CENTRAL DISTRICT OFFICE: 17603 - 114 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5S 2R9 Phone: (780) 483.0955 Fax: (780) 483.1998
IUOE Local 955 Scholarship - Revised: February 2015 – January 29
th
, 2021
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 955
N. B. Coutts Scholarship Fund
Student Scholarship Application Form
N.B. Coutts Scholarship Award
Who is N.B. Coutts?
Budd Coutts was nine years old when he operated a bulldozer on a highway job in Peace River country in Northern Alberta. Of course, his
father was the superintendent on that job and Budd admits that maybe you could not call it “operating,” but, well, he handled the machine. “In
fact,” Budd says, my father once let me operate a bulldozer and I drove it into a swamp!” For many years, Budd’s father was a construction
worker and supervisor in the Peace River country.
Later, the family moved to Edmonton, when his father went to work for a contractor in a town near that city. Between the ages of fourteen and
sixteen, Budd worked for his father during summer vacations. He left school when he was sixteen years old and hired out to operate equipment
for various municipalities and small contractors.
Budd Coutts went to work for a firm called New West Construction and took one of their machines into the Northern part of British Columbia.
Before he left, his father told him that, if he got the chance, he should join Local 115 of the International Union of Operating Engineers. “No
matter what the circumstances,” the elder Coutts said, “you should join the union.”
Budd joined the union twice. When an “organizer” showed up on the job, Budd and several other operators turned over to him their $65.00
initiation fees. The organizer told them that their membership cards would be mailed to them. Three months later, when the membership card
still had not arrived, Budd went to the union office in Dawson Creek and asked why he had not received his card. The business agent said that
he had never heard of Budd or any of the operators who had signed up with him; he and his cosigners had been the victims of a fraud. The
legitimate union representative accepted an additional $65.00 and Budd Coutts became a member of the Operating Engineers. He continued to
operate equipment until he became a Business Agent and later, the Business Manager of Local 955. Budd then continued to serve the Union
as the General Secretary-Treasurer of the IUOE.
Today, OE Local 955 extends a student scholarship award in honour of Budd Coutts commitment to work, fellow operators and the Union.
Excerpt from the book; Union Resilience in Troubled Times: The Story of the Operating Engineers, AFL-CIO 1960-1993 by Garth L. Mangum and John Walsh 1994
Scholarships may be awarded to students, who are members or dependents of a member in good standing with the International
Union of Operating Engineers, Local Union No. 955.
Eligibility Requirements
• The total amount of each Scholarship is $5,000.00 to be paid over 2 consecutive years of academic study, in increments of $2500.00
per year. Recipients will receive $2,500.00 in the first year and $2,500.00 in the second consecutive year while attending a full-time
program at an accredited post-secondary institution
• To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must provide IUOE Local 955 with: the N.B. Coutts Scholarship Application form,
official transcripts of the most recent year of study including proof of satisfactory academic standing (High School Grades or GPA
Score), confirmation of enrollment and course load list for the subsequent year of studies
• The minimum course load must be 80% of a “full course” load as defined by the institution and indicated on the course load transcript
or confirmation of enrollment
• High School Applicants:
o Core Subjects are English, Math, Social Studies and 1 Science
o If applicants do not present a Science or Math, one of either a Fine Arts or Second Language subject may be substituted
• Second Installment Requirements: Applicants will need to resubmit the N.B. Coutts Scholarship Application form, confirmation of
enrollment transcripts, previous year’s marks and upcoming course load
*** 2022 Application Deadline is August 18
th
, 2021***
Applications must be received by the Trustees no later than August 19
th
, 2022 and must be supported by **official transcripts, and evidence of
enrollment for the upcoming academic year. Proof of enrollment or attendance will be required before payment is awarded.
PLEASE NOTE: Acceptance letters and statements of accounts ARE NOT proof of enrollment. Faxed or emailed copies are not
considered original or official documents. Any missing documentation or any portion of the application that is not complete will NOT be
considered. Results will be communicated to applicants by the end of September 2022.
Applicants who have previously received a scholarship award from Local Union No. 955 are NOT eligible for additional installments,
regardless of the change in academic studies.
