Maine Compass: Clean energy future relies on workforce development programs and union jobs.

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

May 14
Justin Walsh

… Like my father before me, I am now a member of my industry’s local union in Maine. For the past two years, I’ve served as the Training Director for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) 567. I began my path toward journeyman electrician in the same apprenticeship program I now oversee.

Despite growing up in a union household, I didn’t initially understand the purpose of being in one. I expected all employers to provide their workers with the means for a sustainable life and retirement. But union jobs in the electrical industry provide higher wages, safer work environments, job security, and benefits, including pension and medical. In childhood, I suffered from ear issues for which, without the union health insurance my father received, we wouldn’t have been able to afford treatment. Union benefits spared me a lifetime of pain.

Since I participated in IBEW’s apprenticeship program, there have been shifts in the industry that have made different experiences and learning opportunities available. Most notably, the increasing use of renewable energy and the investments made through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) in electric vehicles (EVs) and EV infrastructure. …

Investing in green technology and renewable energy reduces family energy bills, public health problems, and pollution while making the power grid more reliable. Continuing investments in these technologies and promoting good jobs standards and workforce development programs — like those found in L.D. 1969 in Maine, which has now been signed into law — will create quality clean energy jobs and advance equity in the renewable energy industry. These are imperative to ensure workers can gain access to these fields, learn the skills of the trade, and earn wages and benefits that will sustain careers in building and maintaining greener infrastructure.

Justin Walsh is the training director for a local electrical workers union.

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Workforce Development’s Role in Building the Infrastructure Labor Force

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Feb. 25, 2022
Marina Zhavoronkova, Center for American Progress

Construction and other industries supported by the new federal infrastructure law face labor shortages. Workforce development systems can help narrow that gap by supporting efforts to bring in women and workers of color.

The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is injecting $1.2 trillion toward repairing America’s crumbling transportation system, ensuring access to clean water, connecting people to high-speed broadband and more. But as infrastructure funding starts to trickle down to cities and states, it will take a skilled and diverse workforce to ensure that the law’s extraordinary potential becomes a reality.

The government-funded workforce development system, authorized by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), is a network of federal, state and local organizations and agencies that connect employers and job-seekers to education and training opportunities and to each other. The system must leverage its expertise and positioning to support the talent and diversity demands of the infrastructure law. Industries supported by the legislation, such as construction, are facing significant labor shortages. They also have historically excluded segments of the labor market such as women and communities of color, groups that recent jobs data show are still bearing the brunt of the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The majority of the construction jobs funded by the IIJA will be subject to Davis-Bacon Act protections, which will ensure that workers are paid a prevailing wage and have access to workplace protections. While workforce development is not the sole solution to systemic inequities in the labor market, it has the potential to create an ecosystem in which those problems are not perpetuated and, in doing so, connect job-seekers to good jobs — those that pay well and provide benefits — and help employers meet their labor needs.

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Gov. Wolf Highlights Efforts to Improve Workforce Development in Pennsylvania, Cuts Ribbon on Northeast Philadelphia Workforce Development Center (PA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

March 05, 2020

Governor Tom Wolf today helped cut the ribbon on Toben Center, Northeast Philadelphia’s first comprehensive workforce development center. He was joined by Sen. Christine Tartaglione, Rep. Jared Solomon and representatives from Toben Center tenants PhillyWorks, Harcum College, and Northeast Learning Center to celebrate this new piece of workforce development, which builds upon programs already established by the Wolf Administration and proposed as part of Gov. Wolf’s 2020-21 Budget.

“Workforce development is one of my highest priorities because Pennsylvanians can’t get good jobs without the training they need, and businesses can’t succeed without trained workers,” Gov. Wolf said. “Last year, I signed an executive order creating the Keystone Economic Development and Workforce Command Center. I tasked a group of leaders from labor, business and government with identifying hurdles that prevent workers from finding good jobs, and businesses from finding good workers. The Toben Center will serve as a ladder up for residents of Northeast Philadelphia’s neighborhoods and it will strengthen the business community by creating a stronger pool of educated, skilled workers.”

