Table of Contents
Executive Summary................................................................................................... 3
Impact of the Policy on King County in 1998........................................................................ 3
Is the Policy Achieving its Goals?........................................................................................ 4
Recommendations.............................................................................................................. 4
Introduction............................................................................................................... 5
Overview
of the Policy and its Implementation....................................... 6
1998 Contributing Sponsors................................................................................................. 7
Impact
of the Policy on King County in 1998............................................... 8
AOP Referrals in 1998..................................................................................................... 12
Sources of Variation......................................................................................................... 12
Is the
Policy Achieving Its Goals?................................................................... 13
Increasing the number of apprenticeship
opportunities in King County.................................. 13
Helping women and minorities gain access to these
living wage career opportunities............. 14
Developing a highly skilled, diverse workforce
capable of meeting demand for skilled labor in the region. 17
Recommendations................................................................................................... 19
Summary....................................................................................................................... 21
Appendix
1: Demographics of King County
Construction Labor Force and 1998 AOP Referrals..................................................................................................................... 24
Appendix
2: Demographics on Sponsors' Projects
& King County Construction Labor Force.............................................................................................................................. 25
Appendix
3: Summary Impact of Apprentice Utilization in King County 26
Appendix
4: Summary of City, County, Port, PFD
and Private Sponsor Qualifying Projects Activity for 1998................................................................................... 27
Appendix
5: Summary of City, Port, PFD and Private
Sponsor Qualifying Projects Activity for 1997....................................................................................................... 28
Appendix
6: Summary of City, County and Port
Qualifying Projects Activity for 1994-96....................................................................................................................................... 29
Appendix
7: Summary of Public Facilities
District Total Project, 1997-99 30
Appendix
8: Contact Information.................................................................. 31
Executive Summary
Since 1993, government agencies, unions, training providers, community-based organizations and private businesses have been working together with Port Jobs and its Apprenticeship Opportunities Project to increase apprenticeship opportunities in King County. One of the primary goals of AOP has been to help women and minorities develop the skills necessary to access liveable wage jobs. One the jobs and classroom training available through the apprenticeship system provides all interested applicants with a direct link to these job opportunities. This 1998 update is the third annual report assessing the impact of the apprenticeship policies the labor market and on construction projects throughout King County.
Since the apprenticeship utilization policy was first introduced in 1994, 193 public and private projects have been covered by the policy, totaling more than $2 billion in King County construction. More than 3,900 apprentices have worked an average of 275.8 hours each on those projects. These hours count toward the 4,000 to 10,000 hours of training apprentices must work over three to five years to complete their apprenticeships.
This study also found that:
v Apprenticeship opportunities were increased as a result of the application of the apprenticeship policy. For example, the number of hours worked by apprentices and the number of apprentices working those hours more than doubled from 1997 to 1998;
v Demand for apprentice labor has doubled from 1997 to 1998. The existing apprentice system was able to keep up with demand and as a result increase the percent of labor hours worked by apprentices on covered projects;
v The construction workforce is becoming more diverse. The share of labor hours worked by minorities has increased over previous years, although the share of labor hours worked by women has decreased slightly;
v Minority women continue to be significantly underrepresented in the apprenticeship system; and
v Apprentices referred to King County apprenticeship programs by AOP are less likely to drop out of their apprenticeship in the first year than are other apprentices in the same trades.
Impact of the Policy on King County in 1998
Since the apprenticeship policy was first introduced in 1994, 193 projects have been covered by apprenticeship goals, totaling more than $2 billion in King County construction. In 1998, projects covered by the apprenticeship policy included the Safeco Field, the Experience Music Project and Cinerama Theater, the World Trade Center, the Tolt pipeline and filtration plant, and the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill.
In 1998, 1,721 apprentices worked a total of 471,661 hours on 87 projects in King County covered by the apprentice utilization policy. This was 13.4% of all labor hours worked on those projects, an increase of 0.8% from 1997. 27.2% of those hours were worked by minorities, and 14.5% of the hours were worked by women.
In 1998, AOP referred 90 people to apprenticeships (an 18% increase over 1997) and 30 more in other family wage jobs. 49% of AOP’s placements were women and 58% of them were minorities.
Is the Policy Achieving its Goals?
The purpose of the apprentice utilization policy is threefold:
v To increase the number of apprenticeship opportunities in King County;
v To help women and minorities gain access to these living wage career opportunities; and
v To develop a highly skilled, diverse workforce capable of meeting demand for skilled labor in the region.
The policy is achieving those goals, but more work remains to be done. 1998 saw a significant increase in the number of apprenticeship opportunities in King County, with 1,721 apprentices working a total of 471,661 hours. This is more than double than the number of apprentice hours worked in 1997, and more than double the number of apprentices doing that work. Overall, minorities are gaining greater access to the living wage career opportunities provided by apprenticeship, and their access has increased each year since 1996. However, the percent of women working apprentice hours decreased in 1998 from the previous year.
Recommendations
Demand for apprentices is expected to continue to rise in 1999 and beyond. The 1998 study therefore concludes with the following recommendations:
v Increase efforts to recruit and retain women, especially minority women, into construction trades apprenticeships;
v Invest more resources in pre-apprenticeship programs;
v Focus on lowering dropout rates from apprenticeship programs, so that apprentices will stay in their programs, become skilled workers, and make a career in their construction trades;
v Keep working to make apprenticeship more attractive and accessible to a broader range of people;
v For large projects, hire one person to help contractors meet apprenticeship utilization and diversity goals.
