Protect LIUNA Apprenticeships - Take Action Now

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a proposed rule under the National Apprenticeship Act to establish a process for the recognition of a low-standard, non-union industry-operated apprenticeship program called Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs or IRAPs.  IRAPs, if implemented in the construction industry, represent a grave threat not only to LIUNA apprenticeship programs, but to the wages and benefits of every LIUNA member. 

If IRAPs are allowed in the construction industry, job sites will be flooded with lower paid (minimum wage), unskilled non-union workers - undermining our training and apprenticeship programs and your wages and benefits. 

While the proposed rule excludes the construction industry from IRAPs at least initially, LIUNA and our fellow building trades unions’ Registered Apprenticeship programs are far from safe from these low-standards imitators. 

We anticipate that anti-worker industry groups, including the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), will push aggressively to remove that exemption. 

There is every reason to believe that if we do not weigh in aggressively with the Department of Labor, the final rule will create a pathway for IRAPs into the construction sector. Take action now to protect LIUNA apprenticeship programs and your wages and benefits. Send a message to the Department of Labor at: 

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