Apprenticeships are structured training programs that combine paid on-the-job learning with classroom instruction and provide a pathway to industry-recognized qualifications in in-demand occupations. The apprenticeship route can offer an alternative to traditional college (and college debt), yet traditionally, women have been much less likely to…

The author estimates the impacts of the local rate of unemployment and the Great Recession on the quit and graduation rates of the U.S. construction trade apprentices over the 2001-2014 period. Trade union participation in training sponsorship had a strong influence on attrition rates. The impacts of the business cycle and the Great Recession on…

Many labour organizations that sponsor occupational health and safety training champion "peer training," preferring instructors drawn from the shopfloor over academically credentialed experts. But peer training is hardly new: in the skilled trades, master craftsmen have instructed apprentices since the Middle Ages. Building on the…

Over three quarters of the participants in both construction and nonconstruction industries were covered by self-insured funds, although the multiemployer pension plans in the construction industry differ in almost all important respects from such plans initiated by unions in other industries. (Author)

Of 12,715 construction industry apprentices, 39% graduated, 47% canceled, and 14% were still enrolled. Completion was more likely in programs sponsored jointly by employers and unions. Women and ethnic/racial minorities had lower completion rates than men and whites. Duration of apprenticeship increased with the unemployment rate. (Contains 18…

Across Illinois, in places where unions thrive, construction industry professionals and career and technical education (CTE) teachers are working together in promoting work-based learning program to students. Likewise, the outreach program provides union-supported contractors with qualified candidates for future employment. Programs such as the…

Examines the difference in productivity between union and nonunion contractors in the construction industry within two samples, one of 83 commercial office buildings completed in 1973-1974 and the other of 68 elementary and secondary schools completed in 1972. The analysis includes controls for differences in capital-labor ratios, observable labor…

Laborers' International Union and Associated General Contractors' Education and Training Fund has two strands: (1) skills training that includes workplace literacy and a career path program and (2) training in environmental clean-up. (SK)

In a report condensing the findings of a study, "Training and Entry into Union Construction", it is emphasized that the apprenticeship system constitutes the best form of training now used in the building trades. (Author/AG)

Data suggest that it is premature to conclude that management has succeeded in appropriating workers' knowledge, accountability, and responsibility for work. The labor market has become fluid and dynamic and no longer conforms to the traditional construct of an internal labor market. A refinement of labor process theory is in order. (JOW)

Older workers' perspectives are examined in a national survey of the finance sector and case studies of aged care and construction workers. The majority of older workers intend to work beyond retirement age, to achieve a better lifestyle. With training, older workers could mentor younger workers. This support document includes a national survey of…

This document on the links between the world of work and the world of vocational training in the Netherlands includes 5 chapters, a list of abbreviations, and a 42-item reference list. Chapter 1 introduces the report. Chapter 2 outlines the Dutch system of industrial relations and presents the concept of "neocorporatism." Chapter 3…

This report provides a brief background account of the tighter labor markets of 1965 and 1966 and reviews recent published materials and documents bearing on the various ways business and industry responded to shortages of skilled workers, particularly in the construction and manufacturing industries. Discussion of changes in hiring practices and…