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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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