Apprenticeship is the traditional method of training construction workers. Because the construction industry relies heavily on skilled craftsmanship, its apprenticeship and training programs must be top-rate and fully productive.
Research and statistics show that union programs significantly outperform their non-union counterparts in enrollment levels and graduation rates (especially among minorities and women), and – importantly – overall curriculum and training facility quality. With the U.S. Government Accountability Office reporting in August 2005 that “between 2002 and 2012 nearly 850,000 jobs will open in the construction industry; experts predict that there will not be enough skilled workers to fill them,” it is vital that training programs are up to the task.
Examples of the research conclude:
“There is a wide discrepancy between the performances of the apprentices enrolled in the two types of (apprenticeship) programs (those that are sponsored jointly by unions and contractors signatory to collective bargaining and those that are unilaterally by contractors). … Given the relative effectiveness of union-management joint apprenticeship programs, it is not surprising that the Business Roundtable recommends the expansion of similar apprenticeship programs in the open-shop sector.”
Apprenticeship Training in the U.S. Construction Industry
Cihan Bilginsoy, University of Utah, Department of Economics
“This report reveals that almost every Associated Builders and Contractors apprenticeship program fails to provide this training to the majority of its apprentices. Of the nation’s 80 ABC chapters, only 6 sponsored an apprenticeship program that graduated over half of its apprentices. By contrast, 20 ABC chapters either failed to sponsor a program or failed to enroll apprentices in the program it did sponsor, while another 25 ABC chapters had graduation rates below 25%.”
A Final Report on Associated Builders and Contractors Apprenticeship Training: Flawed and Failing Programs
Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO
“Union apprenticeship programs in Maryland graduate a significantly higher percentage of enrollees and serve a more diverse population than do non-union programs. These findings are consistent with other studies of apprenticeship systems, including five studies of the state construction apprenticeship systems (Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia, and Indiana) and two nationwide studies.”
Apprenticeship Training Programs in Maryland: A Case Study of the Construction Industry, 1990-2003
Erin Johansson and Fred Feinstein, University of Maryland, School of Public Policy
“Bolstering union apprenticeship programs appears the most promising route to meeting future construction industry skill needs. … Non-union employers themselves under-invest in training and offer workers relatively low wages and benefits at the end of training. Non-union programs also enroll low numbers of minorities and women, and waste training dollars because of low completion rates.”
Construction Apprenticeship and Training in Pennsylvania
Dr. David H. Bradley and Dr. Stephen A. Herzenberg, Keystone Research Center
Click here for research reports on Training.
Training Links
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Construct Your Future! – From the Building Trades Department
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