Labor In The News: IUOE 99 Apprenticeship Program
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)IUOE Local 99’s apprenticeship program was highlighted in a recent U.S. News
& World Report article (Apprenticeships
a Little-Traveled Path to Jobs). “Ray Lambert is almost done with his
four years of school, and he already has a steady income at a good job,” wrote
Danielle Kurtzleben. "I absolutely love it,” Lambert said. “It's something
different every day. There's always a problem to be solved." A building engineer
for an apartment management company in McLean, VA, Lambert is finishing up an
apprenticeship with IUOE 99. "This is a very specific trade; you have to know
electricity, HVAC, you have to know everything. And it becomes very widely
sought-after," he says. There are around 398,000 registered apprentices in the
U.S., down significantly from a decade ago – nearly 490,000 in 2003 – and
dwarfed by figures from even much smaller countries like Germany, whose
apprenticeship system trains around 1.5 million people per year. “Construction
and building maintenance industry leaders in the U.S. are worried about meeting
future needs for trained journeyworkers and technicians,” says Community
Services Agency Executive Director Kathleen McKirchy, “so these are great
careers for folks to think about getting into now.” CSA’s Building Futures
program helps train and place DC residents in the local trades. - photo
courtesy IUOE 99