FIRST APPRENTICESHIP LEGISLATION
The first legislation in the United States to promote an organized system of apprenticeship was enacted in Wisconsin in 1911. The law placed apprenticeship under the jurisdiction of an industrial commission. This followed the enactment of State legislation requiring all apprentices to attend classroom instruction 5 hours a week. In the 1920’s national employer and labor organizations, educators, and Government officials began a concerted effort to bring about a national, uniform apprenticeship system. In the forefront of this movement were representative groups of the construction industry. The need for comprehensive training of apprentices had become a vital necessity in the boom days following World War I. Immigration was curtailed after the war, so fewer skilled workers were entering from other countries. The combined effort of the various groups led in 1934 to the participation of the Federal Government in the national promotion of apprenticeship. The Federal Committee on Apprenticeship, composed of representatives of Government agencies, was appointed by the Secretary of Labor to serve as the national policy-recommending body on apprenticeship in the United States. It was to assume the responsibilities with respect to apprentices and their training under industrial codes formulated by the National Recovery Administration.
LABOR STANDARDS FOR THE REGISTRATION OF APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS
(TITLE 29 CFR PART 29) This new part sets out labor standards, policies and procedures relating to the registration, cancellation and de-registration of apprenticeship programs and of apprenticeship agreements by the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training (BAT), the recognition of a State Apprenticeship Council or Agency (SAC) as the appropriate agency for registering local apprenticeship programs for certain Federal purposes.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY IN APPRENTICESHIP AND TRAINING
(TITLE 29 CFR PART 30) This part sets forth policies and procedures to promote equality of opportunity in apprenticeship programs registered with the U.S. Department of Labor and in state apprenticeship programs registered with recognized state apprenticeship agencies. These policies and procedures apply to the recruitment and selection of apprentices, and to all conditions of employment and training during apprenticeship.
NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP LAW IS ENACTED
In 1937 Congress passed the National Apprenticeship Law. This law, popularly known as the Fitzgerald Act, was enacted “to promote the furtherance of labor standards of apprenticeship…to extend the application of such standards by encouraging the inclusion thereof in contracts of apprenticeship, to bring together employers and labor for the formulation of programs of apprenticeship, to cooperate with State agencies in the formulation of standards of apprenticeship."
MODERN APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS
The Fitzgerald Act of 1937 set the pattern for today’s system of Federal Government assistance in apprenticeship programs. The Federal Committee on Apprenticeship was reorganized and enlarged to include equal representation of employers and labor, plus a representative of the U.S. Office of Education. The Apprentice-Training Service (now the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training) was established as the national administrative agency in the Department of Labor to carry out the objectives of the law, guided by the recommendations of the Federal Committee on Apprenticeship. Since 1937, the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training has worked closely with employer and labor groups, vocational schools, State apprenticeship agencies, and others concerned with apprenticeship programs in U.S. industry. It has field representatives in the 50 States. Its functions are advisory and promotional. It does not itself conduct training programs. A major means for promoting apprenticeship is through a wide exchange of information on the advantages and methods of well-organized and well-run apprenticeship programs. The Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training disseminates this information widely through newspapers, industrial periodicals, discussions at annual conventions of employer associations and unions, and regional apprenticeship conferences. About 800 apprenticeable occupations - most of them in the construction, manufacturing, transportation, and service industries - are covered in registered programs.
