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Apprenticeship Utilization Goals and Requirements:
A Countywide Impact Study, 1997 Update, February 1999, by the Office of Port JOBS
Port Jobs Reports, Summer 1999
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Beginning in 1993, with the Port of Seattle, local policymakers have adopted policies requiring contractors to employ apprentices on large public works contracts. Similar requirements were adopted by the City of Seattle (1995) and later by King County (1997). These requirements direct contractors to use apprentices for 15% of the labor hours on public works projects of $1 million or more and are designed to:
- Develop a highly skilled, diverse workforce capable of meeting the demand for skilled labor in the region;
- Increase the number of apprenticeship opportunities in King County; and
- Help the economically disadvantaged, women, and minorities gain access to family wage, career opportunities.
Concurrent to adopting apprenticeship utilization policies, these governments joined with building trades unions, community organizations, contractors, and employment training providers to form the Port JOBS Apprenticeship Opportunities Project (AOP). AOP’s purpose is to ensure that economically disadvantaged individuals, minorities, and women are competitive and successful in their application for construction apprenticeships. AOP staff recruits, helps place, and provides support to such apprentices. Through the combination of increasing apprenticeship opportunities and the support of the AOP office, larger numbers of economically disadvantaged individuals, women, and minorities are entering apprenticeships.
This report presents an analysis of apprentice and journey level worker demographics on public and private construction projects that fell under apprenticeship utilization policies during 1997. It also includes areas for further discussion and analysis. An earlier report, covering the period from 1994 – 96, is also available from Port JOBS.
PRIVATE DEVELOPERS AND BASEBALL STADIUM ADOPT APPRENTICESHIP UTLIZATION GOALS
In 1997, the new baseball stadium and several private developers, joined the three participating jurisdictions as sponsors of the AOP. Pine Street Development, Starwood Lodging, and Vulcan Northwest have signed agreements outlining their commitment to use apprentices on their projects:
- Pine Street Development committed to providing apprentice training opportunities on its Pacific Place development, the major new shopping and entertainment development spanning one square city block.
- Starwood Lodging adopted apprentice goals for the construction of Seattle’s 27-story Starwood Hotel.
- Vulcan Northwest agreed to similar commitments when it also joined as an AOP sponsor. Vulcan Northwest is the developer of the new Seahawks football stadium, the Experience Music Project, and other large commercial projects.
- The Public Facilities District (PFD) adopted apprenticeship utilization goals for Safeco Field, the new baseball stadium.
These developers agreed to provide apprenticeship training opportunities and to promote diversity on their worksites. The impact of the growing private sector commitment will be further evidenced as work on more construction projects begins and as work on current construction projects progresses into 1998 and beyond.
APPRENTICESHIP UTILIZATION GOALS APPLY TO MORE THAN $1 BILLION OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN 1997
In 1997, across King County:
- A total of 62 construction projects qualified for apprenticeship utilization goals. These projects are valued at $1,113,424,921. Thirteen new Port of Seattle projects and twenty-one additional City of Seattle projects, with combined project values of over $127 million, are included in this total.
- Approximately 890 apprentice opportunities were created in the building and construction trades as a result of these projects. (Construction apprenticeships pay an average of $8 – 14 per hour to start.)
- Three private developers and the PFD, all first-time AOP sponsors, committed to apprentice training opportunities on projects with a combined project value of more than $826 million.
ACCESS TO APPRENTICESHIPS FOR WOMEN AND MINORITIES IS INCREASING
Analysis of 1997 data shows a trend towards increasing access to construction apprenticeships for women and minorities. Countywide, sponsoring jurisdictions and private developers reported that apprentice labor was more diverse in 1997 than the journey-level labor used on the same projects. Compared to the previous reporting period (1994 – 1996), there is evidence of growing diversity in the apprenticeship labor force:
- The percentage of apprentice labor hours worked by minorities increased from 23.12% (1994 – 96) to 26.8% in 1997.
- The proportion of hours worked by female apprentices increased most markedly – from under 15% (1994 – 96) to 21% in 1997. Despite this encouraging trend, minority females continue to be underrepresented; hours worked by minority females accounted for only 5% of the apprentice labor hours in 1997.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regional application of apprenticeship utilization requirements in King County has come to scale. Sixty-two new projects, with more than $1 billion of construction activity were covered by this policy in 1997. Nearly 900 apprentices, representing 26 different trades, found work on these projects. Even more encouraging the number of female and minority apprentices working on qualifying projects has also continued to increase. Minority females in particular are making gains. However, they continue to be underrepresented in the aprentice labor force working on these projects.
We recommend that sponsors:
- Continue to work on system-wide strategies to increase the number of females, and particularly minority females, in apprenticeship;
- Continue to evaluate and analyze the impact of apprenticeship goals and requirements, and to identify the impact of new program strategies;
- Strengthen data collection and reporting efforts — variability in the data collected by each sponsor continues to hamper analysis.
These policies, and the commitment of all involved, are contributing to the development of a well-trained, diverse workforce capable of meeting the demand for skilled construction workers throughout the region. Continued tracking of results coupled with an emphasis on apprenticeship preparation and support programs, will show how increases of females and minorities at the apprenticeship level contribute to corresponding increases in the overall construction workforce.
For a full copy of the report, Apprenticeship Utilization Goals and Requirements: A Countywide Impact Study, 1997 Update, February 1999, you may visit our website at http://www.portjobs.org or contact Tim Forbes, Office Manager, at (206) 728-3882 or via email at forbes.t@portseattle.org.
The 1998 update of the impact study is in production and will be published by the end of this year.
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