Editor’s Corner James K. Bender, II Assistant General President and Editor As I travel to locals and read our correspondents’ journal entries, I am happy to learn of all of the recruitments taking place across the country. It is so encouraging to know that despite a somewhat unpredictable economy, construction is still growing in so many places in the U.S. and Canada and the skills we have to offer are in high demand. Our locals seem to be clearing their benches and cranes seem to be dotting the skylines from coast to coast. All of this is great news as we all know that when you work in a very cyclical industry, you need to seize on the boom times when they happen. But as I look at the current state of the construction industry through a longer lens, I am also noticing more interest and support for the trades and apprenticeships from those outside of our industry. It’s this traction that will grow our work by creating a highly skilled workforce of UNION tradesmen and women. In fact, according to data from the Department of Labor (DOL), elevator constructor landed in the top 12 occupations for 2021. The DOL also noted that there was a 64% growth in new apprentices (across all professions) between 2012 and 2021, totaling two million new apprentices over that time span. Perhaps even more noteworthy is that 2021 saw the highest number of apprentices complete an apprenticeship since 2008. The DOL’s statistics also showed that there were nearly as many people in the 25-34 age range entering apprenticeships as those in the more common 24 and under age range. This tells me more people are leaving one career to pursue a new career through a registered apprenticeship. We typically think of apprentices as young men and women fresh out of high school, or in some cases fresh out of college, but these numbers tell a different story. It’s clear that more people are coming to apprenticeships after pursuing a different career where they maybe didn’t earn as much as they can through the trades, or didn’t have benefits, or didn’t feel fulfilled by the actual work they were doing. These numbers paint a picture of more widespread appeal for apprenticeships, more recognition of the merits of craft training. Over the past few years, the construction industry in general has experienced a widespread labor shortage which means there are good paying, fufilling jobs out there waiting to be staffed. It also means that the time is right to bring more members into our union fold and grow and strengthen the union labor movement. Even just a few weeks ago on the Bill Maher show—and I don’t agree with everything he says—Maher opened a discussion about the need for a college degree in order to secure a good job. His guest was former Congressman Tim Ryan who came out strongly supporting the trades and the need to expose more young people to construction work. Bill Maher agreed wholeheartedly. It is refreshing to see that kind of support on the airwaves, making it into the homes of millions of viewers. This makes me believe that the iron is hot, so to speak. Some experts believe that the labor shortage exists because the trades need to do a better job of promoting what the construction industry of today looks like versus the old stereotypes of decades gone by. And, we know what those stereotypes are: Construction work is “all brawn,” construction work isn’t for women, unions are of full of nepotism, construction work is just for those who don’t go to college. These stereotypes are as outdated as can be and nobody knows that better than continued on page 12 The Time is Now to Promote the Trades March 2023 3
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