Union Construction Academy of Maine’s Lewiston Cohort Includes Afghani Refugees, Asylum Seekers & Former Little Dog Workers

The Maine AFL-CIO's Union Construction Academy of Maine is wrapping up its third week in Lewiston with an outstanding group of thirteen pre-apprentices. The current cohort includes several recent graduates from Lewiston High School, seven Afghan Air Force pilots who flew Blackhawk helicopters with the US military and are here as refugees, asylum seekers from Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and two workers from the Little Dog coffee shop in Brunswick, which recently closed in the middle of a strike (that story is still developing so stay tuned).

The Lewiston Sun Journal recently ran an excellent article about some of the Afghani pilots in the UCA program, their harrowing escape from Afghanistan as the Taliban quickly advanced and their struggles to transition to their new lives in Lewiston, Maine.

Participants in this intensive four-week multi-craft construction pre-apprenticeship program have already completed their OSHA-10 certification and practiced line and grade, scaffolding assembly, construction math, blueprint reading, and pouring concrete. In addition to the skills they have been learning from the great instructors with the New England Laborers Training Trust Fund, the pre-apprentices have also enjoyed meeting Apprenticeship Directors from various Building and Construction Trades Unions, including the Electricians (IBEW 567), Outside Electricians (IBEW 104), Elevator Constructors (IUEC Local 4), Ironworkers (Local 7), Sheet Metal workers (SMART 17), Laborers (LIUNA 327) and the Plumbers, Pipefitters, and HVAC Local 716 as well as connecting with Operating Engineers IUOE Local 4.

“We are also looking forward to visits with the Millwrights and Carpenters Local 349 & 352 next week,” said Sam Boss, the Maine AFL-CIO’s Apprenticeship, Workforce and Equity Director. “Site visits and presentations from these Unions aim to give the pre-apprentices a sense of the opportunities with different trades and the pathways into registered apprenticeship, so that they have a sense of where and how to apply to apprenticeships when they conclude our program.”

The graduation for the new UCA cohort will take place next Thursday, August 3, at 6:30 at the Maine MILL (Museum of Innovation, Learning, and Labor) in Lewiston, against the fitting backdrop of an exhibit featuring the history of immigrants’ contributions to Maine’s workforce and industry. After they have completed the program, program graduates will work with Director of Apprenticeships and Workforce Equity Director, Sam Boss, and Peer Workforce Navigator, Leslie Torkelson to complete applications and make plans for their next steps into good jobs with Maine's Building and Construction Trades Unions.