What does the American apprenticeship system really need?
It would take 12 years for federal and state government-registered apprenticeship programs to educate the more than half a million workers the construction industry needs to hire in 2023, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of recently released U.S. Department of Labor data. ABC estimates that the construction industry’s federal and state government-registered apprenticeship system yielded just 45,000 completers of four-to-five-year apprenticeship programs in 2022.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is proposing new regulations for its registered apprenticeship program that has sparked recent controversy in the construction industry.
DOL claims the changes will improve connections with postsecondary education and better data, in addition to the following benefits:
Strengthen labor standards, quality and worker protections by making occupational skills and training more portable, enhancing alignment with postsecondary education
Better define roles for state apprenticeship agencies and other stakeholders within the National Apprenticeship System.
Codify DOL Office of Apprenticeship’s role for national leadership, promotion and standards.
Promote apprenticeship pathways, including pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship readiness programs, by expanding performance and data requirements to improve accountability, transparency and program outcomes.
Create a student-centric model of registered apprenticeship, called Registered Career and Technical Education Apprenticeship, designed to make them more seamless for full-time high school and community college students to enroll in apprenticeships.
On the other hand, employers argue the DOL’s rule will make the current labor shortage even worse by imposing onerous regulations on apprenticeships.
About half of apprenticeship programs are jointly run by labor and management, typically governed by collective-bargaining agreements. The rule would require that apprenticeship programs provide at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job training, though many can train workers in less time. Employers would have to provide “accessible” and “equitable” facilities for all workers—e.g., bathrooms that correspond to gender identity—and “personal protective equipment” that fits “according to each apprentice’s size and body type.”
The Wall Street Journal reports, companies would also have to provide apprentices with the same “allowances, rights, and protections” as regular employees, including family leave and retirement benefits. This threatens to limit non-union programs that don’t provide “a detailed, actionable plan” for advancing DEI.
The Associated Builders and Contractors said in a press release: “Unfortunately, the Biden administration and some in Congress are pushing funding and policies exclusively promoting the government-registered apprenticeship system to build the construction workforce. This benefits special interests because 75% of all apprentices enrolled in construction industry GRAPs are affiliated with union programs. Yet, the government’s own data demonstrates that the restrictive GRAP system is not meeting the industry’s need for skilled labor and therefore cannot be the only solution supported by government to meet market demand and develop a diverse and inclusive workforce.”
In addition, the ABC-opposed National Apprenticeship Act introduced in Congress on April 25, criticizing it as, “further entrenching the rigid registered system, failing to address critical workforce needs of our nation’s construction industry and substantially restricting apprenticeship opportunities currently serving thousands of contractors.”
Construction of American infrastructure, clean energy and manufacturing will all be critical to our national security for decades, yet the construction industry is already deep in hole when it comes to attracting and maintaining a skilled workforce. From our perspective, what’s lacking and needed more than anything is improved communication and trust between public and private, and union and non-union entities. Everyone can recognize the problem, let’s just make it as easy as possible for everyone to row in the same direction in whatever way they’re most comfortable with. If we can each play role in unlocking opportunities for individuals to access work and learning, we will create a more equitable and productive industry and country.
