New Report Finds Limited Access for Minorities and Women in Chicago Area Building Trades Highlights Aging Workforce, Critical New Partnerships and Need for Change

Chicago, IL (April 5, 2006) -- Despite federal affirmative action recruitment guidelines and a predicted skills shortage in the construction industry, minorities and women continue to encounter extensive barriers to entering building trade union apprenticeship training programs in northeastern Illinois, according to a special report released this week by the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC). The Pathway to Apprenticeship: Roadblocks to Registration of Minorities and Women in Building Trade Union Apprenticeship Training Programs in Northeastern Illinois, finds that access to apprenticeship programs by minorities and women has been hampered by race and gender bias, nepotism, difficulty passing union entrance exams, lack of employer sponsorship, unpaid apprenticeship prep, hostile work environment, lack of transportation and limited knowledge of the skilled trades.

In northeastern Illinois, 61 percent of registered construction trade apprentices were white (2001-2005). Women represented less than 2.9 percent of apprentices; African-Americans represented 10.7 percent and Hispanics 26.6 percent.

The independent report, commissioned by CCC and prepared by labor writer T. Shawn Taylor, examines U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) statistics and industry practices specific to eight counties in northeastern Illinois* including the greater Chicago metropolitan area.

"The report was commissioned to identify and anticipate Chicago's workforce training needs," said Wayne D. Watson, chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago. "The findings indicate the need for serious dialog and action to resolve the disparities between the workforce and the African-American and Hispanic populations. This will require the partnering of government entities, business leaders, building trade unions and the City Colleges of Chicago. Resolving this situation would also be an answer to the skilled labor shortage that is forecasted, and address the economic roadblocks that hinder African-Americans and Hispanics in the U.S."

CCC's Construction Technology Center at Dawson Technical Institute is a model that is gaining national recognition for the important role it will play in providing a skilled labor force for the billions of dollars in construction projects planned throughout Illinois over the next 10 years.

Skills shortage predicted
According to an August 2005 study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), between 2002 and 2012 an estimated 850,000 jobs will be open in the construction industry. But with an aging workforce in construction and a wave of retirements over the next several years, experts predict there will not be enough skilled workers to fill them. The Pathway to Apprenticeship concludes that while the "struggle for equal access is old, solutions and partnerships being tried and tested in northeastern Illinois are new and hold promise."

Legislation Pending
The federal government's monitoring and review of apprenticeship programs have come under criticism. Apprenticeship programs in Illinois are currently regulated by the U.S. DOL Office of Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services (OATELS). Legislation is pending in the Illinois General Assembly (SB1266 - Sen. Emil Jones sponsor) that would shift oversight authority to the state level.

New Partnerships
Academic institutions, state and local government and private industry are starting to work together to smooth the pathway to apprenticeship:

City Colleges of Chicago and the Builders Association - City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) recently expanded its Construction Technology apprenticeship prep and skills training programs in cement masonry, plumbing, carpentry, bricklaying, and welding. Additionally, CCC offers federally-approved programs in electrical and elevator construction technologies, in partnership with the unions. Courses are taught at CCC's Dawson Tech and West Side Tech. The Builders Association has committed to hiring and sponsoring 50 City Colleges students into joint programs this year.

Illinois State Toll Highway Authority and contractors - In November 2005, the state agency adopted the Tollway Earned Credit program, which provides bid incentives on tollway projects to contractors who hire and sponsor into joint programs individuals from disenfranchised populations.

City of Chicago, City Colleges and contractors - Chicago's new Bid Incentive Ordinance (Ald.William Beavers sponsor), which went into effect in February 2006, gives contractors who hire and sponsor City Colleges students into joint programs a bid credit on public contracts.

City Colleges and Local 134 IBEW-NECA -- The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers - National Electrical Contractors Association (IBEW-NECA) established its dual apprenticeship/ degree program with CCC in 2002. IBEW-NECA Local 134 offers the Electrical Technologies Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree through CCC's Arturo Velásquez West Side Technical Institute of Daley College.

City Colleges and the Chicago and Cook County Building and Trades Council (CCCBT) - CCCBT has entered into dialog with City Colleges concerning education /apprenticeship programs. So far, this dialog has resulted in CCC's partnership with the elevator constructors union, now in residence at Dawson.

With the help of the CCCBT, City Colleges administrators are reaching out to the union leadership of local plumbers, bricklayers, cement masons and carpenters in hopes of establishing similar apprenticeship /education partnerships.

City Colleges and the Elevator Constructors National Elevator Industry Program -- The Elevator Constructors' AAS degree is offered through CCC's Dawson Technical Institute of Kennedy-King College.

Local 150 Operating Engineers and District Council Local 14 Painters and Decorators -- City Colleges administrators currently are negotiating with the operating engineers and painters unions to bring their apprenticeship programs to Dawson.

The full 44-page report, Pathway to Apprenticeship: Roadblocks to Registration of Minorities and Women in Building Trade Union Apprenticeship Training Programs in Northeastern Illinois, can be viewed at www.ccc.edu.

*Northeastern Illinois includes Lake, McHenry, Cook, Will, Kendall, Grundy, Kane and DuPage counties. T. Shawn Taylor is a writer, speaker and media consultant from Oak Park, IL who specializes in labor, management, business and workplace issues.