West Virginia:
Journey-level upgrade training

“We’re pleased that Governor Wise has continued investing precious workforce dollars in our members – and in family-wage jobs for the community. It doesn’t make sense to contribute tax dollars to train people for minimum-wage jobs with no benefits.”

—Roy Smith, Secretary-Treasurer, West Virginia State Building and Construction Trades Council

In 2001 Construction Works of West Virginia, run by the West Virginia State Building and Construction Trades Council, AFLCIO, helped upgrade the skills of more than 150 of its members after receiving support from statewide WIA funds. Noting that the trades council had trained 50 more workers than the initial grant had sought, Governor Bob Wise this year renewed the program for another two years with $600,000 in additional funds for journey-level upgrade training.

Construction Works has also coordinated with the trade unions’ Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committees around the state to ensure that the JATCs are certified as “eligible training providers.” While qualifying as an eligible training provider is not legally required to receive money from the Governor’s 15% Discretionary Fund under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), it gives the workforce system confidence in the quality of the training and it makes the JATCs eligible for other workforce dollars from Local Workforce Investment Boards.

California:
Pre-apprenticeship training

“You can’t believe the transformation we see in our students over the course of the six-week pre-apprenticeship program. It’s a win-win for the building trades and the community.”

—Xema Jacobson, Business Manager, San Diego Building and Construction Trades Council

In the spring of 2002 the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California (SBCTC) was awarded a one-year grant of $581,988 for a new Construction Opportunities Program. The funding came from Governor Gray Davis’s 15% Discretionary Fund. The campaign will help develop greater capacity among 6 to 10 local Building Trades Councils to establish successful pre-apprenticeship programs in coordination with their local Workforce Investment Boards.

This program will also develop an extensive public relations and outreach campaign to promote careers in construction to young people, as well as adults who are unemployed or working in low-wage industries. Elements of the campaign will include a public service announcement, a video, an interactive CD, a website, written materials and training for job referral counselors, and linkages to community-based organizations. Another recent recipient of support from the Governor’s 15% Discretionary Fund is the San Diego Building and Construction Trades Council, which operates a pre-apprenticeship program called JobLinks, which connects students to a variety of careers in the trades.

The program consists of 96 hours each of classroom instruction and hands-on, paid training that prepares students for exams and interviews necessary to enter an apprenticeship program. A master craftsman from the Sheetmetal Workers provides the instruction. The students are also certified in OSHA safety, First Aid and CPR.

Launched with a grant from its local Workforce Investment Board, San Diego Workforce Partnerships, the program has continued its operations through grants made available through the Governor’s 15% statewide resources. The program has placed graduates in every affiliate of the Council.

Georgia:
Apprentice-level training

“A perfect fit—That’s how we would describe the partnership between our Workforce Investment Board and our building trades apprenticeship programs.”

—J.J. Johnson, UA Local 177 and WIB Representative and Joe Walker, IBEW Local 508 and WIB Representative

The trades’ training programs along the coast of Southeast Georgia have accessed the public system to get training dollars for their apprentices. Once the Coastal Workforces Services Board, the Local WIB covering Savannah and Brunswick, Ga., learned about the opportunities to invest in world-class training, they moved quickly to invest in building and construction trades unions’ and their employers’ apprenticeship programs.

It started when the joint labor-management committees of the UA and IBEW connected their apprenticeship programs to the workforce system to enhance their training — paying for books, instructors and equipment, and covering the out-of-pocket expense for apprentices.

It has been a great partnership that has been expanding beyond the two trades that got the ball rolling. Through contracts that rely on a system of “participant training vouchers” — similar to ITAs but based on contracts for service — the Board has agreed to cover half of the apprentices annually admitted into the JATC programs; the JATC finances the other half.

Other crafts are accessing public resources that contribute to a high road economy in coastal Gerogia. The WIB has invested in a two-year program to train 14 apprentices in the Brunswick local of the Plumbers and Pipefitters to become journey-level workers. The IBEW-National Electrical Contractors Association JATC also is receiving WIA funds from the WIB to train apprentices in the area.