National Apprenticeship Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bipartisan National Apprenticeship Act, which I am honored to co-lead with Chairman Scott.

Last summer, I held a roundtable discussion with apprentices and pre- apprentices from around northwest Oregon. I spoke with Melissa, who said that joining the Boilermakers Local 242 apprenticeship was a ``life-changing decision.'' And Lacy, who talked about her apprenticeship with Laborers Local 737; she said it ``made it possible to pay my bills and feed my kid.''

By supporting the National Apprenticeship Act, we will help more workers like Melissa and Lacy gain the skills and support services they need to provide for themselves and their families.

As our Nation recovers from the economic consequences of the pandemic, registered apprenticeships provide especially meaningful upskilling and reskilling opportunities for displaced and dislocated workers to help them secure good-paying jobs.

I am glad that my bipartisan PARTNERS Act is included to help small and medium-sized businesses develop registered apprenticeships and provide workers with support services like tools, work attire, transportation, childcare, and mentorship.

The legislation we pass today will help more Oregonians and Americans get the skills they need to succeed.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter from the National Task Force on Tradeswomen's Issues in support of the National Apprenticeship Act. [From the National Task Force on tradeswomen's Issues, Jan. 28, 2021] Comments of the National Taskforce on Tradeswomen's Issues on the National Apprenticeship Act Reauthorization

The National Taskforce on Tradeswomen's Issues (TWTF) is a national coalition of women's organizations and tradeswomen whose mission is to create access, opportunity and equity in nontraditional employment and training for women. TWTF very much appreciates the reauthorizing of the National Apprenticeship Act (NAA) of 2021 (H.R. 447) in a way that best protects apprentices and best serves other stakeholders in the apprenticeship system. In particular, TWTF is deeply grateful for the careful attention that H.R. 447 pays to enhancing opportunities for women and people of color-- populations that have historically been too often unfairly denied such opportunities because of their gender, race, or ethnicity--to gain access to and retain high-skill, high-wage jobs through registered apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, and youth apprenticeships. TWTF is also highly appreciative of the significant investments that H.R. 447 makes to the national apprenticeship system.

Our organizational members, such as Chicago Women in the Trades, Oregon Tradeswomen Inc., Tradeswomen, Inc. (in Northern California), ANEW (in Washington State), Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) (in New York City), and Nevada Women in Trades currently operate, and for years have operated, pre-apprenticeship programs and other programs for encouraging women's participation in the trades and in other occupations in which women have not traditionally worked. Together we have over 152 years of combined experience in operating such programs.

Our organizational members also provide a wide range of technical assistance services and resources that support apprenticeship programs, employers, training providers and the workforce system in enhancing equity for diverse apprentices and potential apprentices through the National Center for Women's Equity in Employment and Apprenticeship. This technical assistance includes EEO planning guidance, toolkits, best practice briefs, curriculum, staff training, replicable program models, and other resources and strategies that have proven successful in attracting and retaining women in these fields. (The National Center for Women's Equity in Employment and Apprenticeship was funded until 2020 in part by a contract with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Apprenticeship (OA).)

TWTF's individual members--current and former tradeswomen-- have, in our scores of years of lived experience in all aspects of apprenticeship and employment in the trades, seen it all. A number of these individuals also serve in leadership positions within apprenticeship programs and their sponsors and have intimate knowledge of registration, especially as it relates to EEO/AA. We have known the exhilaration of acquiring mastery of skills, the sense of accomplishment of working with the tools, the pride of being part of building something tangible and important, the comfort of genuine mentoring and support from our co-workers and colleagues, and the satisfaction of supporting our families with a living wage and real benefits. We have also known the financial struggle of being ``last hired, first fired'' and the sting and humiliation of hazing, harassment, and discrimination. Many, many of us have had successful careers in the trades; many others have been unable to continue in those occupations due to discrimination or other barriers. Indeed, historically, tradeswomen have been at the forefront of work to change conditions that prevent women from being fully integrated into well-paid, blue-collar jobs.

These comments are informed by the experiences of both our organizational and individual members.

TWTF is pleased to support H.R. 447 in general. In particular, we support the bill's incorporation of certain nondiscrimination and affirmative action standards for apprenticeship programs currently codified in 29 CFR part 30; the requirement that funded entities devote a minimum of 5 percent of grant funds to direct financial assistance to apprentices, pre-apprentices, or youth apprentices for supportive services; and the significant investments that the bill makes in registered apprenticeship, preapprenticeship, and youth apprenticeship programs and technical assistance to make progress on equity and inclusion for women and people of color.

However, we do have some critical concerns about some of the language in the bill. For example--

Unlike current law, the bill does not clearly and unambiguously require registered apprenticeship programs (RAPs) to set goals for the proportions of their apprentices who are women, Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, and other racial categories that reflect those each of those groups' proportions among the people in the areas they recruit from who meet the minimum qualifications for the apprenticeship. Nor does it clearly and unambiguously require RAPs to take steps to target their recruitment, hiring, and retention practices to the underrepresented group(s) if they fail to meet those goal(s).

The bill is subject to the interpretation that it completely preempts continuation or reinstatement of the positive requirements that are in 29 CFR 30, the current law but not clearly included in H.R. 447.

Some of the requirements for pre-apprenticeship programs contained in H.R. 447 were designed for registered apprenticeship programs but are not appropriate for pre- apprenticeship programs.

Some of the conditions on grants to be awarded under the bill may make it difficult for pre-apprenticeship programs to receive funding under the bill.

We plan to work provide more detail on these concerns as the bill moves forward in the Senate, and will ask that Congress address them before the bill becomes law.

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