Apprentice Awareness Day  Harrisburg, PA

Hundreds of Union building trades apprentices, coordinators and instructors from 20 different building trades crafts today used the occasion of Apprentice Awareness Day in Pennsylvania to educate elected officials on the value of union-run apprentice training programs as a career path to stable, middle class jobs.

Frank Sirianni, the President of the Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council, noted that opportunities for employment in family-sustaining jobs in the construction industry depend on workers having training in technical skills and job safety.

“Apprentice Awareness Day is a way for recent high school graduates, technical school graduates and veterans to learn about opportunities in the construction industry and the importance and value of apprenticeship and training programs in Pennsylvania,” said Sirianni. “It is also a great way for these apprentices to meet their elected officials.”

All Pennsylvania building trades apprentice programs are funded through a cooperative effort between different crafts unions and employers and are designed to provide apprentices with life-long skills and careers.

These Labor/Management organizations emphasize skills training and job safety and serve as a valuable asset to Pennsylvania’s economy because they cost apprentices nothing to attend and they provide immediate job opportunities both during training and upon completion of the rigorous courses in different trades.

“There are just over 8,000 active building trade apprentices being educated for tomorrow’s work force right now in Pennsylvania and that is fully 80% of all apprentices in the State,” said Sirianni. “The highly technical and complex jobs required to function in the work environment of the future depends on having a well-trained work force and that is what the apprentice programs provide to the State’s economy.”

Sirianni said it was important for State elected officials to understand the value of union apprentice programs because well-trained workers can deliver quality construction projects on time and on budget and minimize the number of costly accidents and safety violations that come with construction jobs done by unskilled or poorly trained workers.

“When an employer uses our union apprentice programs to find workers for a particular project they can be assured that the work force they hire will have a high degree of skills training and an emphasis on safety on the job,” said Sirianni. “That combination is an essential factor in guaranteeing that the project gets completed correctly the first time out and minimizes long term costs by eliminating the need for post-construction corrections of shoddy work.”

For more about Apprentice Day on June 12th and Union Building Trades Apprenticeship opportunities in the construction industry, check our web site at www.apprentice.org.

For more information on the Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council go to the Council’s web site at www.pabuildingtrades.org or contact us at 717-233-5726.