Survey: Proposed Rule Will Discourage Construction Apprenticeship Participation
According to the results of a new survey of ABC contractor-members and chapters published Feb. 27, the U.S. Department of Labor’s controversial, over-180,000-word proposed rule overhauling regulations related to government-registered apprenticeship programs will discourage apprentices, contractors and ABC chapter apprenticeship program providers from participating in the government-registered apprenticeship system.
“Initial feedback on controversial changes to apprenticeship regulations has been overwhelmingly negative, and these survey results make it clear that the Biden DOL’s proposed rule will ultimately weaken a key ingredient in the construction industry’s all-of-the-above solution to its short- and long-term skilled workforce shortage,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC Vice President of Regulatory, Labor and State Affairs. “Government-registered apprenticeship system stakeholders — apprentices, contractors and apprenticeship providers, such as ABC member-contractors and chapters — were hoping for solutions to make it easier to establish and administer GRAPs, with the goal of expanding GRAP capacity to recruit more apprentices and meet industry workforce needs. Instead, the DOL’s unhelpful proposal will do just the opposite.”