Apprenticeship Services offers new training for WorkSource staff
Apprenticeship Services has developed a new training presentation to show what apprenticeship opportunities are available in a given region. In this two and one-half hour workshop, attendees will hear from L&I apprenticeship consultants and from representatives of local apprenticeship training programs.
The training was developed to help WorkSource and Job Corps staff, educational counselors, and others in the community understand the range of options and programs available so they can refer their customers to training and work opportunities. Trainings have already been held in Whatcom, Skagit, Thurston, Grays Harbor and Clark counties.
There is no charge for the training. Interested WorkSource centers or Workforce Development Councils must provide the training facility, staff release time, and if you choose, refreshments for participants. To set up a customized training at your location, contact Jody Robbins, Apprenticeship Technical Specialist, Department of Labor & Industries, Apprenticeship Services at 360-902-6412, Fax 360-902-4248 or e-mail rojo235@LNI.wa.gov
Running Start to the Trades Symposium a success
On May 8, over 60 participants gathered at the Puget Sound Skill Center in Burien to share their successes with creating partnerships between high schools, skill centers, and apprenticeship programs. These partnerships, funded through Governor Gregoire’s Running Start for the Trades (RSTT) initiative, created in 2006 and funded in 2007, promote opportunities for secondary pre-apprenticeship and close collaboration benefiting students, school districts and apprenticeship programs.
The RSTT Symposium, sponsored by L&I Apprenticeship Services, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Construction Center of Excellence, was a daylong workshop crafted to give grant recipients and school districts the structural and programmatic tools necessary to succeed. Presenters at the 2008 RSTT Symposium shared their tips and best practices with other schools and apprenticeship programs around the state, providing important lessons about creating and sustaining successful K-12 pre-apprenticeship programs.
Terry Bergeson, Superintendent of the Office of Public Instruction, speaks at the RSTT Symposium
Events like these highlight the ongoing successes of the RSTTinitiative, which aims to create a seamless pathway connecting secondary students to high-wage, high-skill apprenticeship training opportunities in the building and construction trades.
Read the full report on the success of the RSTT partnership.
New unemployment benefit for registered apprentices
This year the 2008 Legislature passed Substitute Senate Bill 6751 amending RCW 50.20.050, the state law that lists the conditions under which an individual may quit work and remain eligible for unemployment benefits.
Beginning June 12, 2008, individuals who quit a job to enter classroom training as part of an apprenticeship program may be eligible for unemployment benefits. To qualify for benefits, the program must be approved by the Washington State Apprenticeship and Training Council. Eligibility for benefits starts the week before the classroom training begins.
Currently, individuals who are already a part of a state-approved apprenticeship program who must attend unpaid, related supplemental instruction classes as a condition of employment for extended periods (one week or more), are potentially eligible for unemployment benefits.
To learn more about this unemployment benefit, call 1-800-318-6022.
Governor Gregoire signs Cosmetology bill
In March, Governor Gregoire signed a new law making permanent a cosmetology apprenticeship program. This law allows individuals without a cosmetology license to work while being trained as registered apprentices under the supervision of licensed, journey-level professional cosmetologists. Thanks to this new law, there will continue to be an alternative, structured and regulated pathway into the cosmetology profession through the apprenticeship program.
For the past two years, there has been a pilot program operating under an exemption from the Department of Licensing laws allowing state-registered apprentices to work in the cosmetology profession. Now that this exemption has been made permanent, salons throughout the state will have an alternative means to employ and train someone for the industry rather than relying solely on public and private cosmetology school graduates.
Thurston County Commissioners vote to promote apprenticeship opportunities
Thurston County Commissioners held a public hearing May 12 on a plan to require that 10 percent of labor for any county contract of more than $1 million be done by apprentices. The commissions voted to approve the plan. The first project since the apprenticeship-utilization plan was approved is likely to be Phase I of the new Thurston County jail at Mottman Industrial Park.
Clover Park Technical College Starts ANEW Program
(Source: Construction Connections March 2008)
Classes started March 17 for the first class of Clover Park’s newly started Apprenticeship & Nontraditional Employment for Women and Men (ANEW) program in Lakewood, WA. This program joins the successful ANEW program currently offered at South Seattle Community College’s Puget Sound Industrial Excellence Center.
The ANEW program has a rich history in Washington and is nationally recognized as one of the most successful pre-apprenticeship training programs in the country. Since its inception in 1980, the program has trained over 2,500 people in basic construction skills and job readiness.
The Construction Readiness Program is a comprehensive, 11-week, full-time training program that includes such topics as:
- Basic hand and power-tool operation and safety
- Work-based learning in different trades
- Employment readiness
- Fitness and strength training
- Industrial safety
- Basic blueprint reading
- Trades math
Registration prerequisites for the Clover Park training program include:
• 18 years or older
• Valid WA state driver’s license and reliable transportation
• TANF or WorkFirst low income eligibility
• Applicant must attend an ANEW orientation and receive an assessment
For more information on Clover Park's ANEW program, call 206-768-6671 or email Bridgette@anewaop.org.
There were 18,043 active apprentices for the 12-month time period ending May 31, 2008 of which 1,931 were women and 4,313 were minority.
Since the last low point of February 28, 2006 (8,922) there has been an increase of 69 percent to a total of 15,068 active apprentices as of May 31, 2008. This is an increase of 6,146 active apprentices.
Upcoming Apprenticeship events
Check out the L&I Apprenticeship On-line Calendar of Events for details on upcoming activities.
Get the skills you need to get a construction apprenticeship
These are a few of the schools offering pre-apprenticeship training in building trades:
- Seattle Vocational Institute: building trades pre-apprentice programs. building trades apprentice for such crafts as ironworkers, electrical workers, painters and bricklayers.
- Edmonds Community College: Construction Industry Training (CIT)
- See more apprenticeship opportunities at the L&I web site.
Other resources
- Visit the L&I web site to learn how to become an apprentice.
- South Seattle Community College apprentice-related training.
- Renton Technical College apprenticeship.
- Lake Washington Technical College apprenticeship information.
