for $42.50 and is available through M.T. Publishing Company, Inc., at www.mtpublishing.com.
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Online publication, Copyright 2005, The River Valley Times.
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