Medina Electric Cooperative is proud to announce that three of its apprentice linemen have successfully completed the Merchant Job Training and Safety Program, a comprehensive training program for power line personnel. Dilan Santillan (Bruni), Felipe Moreno (Laredo) and David Hernandez (Dilley) are now designated as official Journeyman Linemen.

Cooperative Principle 5 is Education, Training and Information. Educating our employees is our duty as a cooperative and an educated workforce brings value to cooperative members. That is why Medina EC began administering the MJTS program to linemen in January 2016. 

The MJTS program is administered to line personnel in 40 states throughout the United States and exceeds the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship minimum requirement of 144 hours of related instruction per year. The MJTS program includes a four-year curriculum and covered material is critical to on-the-job productivity and safety.

Coursework is structured so that the linemen can study at their own pace when it is convenient for them. Each utility has a training coordinator that administers closed book testing for the employees. Employees move through the training process according to rules set by the MJTS program and statewide association, and are required to take exams along the way.

“The hard work our linemen have put in the program shows in the ease with which they have moved through the coursework. It lets me know that the on-the-job training we are doing has been good and reinforces what I already knew: that some of the best guys in the business are standing behind the Medina EC system when you turn your lights on every day,” noted Medina EC CEO Mark Rollans.