Gov. Wolf’s budget proposes $12 million for competitive grants to address employment barriers and a $2 million increase for WEDnetPA, which helps businesses with training to upskill existing employees. The investments will continue the progress already made on overcoming the hurdles the Command Center identified that can prevent workers from success, including transportation, child care, re-entry, licensure and training. Many of these are addressed by services offered at the Toben Center.

The governor’s innovative workforce development initiative PAsmart launched two years ago and has invested $30 million to expand hands-on job training through career and technical education, registered apprenticeships and Next Generation Industry Partnerships. The number of apprentices registered with the Department of Labor and Industry annually has tripled since 2015 when the Apprenticeship and Training Office was created.

…

“Governor Wolf’s dedication to workforce is evident through these types of strategic partnerships, which he spoke of in his recent State budget address,” said H. Patrick Clancy, president and CEO at Philadelphia Works. “As the State’s largest workforce board, we strive to stay aligned with the Governor’s priorities. The location of the Toben Center directly addresses transportation access and gaps in workforce training. The services provided in the center ensure that education and workforce resources are accessible at the same time, in the same space, lessening the burden on career seekers. In workforce, we work better together.”

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Northam releases recommendations to protect Virginia workers from misclassification, payroll fraud

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Published Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019, 7:52 pm

Gov. Ralph Northam this week released the final report of his Inter-Agency Taskforce on Worker Misclassification and Payroll Fraud, which outlines 11 recommendations to ensure Virginia workers receive the pay, workplace protections, and benefits they have earned.

The report is the result of Executive Order Thirty-Eight signed by Governor Northam in August, which directed the Taskforce to produce updated recommendations to measure and combat misclassification ahead of the 2020 General Assembly session.

An estimated 214,000 Virginia employees are currently misclassified as “independent contractors” by their employers. Among other remedies, the Taskforce recommends increased education for employers and employees, additional funding for investigations into possible wrongdoing, and harsher penalties for businesses that illegally misclassify their workers.

“It’s clear that misclassification is robbing Virginia workers of the pay, benefits, and protections they have earned,” said Northam. “These concrete policy changes will make a tremendous difference for thousands of Virginians and their families, and I look forward to working with the General Assembly to turn these recommendations into law.”

Misclassification keeps workers from receiving fair workplace protections and benefits, creates a competitive disadvantage for Virginia businesses that follow the law, and deprives the Commonwealth of an estimated $28 million in tax revenues each year. The General Assembly has considered the harm of worker misclassification for over a decade.

“After engaging with workers, businesses, and stakeholder groups over the last year, it’s clear that worker misclassification needs to be addressed,” said Chief Workforce Development Advisor Megan Healy. “I am ready to take action to support all workers in Virginia.”

The Taskforce is co-chaired by Secretary of Commerce and Trade Brian Ball and Chief Workforce Development Advisor Megan Healy. Members include representatives from the Virginia Employment Commission, the Workers’ Compensation Commission, the Department of General Services, the Department of Labor and Industry, the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity, the Department of Taxation, and the Office of the Attorney General.

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Taking workforce development to school (OR)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Josh Kulla
10/24/19

Contractors in the Portland-metro area are continuing to address the skilled labor shortage by reaching out to educators. Walsh Construction, for example, is helping Benson Polytechnic High School build up its construction technology program.

Last year, Walsh employees spent time in the Benson woodshop to give students hands-on carpentry construction. This year, expansion has allowed instructors to take better advantage of Carpenters International Training Fund (CITF) curriculum. And from a pair of half-full woodworking classes a year ago, the construction technology program has grown to around 100 enrollees – approximately 10 percent of the Benson student body – engaging in classes that could lead them to careers in the skilled trades.

