What I Do
Christy McGill, Art Teacher - Divide Elementary School, Lookout, WV.
Christy McGill, Art Teacher - Divide Elementary School, Lookout, WV.
By partnering with employers, unions help workers from a wide range of career fields develop in-demand skills to meet employer needs and power the next generation of America-led innovation. By combining our forces, we create joint labor-management training programs that offer opportunities for workers in health care, construction, manufacturing, hospitality and aerospace. These programs have opened the door to solid, middle-class jobs for women, African American and Latino apprentices and have been far more successful in doing so than nonunionized sectors.
In the building and construction industry, thousands of local Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (JATC) groups oversee apprenticeship and journey-level skills upgrade training in growing, cutting-edge occupations such as energy conservation and alternative energy. Joint labor-management skill training programs contribute about $1.5 billion to the American economy every year.
National joint training programs in the auto, telecommunications, steel, health care, hospitality and aerospace industries, as well as the public sector, have local joint committees eligible for funding. In the steel and rubber industries, there are 72 local joint committees in 24 states that have begun offering courses in renewable energy systems and energy efficiency technologies. There also are 18 consortia of unions, management, universities and health and safety. Below are just a few of the many examples.
Unions also engage in many other innovative partnerships. These programs have helped workers develop the skills necessary to compete and succeed in growing industries. See a full list here .
