Maine AFL-CIO to Receive Funding to Develop Three New Pre-Apprenticeship Programs

The Maine AFL-CIO, in partnership with IBEW 1253, New England Laborers Training Academy, Maine Building and Construction Trades Council and RSU 19 in Newport, will be receiving funding to develop three new pre-apprenticeship programs focused on providing a multi-craft core curriculum for workers to pursue union careers in the trades. The funding is part of the Mills administration's $12.3 million spending package to more than double apprenticeships and expand pre-apprenticeship opportunities in more than 50 new occupations. 

“Apprenticeship is a career opportunity for all Mainers, it is an earn-while-you-learn career pathway that connects real people with highly skilled jobs that exist now," said Jennifer McKenna, Chair of the Maine Apprenticeship Council and Training Director for UA Plumbers & Pipefitters 716, in a statement. "Earning wages from the start, most apprentices have little to no debt when they graduate and statistically earn much higher wages as they become more and more skilled."

The Maine AFL-CIO is one of 14 Maine organizations that is receiving a portion of the $12.3 million in funding, which is expected to to provide more than 3,000 Maine workers with new apprenticeship or pre-apprenticeship opportunities, more than doubling the number of Maine’s current apprentices. Bath Iron Works, in partnership with Southern Maine Community College, is also among the grant recipients and will use the funding to expand its manufacturing technician pre-apprenticeship program to increase the pipeline of individuals for its apprenticeship programs.

The awards are backed by $11 million from the Governor’s Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan and $1.3 million from U.S. Department of Labor’s State Apprenticeship Expansion, Equity, and Innovation Grant. The Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan is the Governor’s plan, approved by the Legislature, to invest nearly $1 billion in Federal American Rescue Plan funds in the economy.