In 1992, the Working in King County Task Force, made up of representatives of labor, business, government and community-based organizations, completed its “Working in King County” report. The study found evidence of a growth in low-wage service jobs; that employers reported difficulty finding skilled workers; and that the “new” workforce was increasingly made up of groups that had borne a disproportionate share of the region’s poverty and unemployment and faced barriers to employment. These groups included women, minorities and people with disabilities.
As a result of recommendations in the study, Port Jobs was established in 1993. Port Jobs provides a forum for employers, unions, training providers, community-based organizations and local government agencies to work together on workforce development in port-related sectors.
Also in response to those recommendations, the Port of Seattle, City of Seattle and King County adopted policies designed to increase both the supply of and demand for apprentices in the building and construction trades. They began by requiring contractors on public works and construction projects valued at $1 million or more to hire apprentices to work at least 15% of the labor hours on those projects. Each jurisdiction included requirements that women and minorities work a certain portion of those apprentice hours, ranging from 10% to 25%.
As part of this effort, government agencies, trade unions, community based organizations and employment training providers joined together to create Port Jobs’ Apprenticeship Opportunities Project (AOP). AOP’s mission is to ensure that economically disadvantaged individuals, minorities and women are competitive and successful in their application for construction apprenticeships. AOP recruits and prepares potential apprentices, and provides referral, follow-up and mentoring services to them.
In 1997 and 1998 several private developers voluntarily joined as AOP sponsors, including Vulcan Northwest (First and Goal, Experience Music Project, etc.), the Public Facilities District (Safeco Field), Pine Street Development (Pacific Place), and Starwood Hotel. All of them required their contractors to meet the apprenticeship goals, and several signed on to diversity goals for women and minorities as well.
The purpose of the apprentice utilization policy is threefold:
v To increase the number of apprenticeship opportunities in King County;
v To help women and minorities gain access to these living wage career opportunities; and
v To develop a highly skilled, diverse workforce capable of meeting demand for skilled labor in the region.
Since 1996, the Office of Port Jobs has collected data annually from each of its governmental and private sponsors to assess the impact of apprenticeship utilization policies in King County. The baseline study covered the years 1994-1996, and the second report covered 1997. This third annual report analyzes the impact of the policy in 1998. It begins with an overview of the policy, and looks at its impact on building and construction labor throughout King County. Finally, it seeks to determine whether the three goals of the policy described above are being met, and makes recommendations on how to improve apprenticeship opportunities in the future.
Overview
of the Policy
and its Implementation
Apprentice utilization policies were initially introduced as requirements in public works contracting at the Port of Seattle, City of Seattle, and on several Metro projects. King County and private developers Pine Street Development, Vulcan Northwest and Starwood Lodging signed on in 1997. The Public Facilities District, a public-private partnership that built Safeco Field baseball stadium, also signed on that year.
In an effort to contribute to the development of a well-trained, highly skilled, diverse regional workforce, participating jurisdictions required contractors on public projects valued at $1 million or more to use apprentice labor and actively recruit female and minority apprentices. In 1997 and 1998, several private developers voluntarily established goals for apprenticeship opportunities and diversity of their workforce on large construction projects. All AOP sponsors chose a goal of 15% for apprentice participation for their qualifying projects. Private sponsors have chosen a variety of diversity goals for these projects.
Table 1 shows that although sponsors’ apprentice utilization requirements are similar, there are slight variations between sponsors. All of the public developers include both a 15% apprentice utilization requirement on projects over $1 million, as well as specific goals for the participation of women and minorities. (In 1998, these diversity goals were still requirements for City, County and Port contracts.) The County apprenticeship ordinance also includes persons with disabilities and economically disadvantaged youth as a target population for apprenticeship opportunities. All private developers work to ensure that 15% of all labor hours on their projects are reserved for apprentices.
The City and County have authority to reduce or waive apprenticeship requirements for projects that are highly capital intensive and do not require much labor, or where apprentices are not available in the required trades for the construction project. The Port of Seattle includes all projects that meet the $1 million mark, no matter what their labor or capital requirements are. Some jurisdictions also have the discretion to apply goals to projects under the $1 million threshold.
All three jurisdictions, the PFD, and participating private developers require contractors to use apprentice labor from state-approved apprenticeship training programs. In 1998, all such programs in King County were sponsored by individual trade unions.
1998
Contributing Sponsors
This report covers work performed on 87 qualifying projects during 1998. Many of those contracts were actually awarded in prior years.
Port of Seattle construction includes the bulk of work on the World Trade Center and major renovations to the Sea-Tac Airport parking garage. Construction work at the City of Seattle includes several projects related to the Tolt Pipeline and Filtration plant. King County work includes continued work on the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill and a number of county road improvements. The County waived apprentice requirements on approximately four projects in 1998, all of them capital intensive projects with few labor hours.
Work in 1998 on Safeco Field, built by the Public Facilities District, and Starwood Hotel were voluntarily covered by the policy. Through Vulcan Northwest’s agreement with Port Jobs, the Cinerama, Experience Music Project and Boeing Field Hangar were also covered by the policy. As part of the new football field project, work on the new Exhibition Center was also included.
Since the apprenticeship policy was first introduced in 1994, 193 projects have been covered by apprentice utilization goals, totaling more than $2 billion in King County construction.
In 1998, 1,721 apprentices worked a total of 471,661 hours covered by apprenticeship requirements. 13.4 % of the