Participants in the two-year program take courses focusing on construction industry soft skills and preliminary hard skills they can use to eventually learn a trade or even go into project management. Students even are taught how to use 3-D modeling software.

“We’ve dramatically changed in the sense of participation,” said Benson woodworking instructor Dave Ketah, a former design professional. “We started the new elective woodworking, and last year was my first year on staff here, so on some level there is new direction for our department. We have gained some really good, new strategy; we have the partnership with Walsh and we’re amplifying our participation and our coverage of the curriculum we use from CITF.”

All told, students who participate in woodworking all year will have taken enough CITF coursework to earn pre-apprenticeship level 3 status, Ketah said. They will have soft skills and building skills needed to qualify for an apprenticeship with their local carpenters union – in this case, United Brotherhood of Carpenters Local 1503 of Oregon City.

A few of Ketah’s former students already are making their way into the industry.

“The results are that we have had students in our partnership with the (Pacific Northwest Carpenters Institute) entered into an apprenticeship,” he said. “We had a visit from a student last month who graduated last year and he told us about it. He got some credit for this stuff here and for doing the PNCI construction camp. He got pre-apprenticeship credits that put him as a second-term apprentice.”

Someone following that same path, Ketah said, could earn as much as $80,000 annually after reaching journeyman status at age 22.

“We’re able to tell that story to our students as we recruit them to come into our program,” he said.

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Building better communities through construction workforce development

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

PUBLISHED – Sept. 23, 2019

A Growing Workforce Trend

More and more often, public agencies are incorporating workforce hiring requirements into their construction contracts. For those who are unfamiliar, these stipulations typically require the contractors that are awarded contracts by the agency to employ a workforce that meets certain thresholds of demographic criteria. For example, one of the more common trends that local entities push for is an increased rate of local hires.

Typically, the contracting agency sets a benchmark on a project that the contractors must meet. In this example, contractors must maintain that a certain percentage of the workers on the project must reside within the city or county in which the project takes place (alternatively, the percentage of total hours worked on the project can be used as a measure). The primary motive of the agency here would be to ensure that the residents of the community are the ones benefiting most from public funds used on this project to maximize the return on taxpayer dollars. This discourages the outsourcing of skilled labor, a not-so-uncommon tactic that some contractors might try in order to cut recruiting and hiring costs. (Remember, the use of local labor is one of the reasons the Davis-Bacon Act was created in 1931.) The benefit that the public entity realizes from these hiring requirements is compounded. Not only are stable career opportunities created for local residents, but the workers’ disposable income may contribute to the local economies and provide additional tax revenue that would have otherwise been displaced along with the transplanted workers once the project was complete.

Another commonly tracked statistical measure that is vital to the longevity of the industry’s success is that of apprentices or on-the-job trainees (OJTs). These recruits are crucial because of the industry’s dependency on new labor entering the market. As many government professionals might already be aware, one of the most common obstacles contractors face daily is obtaining and retaining a sufficient quantity of skilled labor to complete their projects on time and on budget. It has been no secret that the industry has struggled to replenish voids left by retiring workers as socio-economic pressures have increasingly influenced youth to pursue college degrees and white-collar jobs over manual labor (even despite its enticing stability and benefits). This obstacle, among a plethora of others, has kept the industry in a constant battle searching for new skilled labor to keep up with the demand for construction projects.

A New Opportunity

This struggle, however, has positioned the industry in a unique situation. In fact, many feel that this challenge has presented a potential goldmine opportunity. It has left the door open to target new sources of untapped potential in traditionally under-utilized pockets of demographics, giving industry players a chance to fill the labor deficit while also providing career opportunities to individuals who need them the most.

Some localities have taken these hiring requirements to the next level to address these under-represented communities like minorities, the economically impoverished, or other disadvantaged groups. By working together with workforce training programs and supportive services that cater to these individuals, various entities across the country have successfully made a difference in lifting up the most deserving members in their communities with stable careers.

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