Union Construction Academy of Maine Hold First Class This Week

The Maine AFL-CIO's Union Construction Academy of Maine started its first pre-apprenticeship group on May 1 (International Workers' Day!) at Gateway Community Services in Portland. The cohort includes six individuals in pre-release or re-entry programs, seven asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, and Togo, and three refugees from Afghanistan.

"Many of the participants in our program already have extensive construction experience that they had not been able to translate into good jobs in the U.S.," said Sam Boss, the Maine AFL-CIO's Apprenticeship, Workforce and Equity Director. "Through our program, pre-apprentices will earn eight certifications including OSHA-10, First-Aid/CPR/AED, Flagging, Lead/Asbestos/Hazardous Waste Handling, and Scaffolding that will allow them to put their experience to work in apprenticeships with our Building and Construction Trades Unions."

In addition to learning construction skills and earning required certifications, pre-apprentices are also learning about what it means to be a member of a union.

"Right from the start, they’ve embraced the concept of solidarity and embodied it as they work through their OSHA-10 and line and grade together," Boss added. "Native speakers are helping non-native speakers with unfamiliar words and expressions. Pre-apprentices who have experiences working at job sites abroad are sharing stories about their experiences on job sites, and the importance of the safety regulations we’ve been discussing."

Done in partnership with the Maine Building Trades Council and the New England Laborers Training Academy, the Union Construction Academy (UCA) is a registered pre-apprenticeship program designed specifically to prepare a diverse workforce to graduate into registered apprenticeship programs as union carpenters, electricians, elevator constructors, ironworkers, insulators, laborers, millwrights, plumbers and pipefitters, sheet metal workers, and more.  The program is supported from a contract with the Maine Department of Labor.

Boss said that connections are already developing among the members of the group and will serve them well when they get to work.

"As this program grows, we’re excited to see what each of these pre-apprentices can achieve with our unions, and what they can contribute to the broader labor movement in Maine," he said.

The next pre-apprenticeship cohort will be held in Lewiston in late June.