NABTU Workforce Development Programs are Increasing Diversity in the Construction Industry

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

NABTU | Washington, D.C. — January 17, 2023 — Today, at its first Opportunity Pipeline Forum, North America’s Building Trades Unions released a new report from the Institute for Construction Economics Research (ICERES) entitled, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives in the Construction Trades” which examines workforce development and diversity, equity and inclusion in the construction industry, including the unique programmatic success of building trade programs and their results.

The study evaluates initiatives in the construction industry to promote greater workforce diversity, including recruitment, pre-apprenticeship, mentoring, retention, and apprenticeship training programs and looks at the success rates between union and non-union programs. The report finds that union programs are far more effective than non-union programs at recruiting and training more women and racially diverse groups into the construction industry.

“Improving diversity and making the skilled trades a more equitable and inclusive work environment is a challenge that requires conscious efforts and initiatives that track outcomes, which improve access to these jobs and provide support for workers from historically underrepresented groups,” said Dr. Amy Tracy Wells, one of the ICERES study authors and Lecturer at Rutgers University. “This study attempts to facilitate the strengthening of the DEI initiatives in all parts of the construction sector by providing perspectives on the current state of these programs in the construction industry—highlighting some of the best and most innovative practices—and offering insight on recent trends in the traditional pipeline to the skilled trades: registered apprenticeship training programs.”

“This is the first study of its kind and gives our entire industry a benchmark in which we are all held to the same standard on DEI and workforce development programs,” said NABTU President McGarvey. “The ICERES study demonstrates building trades unions’ programs are successful because of deliberate, intentional work and critical partnerships with community-based organizations, industry leaders, and government agencies. The findings underscore that investing programmatically throughout the workforce development pipeline and utilizing true workforce development tools like PLAs and collective bargaining work. With massive federal investments from the IRA, CHIPS, and Infrastructure Bill needing more on-ramps to Registered Apprenticeships, we look forward to organizations like TradesFutures helping us advance these successful DEI programs, maximize investments and meet the moment to provide more meaningful middle-class career pathways for diverse communities across America.”

Read the ICERES Study: “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives in the Construction Trades” by Cihan Bilginsoy, University of Utah; David Bullock, University of Michigan; Amy Tracy Wells, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; Roland Zullo, University of Michigan; and editors: Julie Brockman, Michigan State University and Russell Ormiston, Allegheny College.

For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Betsy Barrett at bbarrett@nabtu.org or 202-997-3266.

Illinois law promoting diversity in construction set to take effect (IL)

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Posted by Adam Redling
December 30, 2019

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed Illinois Works Jobs Program legislation Dec. 10 to strengthen a pillar of the state’s Rebuild Illinois initiative and increase diversity in apprenticeships for construction and the building trades. Senate Bill 177 takes effect Jan. 1, 2020.

Rebuild Illinois is a $45 billion capital program designed to improve the state’s infrastructure and provide resources to those in the building profession.

The Illinois Works Jobs Program will help ensure that Illinois residents from all communities not only benefit from capital projects, but also have access to careers in the construction industry and building trades.

The law encompasses a $25 million investment and works through community-based organizations. These organizations will help recruit new apprentices to work on construction projects and sets strong apprentice participation goals of 10 percent on public works projects. Through this pre-apprenticeship program, bid credit program and review panel, the new law is designed to help ensure the Illinois Works Jobs Program can build and maintain a diverse workforce on Rebuild Illinois projects.

“Rebuild Illinois is the largest, most robust capital plan in state history. We’re working with our partners to make sure every community in the state benefits from these good jobs-especially those who have been left out for far too long,” Pritzker says. “We’re putting Illinois’ government back on the side of working families, designing a state that is economically prosperous not just for the few, but for every Illinoisan, no matter the color of their skin or their ZIP code.”

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Diversity in the New York City union and nonunion construction sectors

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Press Releases • March 2, 2017

A new report by EPI President Lawrence Mishel finds that New York City’s union construction sector has become significantly more racially diverse in the past two decades and that union construction workers earn substantially more than nonunion construction workers, leading to an increased economic benefit for black and Hispanic communities.

Using newly developed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics to analyze the racial composition of blue-collar union and nonunion construction employment, Mishel finds in Diversity in the NYC construction union and nonunion sectors that New York City’s union construction sector employs a greater share of black workers than the nonunion construction sector. In 2014, black workers accounted for 21.2 percent of employment in union construction, versus 15.8 percent in nonunion construction.

Unions have also drawn more black and Hispanic workers into construction through apprenticeship programs funded jointly by unions and construction contractors, which provide wages and benefits to workers while they learn job-related skills. The share of union apprentices that are people of color was over 60 percent in 2014, more than double the share in 1994.

Hispanic and black workers in construction unions earn 34.5 percent and 36.1 percent more than nonunion Hispanic and black construction workers, respectively. Because black workers have a greater presence in the union construction sector and are paid far more, collective bargaining in New York City greatly boosts overall annual wages to the black community from construction by $152 million each year.

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(Press Release)