The Labor Department gave about $25.5 million in grants to union-affiliated apprenticeship programs, the agency announced Wednesday.
The funds will help unions train new potential members in certain highly skilled trade and manufacturing jobs in eight states as well as helping the unions control access to those jobs.
The funds were included as part of $175 million in grants the department issued for public-private job training partnerships “intended to help grow the middle class.”
The AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, “applauded” the department Thursday for making the grants, saying it showed the Obama administration was highlighting “the need for affordable, quality career and education choices for students and workers.”
“We are proud of the professional skills that union apprenticeship programs provide to workers,” said AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler.
The grants included:
• $5 million for the National Public Transportation Partnership for Apprenticeship, a program affiliated with the Amalgamated Transit Union.
• $3.9 million for the Michigan Apprenticeship Program Plus, which is partnered with United Auto Workers.
• $4.7 million for the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee to train people in civil and electrical engineering, part of a project with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
• $5 million for the UAW-Labor Employment and Training Corporation, another UAW-affiliated program.
• $4 million to the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services under its Apprenticeship Pathways Initiative, which is affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Plumbers and Pipefitters union.
• $2.9 million to the American Apprenticeship Workforce Center for projects affiliated with the Painters, Carpenters and Plumbers and Pipefitters unions.
