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 Patricia Gallardo-Irvin
tool maker,
General Motors Corp.
Patricia Gallardo-Irvin
is a shining example of the merits of hard work, dedication and
lifelong learning.
Twenty years ago, she
was a college student and mother of three young children when her
husband was killed in an auto accident.
On the advice of her
mother, an inspector at the General Motors plant in Toledo, Ohio, she
applied for a job on the transmission assembly line. She put in her
time and eventually became a machine operator specialist, a job that
put her on the track toward a career in tool making.
Studying for and
passing the rigorous Tool Skills Trade Test was the first step to
becoming a GM tool maker. After that, Gallardo-Irvin completed a
four-year tool-making apprenticeship that required extensive classwork
and the completion of 7,328 hours on the job.
She went on to obtain
her journeyman’s card along with a State of Ohio certificate in tool
making.
Today, as an 18-year
GM employee, Gallardo-Irvin and fellow tool makers maintain a wide
variety of production machines in the enormous GM plant, which
manufactures transmissions for high-performance Corvettes, Safari cars
and GMC trucks.
Her daily schedule is
split between troubleshooting breakdowns — both minor and major —
and executing preventive maintenance tasks.
While Gallardo-Irvin
supports the needs of plant-floor workers with her technical skills,
she also provides support in other ways.
She
is an active member of United Auto Workers Local 14, the Coalition of
Labor Union Women, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
and of Hard Hatted Women. She hopes to someday create an organization
inside the UAW for tradeswomen.
This article appeared in the
December 2002/January 2003 issue of MRO Today magazine. Copyright
2003.
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