Family & Friends Celebrate Union Construction Academy (UCA) Pre-Apprentice Graduation in Portland

PHOTO: UCA pre-apprentice graduates at a graduation ceremony in Portland on July 11.

A large and enthusiastic crowd of family, friends, and union members celebrated the accomplishments of the seventeen pre-apprentices in our spring session of the Union Construction Academy at a graduation in Portland July 11. After four and a half weeks of training, the graduates received certifications for OSHA-10, First-Aid/CPR, Hotworks, Exothermic Welding, Scaffolding Use, and Flagging. They received training on what it means to be part of a union, both from the representatives who came to talk about their trades and career pathways, and through the hands-on work they did with each other.

The group included people of color, women, LGBTQ individuals, immigrants, recent high school graduates, low-income folks, and experienced professionals who are pursuing a mid-life career change. All of our pre-apprentices brought unique perspectives to the training, and as they worked together on tasks ranging from pouring concrete to hanging drywall, they got to know each other and recognize the value that their different perspectives and life-experiences could add on a job site.

We were pleased to be joined at the graduation by Tarlan Ahmadov, Director of the Division of Programs for the Maine Department of Labor, who emphasized the importance of integrating people from underrepresented backgrounds into an aging construction workforce that is facing chronic labor shortages.

PHOTO: Hayley Lawrence speaks at UCA graduation in Portland.

Maine AFL-CIO President Cynthia Phinney and A. Philip Randolph Institute President Garrett Stewart spoke about the benefits that new voices can bring to our union workforce, and the importance of creating an inclusive culture in our unions. Senator Mark Lawrence (D-York Cty.), a champion of strong labor standards in Maine’s growing clean energy sector, gave the graduates a heartfelt reminder about the ways that unionism can empower them to overcome exploitation and find dignity, purpose, and solidarity at work.

The celebration concluded with a series of speeches from graduates, who spoke about how much they had learned and how grateful they were to have each other and the support of the Union Construction Academy family as they transition into apprenticeships. One of the highlights of the graduation was seeing the familiar faces of seven graduates from previous sessions, who came out to show their support and welcome new members into their unions. Many of our most recent graduates have already gone out to work and joined them in the field. Haley Lawrence and Patricia Kiel abegan working with two other Union Construction Academy graduates, Mbikayi Kaniki and Rodrigue Mbatchi, as Laborers at a solar site in Leeds the Monday after the conclusion of our program.

“I’m learning so many new things and also getting to use so many skills from the program on the job site,” said Hayley Lawrence.

Kloey Arsenault, who recently began work as an Ironworker, shared her excitement about going up in a boom lift and getting great mentorship from the two journeyworkers. Other program graduates are starting work or in the process of applying for apprenticeships with IBEW 1253 and IBEW 567, Bath Iron Works, the Carpenters Union (UBC 349) and public works departments. More program graduates will be following them out into the workforce shortly. A new cohort of nine women started a Union Construction Academy session at IBEW 1253 in Newport earlier this week.