THE NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP ACT
(50 Stat. 663; 29 U.S.C 5O) To enable the Department of Labor to formulate and promote the furtherance of labor standards necessary to safeguard the welfare of apprentices and to cooperate with the States in the promotion of such standards. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in congress assembled, That the Secretary of Labor is hereby authorized and directed to formulate and promote the furtherance of labor standards necessary to safeguard the welfare of apprentices, to extend the application of such standards by encouraging the inclusion thereof in contracts of apprenticeship, to bring together employers and labor for the formulation of programs of apprenticeship, to cooperate with State agencies engaged in the formulation and promotion of standards of apprenticeship, and to cooperate with the National Youth Administration and with the Office of Education of the Department of the Interior in accordance with section 6 of the Act of February 23, 1917 (39 Stat. 932), as amended by Executive Order Numbered 6166, June 10, 1933, issued pursuant to an Act of June 30, 1932 (47 Stat. 414), as amended. Sec. 2. The Secretary of Labor may publish information relating to existing and proposed labor standards of apprenticeship, and may appoint national advisory committees to serve without compensation. Such committees shall include representatives of employers, representatives of labor, educators, and officers of other executive departments, with the consent of the head of any such department. Sec. 3. On and after the effective date of this Act the National Youth Administration shall be relieved of direct responsibility for the promotion of labor standards of apprenticeship as heretofore conducted through the division of apprentice training and shall transfer all records and papers relating to such activities to the custody of the Department of Labor. The Secretary of Labor is authorized to appoint such employees as he may from time to time find necessary for the administration of this Act, with regard to existing laws applicable to the appointment and compensation of employees of the United States: Provided, however, That he may appoint persons now employed in division of apprentice training of the National Youth Administration upon certification by the Civil Service Commission of their qualifications after nonassembled examinations. Sec. 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1937, or as soon thereafter as it shall be approved. Approved, August 16, 1937.
CERTIFICATES OF COMPLETION
When apprentices finish their training, they receive certificates of completion of apprenticeship. These are issued by the State apprenticeship agencies or, in those States not having such an agency, by the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training in accordance with its recommended standards.
JOINT APPRENTICESHIP COMMITTEES
Joint apprenticeship committees, composed of representatives of management and labor, work together to develop and administer local apprenticeship training programs. In addition to local groups, national trade committees represent national organizations. With the help of the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, the national committees formulate policies on apprenticeship in the various trades and issue basic standards to be used by affiliated organizations.
BASIC STANDARDS FOR APPRENTICESHIP
Programs registered by the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training must provide that - the starting age of an apprentice is not less than 16; there is full and fair opportunity to apply for apprenticeship; there is a schedule of work processes in which an apprentice is to receive training and experience on the job; the program includes organized instruction designed to provide apprentices with knowledge and technical subjects related to their trade (a minimum of 144 hours per year is normally considered necessary); there is a progressively increasing schedule of wages; Proper supervision of on-the-job training with adequate facilities to train apprentices is insured; the apprentice’s progress, both in job performance and related instruction, is evaluated periodically and appropriate records are maintained; there is employee-employer cooperation; successful completions are recognized; and there is no discrimination in any phase of selection, employment, or training.
APPRENTICESHIP VALUES FOR YOUTH AND INDUSTRY
For young persons just starting out in the world of work, apprenticeship has important advantages. It offers an efficient way to learn skills, for the training is planned and organized and is not hit-or-miss. The apprentices earn as they learn, for they are already workers. When their apprenticeship is completed, youth are assured of a secure future and a good standard of living because the training is in the crafts where skills are much in demand. Opportunities for employment and advancement open up with the recognition that the apprentices are now skilled craft workers. Industry, too, benefits greatly. Out of apprenticeship programs come all-round craft workers competent in all branches of their trades and able to work without close supervision because their training has enabled them to use imagination, ability, and knowledge in their work. When changes are made in production, these workers provide the versatility needed for quick adaptation of work components to suit the changing needs. An adequate supply of skilled workers with these qualities is vital to industrial progress. One important way that apprenticeship-trained workers contribute to industry is in supervisory positions. Apprenticeship provides not only many supervisors on our production lines, but also many top-level officials in American business. A survey conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America showed that 90 percent of the top officials of construction companies who replied-presidents, vice presidents, owners, and partners-began their careers as apprentices. Many of the project managers, superintendents, and craft supervisors employed by those companies also began as apprentices. Another survey, conducted by a large manufacturer of electrical and automotive equipment, revealed that 40 percent of the 300 apprentice graduates still on the company’s payroll held important supervisory or executive positions.
