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APPRENTICESHIP RESOURCES

GETTING STARTED
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What is an Apprenticeship?

     Apprenticeship is a unique, voluntary training system through which individuals acquire trade and craft skills with periodic classroom (related) instruction in technical subjects related to work requirements.  The training design provides for learning all required practical and theoretical skills and knowledge for the chosen skilled occupation.  Practical aspects of work are mastered on the job as apprentices are rotated through all phases of their particular occupations.  Theoretical aspects of work are mastered during related subjects instruction in the classroom.  Related instruction continues throughout the apprenticeship term and provides an opportunity to consider in depth the underlying principals of job activities. 

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           This arrangement of on the job classroom instruction is a standard part of typical apprenticeship indenturing agreements.  It ensures the individual’s employment and guarantees competent workers for industry by providing for learning the complete range of skills and knowledge during training.  

 

What is an apprentice indenture?

A required written agreement or contract between apprentice and program sponsor concerning the term of employment and training experiences of the apprentice during the learning period.  The agreement sets forth expectations, duties and obligations of each party for the term of the apprenticeship.  Among items typically incorporated into the agreement are the provision for related instruction, overtime regulations, minimum wage schedule for each period in the apprenticeship term, and approximate time schedule for training in difference aspects of the occupation.

 

 

Is this training registered with the federal government?

Yes, this training program is registered with the U.S. Department of Labor in accordance with the Nation Apprenticeship Act.  The Department of Labor oversees all terms and conditions for the qualification, recruitment, selection, employment, and training for apprentices. 

 

 

How long is this apprenticeship training program?

This is a five year training program which the JATC committee makes a commitment to train the indentured apprentices and keep them employed.  And they pay for the training as well .  The only cost to the apprentice is for their books, which run approximately $500 to $600 a year.

 

 

Must an apprentice complete the program of related training?

In order to be certified as a Journeyperson by the Bureau of Apprenticeship and training, an apprentice must attend and successfully complete the program of related instruction. Which includes 8000 hours of On the Job Training as well as over 600 hundred hours of class room instruction. 

WHY UNION
Trained to be Professionals
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The United States Government Accountability Office, the federal government’s top investigative agency, issued a report from their findings on registered apprenticeship programs in the construction industry.

 

The report found that union apprentices were paid 24 percent more than nonunion apprentices when they began their apprenticeship, and they will earn 36 percent more when they finish their program.

 

This report provides strong support for using graduation rates as a measure of program performance. The report’s section on craft graduation rates found that union programs graduated 58% of their electrical apprentices who registered, while the nonunion graduated only 26%.

 

Individuals can enter the construction trades without completing formal apprenticeship programs, but many construction workers, particularly those working in highly skilled occupations that require extensive training, such as the electrical trade, receive their training through registered apprenticeship programs.

 

Beginning apprentices’ wages generally start at about 45 to 50 percent of the wage of someone certified in a particular trade and rise to about 80 percent of that wage near completion.  This is being paid to be trained.

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