Register Now (11/21) EARNTalk: Advancing Equity and Worker Power in Apprenticeship Systems in Your State

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

November 4, 2024

High-Road Pathways to Union Construction Jobs: Advancing Equity and Worker Power in Apprenticeship Systems in Your State
2-3 pm ET, Thursday, November 21

Register here: Register

Celebrate National Apprenticeship Week with a discussion of state strategies for expanding high-road apprenticeship training systems. Right now, massive federal clean energy and infrastructure investments are spurring demand for skilled trades workers. Making sure these new jobs are good union jobs will require expanding access to registered apprenticeship programs, especially for Black, brown, and women workers historically excluded from many skilled trades occupations. How can state advocates and labor partners seize this moment of opportunity to advance worker power and equity in construction jobs?

Our line-up of experts will cover key questions including:
What is a registered apprenticeship? What’s the “union difference” in apprenticeship training, and how can state advocates partner with building trades unions to expand high-road training programs?
How do federal and state policy frameworks shape apprenticeship systems, and what do data show about current trends in apprenticeship training?
What opportunities exist to leverage federal funds to strengthen and expand apprenticeship programs that lead to good union jobs?

Speakers will include:
Melissa Wells, North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU)
Erin O’Brien-Hofmann, Finishing Trades Institute, Philadelphia
Russ Ormiston, Institute for Construction Employment Research (ICERES)
Steve Herzenbeg and Claire Kovach, Keystone Research Center

Join us to learn more about registered apprenticeship, strategies for expanding access to high-road apprenticeship training, and data that can inform work to achieve better job quality and more equitable outcomes for women and people of color in your state’s construction industry.

Iowa MPOs Should Opt-Out of “Federal-Aid SWAP” Program (IA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

PUBLISHED NOV 27, 2018 AT 3:38 PM

In 2017, the Iowa General Assembly passed legislation that authorized the Iowa Department of Transportation to create a “Federal-Aid SWAP” program (Iowa DOT, 2018). This legislation essentially eliminated federal requirements on public infrastructure projects, including the historically bipartisan Federal Davis-Bacon Act which creates a level playing field for all federal construction contractors by ensuring that public expenditures maintain and reflect local area standards for wages and benefits. Under Iowa’s “Federal-Aid SWAP” program, federal dollars that were designated for local construction projects are now retained through the state and fail to include Davis-Bacon Act standards. Local metro planning organizations in Iowa should opt-out of participating in the program.

The main purpose of the Davis-Bacon Act is to support middle-class American families by protecting local standards for compensation and craftsmanship in the competitive public bidding process. Federal construction bidding is not like the private sector. Government procurement agents are required to select the lowest bidder. In the low-bid model used on federally-funded construction projects, contractors aim to lower their bid however possible, including by lowering wages and by reducing apprenticeship training. The Davis-Bacon Act levels the playing field, allowing local contractors and local workers a fair shot at these government projects and incentivizing competition based on core competencies in construction (Duncan et al., 2017).

The Davis-Bacon Act boosts local economies and provides great value to taxpayers. The Davis-Bacon Act protects work for local contractors and construction workers, supports training programs, and provides pathways into the middle class for all blue-collar workers– keeping them off government assistance programs. Local metro planning organizations in Iowa should opt-out of participating in the “Federal-Aid SWAP” program and instead choose to maintain Davis-Bacon Act standards on taxpayer-funded construction projects.

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Guest Commentary: Apprenticeships beneficial to economy

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Sun, 10/30/2016 – 7:00am | The News-Gazette
By FRANK MANZO IV

Students of all ages across our country are back to school.

And while there are many disputes about education policy, there is no disputing its fundamental purpose – to prepare Americans for the jobs of tomorrow.
In Illinois, our fastest growing industry is construction. And construction is projected to grow at twice the rate of Illinois’ economy over the next decade, adding thousands of new
middle-class jobs.

Accessing these jobs in the fastest-growing skilled trades typically requires at least three years of apprenticeship training. And new research from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign shows that the average impact of that training – in the form of increased earnings over an entire career – is greater than the effect of associate’s degrees and many bachelor’s degrees.

So what is an “apprenticeship?”

Apprenticeships have been around for nearly a century. They are governed by state and federal standards that ensure proper certification of graduates. Funded almost entirely by private entities such as employers, labor-management groups and unions, they require almost no out of pocket costs for students, and better yet, enable students to “earn while they learn” – collecting a paycheck while learning a skilled trade on the jobsite and in the classroom. Best of all, they ensure that our state has a pool of skilled tradespeople to meet our long-term infrastructure and building needs.

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$150M available to states to implement or expand job-driven training programs for laid-off workers

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the availability of up to $150 million in funding through a new Job-Driven National Emergency Grant program to train workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own for jobs in high-demand industries.

These investments will help create or expand employer partnerships that provide opportunities for on-the-job training, Registered Apprenticeships or other occupational training that results in an industry-recognized credential. Funding will also be used to provide services, such as coaching, counseling and direct job placement, that help connect laid-off workers, including the long-term unemployed, with available jobs. Focusing funding on proven, job-driven training strategies is a key component of the Obama administration’s agenda to connect ready-to-work Americans with ready-to-be-filled jobs.

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