NEW DIRECTIONS IN APPRENTICESHIP
The apprenticeship system has grown up with America. Like America, it is still growing and changing. Today it serves a far different Nation from the one of pioneer days. Scientific discoveries, new teaching methods, expanding industry, an increasing population, a determination of people to live not only free but equal - these are among the demands of our present-day technological and social systems to which apprenticeship is responding. To meet the need for changes in production methods and products, apprenticeships have been set up in new trades, and apprenticeships in many of the older trades have been updated. For example, in recent years a new apprenticeship program has been created to train orthotic and prosthetic technicians. Workers in this expanding field fabricate devices known as orthoses and prostheses, which help thousands of people who have disabling conditions of the limbs and spine or other crippling ailments to move around on their own. These technicians are expected to keep abreast of all new fabricating techniques.
WOMEN IN APPRENTICESHIP
Increasing numbers of women in apprenticeship reflect some of our changing attitudes about whose hands may do our skilled work. From 1900 to 1960, each decennial census showed that women held only 2 to 3 percent of the jobs in skilled trades, a figure that varied only during World War II. But by 1982 women had more than doubled their share, holding nearly 6.5 percent of the jobs in skilled trades. They account for nearly a million skilled trade workers. All skilled trades now report at least some women at work. They include such traditionally “men’s” jobs as automobile mechanics, carpenters, heavy equipment mechanics, and telephone installation and repair workers. Despite this progress, many women still do not use the apprenticeship route to a well-paid occupation. The majority of women in apprenticeship are found in cosmetology and a few other trades. Through federally funded outreach programs, the Department of Labor and local and national organizations are trying to broaden the horizons of women, counselors, prospective employers, and apprenticeship councils.
APPRENTICESHIP PREPARATORY COURSES
To attract more able young men and women to apprenticeship in the years when they are making career decisions, apprenticeship preparatory courses are given in high schools and vocational and technical schools. These acquaint youth with the great opportunities in crafts and trades and give them some theoretical and technical instruction in specific fields.
APPRENTICESHIP PREJOB PROGRAMS
Apprenticeship prejob programs provide on-the-job training for 6 to 8 weeks. Their purpose is to introduce potential apprentices to specific skilled trades and to determine their suitability for the particular work involved. When students successfully complete the introductory period, they may continue with placement in regular apprenticeship training programs.
VETERANS IN APPRENTICESHIP
For eligible veterans, apprenticeship offers special opportunities. When they enter approved apprenticeship programs, they may receive-in addition to their wages-a monthly training assistance allowance for up to 3 years under the Veteran’s pension and Readjustment Assistance Act of 1967. The amount they may receive is determined by the period of training they are in and the number of dependents they have. In addition, some veterans will be already eligible for craftworker status when they are discharged, as the result of an agreement between the armed services and the Department of labor. Under the plan, they will develop training programs in apprenticesable occupations, such as operation and repair of heavy equipment, with the help of labor and management representatives of that craft. Work experience in the craft will be counted toward the credits required for craftworker status. Those who fall short of the required credits at the time of discharge will receive counseling on how to meet the remaining requirements.
LOOKING FORWARD
Rapid changes in our industrial system require a large body of skilled workers who are able to carry out technical specifications and who can supervise less skilled members of the work force. Women in apprenticeship and in skilled craft jobs will become more numerous, and new opportunities will open up for minorities as non-discrimination requirements are enforced. Projections of employment opportunities show great needs for skilled workers. National projections of skilled worker requirements prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, indicate a rise in the number of skilled workers from 11 million in 1980 to 14 million in 1990. Apprenticeship has served in many periods of history. Today it is clear that this method for teaching and learning skills systems remains one of the best ways of training skilled craft workers. But there is still much work to do.