91ÊÓƵ

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to infuse the Oregon construction workforce with fresh faces, say members of a state-appointed task force charged with crafting policy that could lead to new laws regarding apprentice utilization.

The 14-member Apprenticeship in State Public Contracting Task Force was created via Senate Bill 782 in the 2013 legislative session. Task force member Tom Gerding, owner of Corvallis-based Gerding Builders LLC, said the group was born out of industry resistance to legislation that would have created state requirements for minimum apprentice participation on public works projects.

Thus far, the task force has taken a holistic approach to its assignment, trying to first understand the current apprenticeship system and whether it meets the modern-day needs of the construction industry. That is critical for crafting laws that will affect the entire industry, said John Rakowitz, government affairs director for Associated General Contractors‘ Oregon-Columbia chapter.

“Really, the critical piece – if we’re really going to understand what it’s going to take to grow the number of apprentices in Oregon from our end – is to step back and look at this whole piece,” Gerding said. “We are hearing from several (stakeholders) – from the trainers to the apprentices themselves and the employers: Are there barriers of entry coming in? Are there individuals who want to get into an apprenticeship program, but can’t?”

AGC last summer presented to an early version of SB 782 that would have required at least 10 percent apprentice participation on public works projects. The requirement was too inflexible and could have had unintended consequences, Rakowitz said. AGC supported creation of the task force to work through issues.

“It’s a really good way to figure out policy before you automatically start assuming you want to add a new law on public utilization standards,” Rakowitz said. “There’s no doubt in anybody’s mind that you’ve got to deal with the workforce training issues before we can really start to recover.”

One possibility being discussed would require contractors who bid on public works projects to become registered training agents. The task force has thus far visited a union training facility in Tangent and an open shop one in Salem, and left with questions about how a statewide policy would impact contractors.

“What I came away with from the open shop is that they admitted they struggled to talk contractors into becoming training agents,” said task force member John Mohlis, executive secretary for the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council. “That hurts their side of the industry because on the union side, all contractors are training agents.”

Union apprentices often work for six to eight contractors during their apprenticeship programs. Open shop apprentices typically work for fewer contractors, he said.

Some nonunion contractors are more reluctant to become training agents because by the time an apprentice is ready to become a journeyman, the person is ready to work for someone else, Mohlis said.

“You never hear that on the union side because all the wages are frozen across the industry,” he said.

Another proposal in the works would tweak the previously proposed apprentice participation requirement so that contractors could measure the number as an aggregate rather than for each individual trade, said Patrick Brennan, committee administrator for the task force. In the initial version of SB 782, the 10 percent requirement would have applied to each subcontractor, making logistics difficult for some of the smaller trades.

A bigger question for the task force is how training programs are attracting workers and preparing them for work, Brennan said.

“How do you attract people to go into an electrical, plumbing or other trade?” he said. “Second, how do you ensure enough opportunities are in apprenticeships? And third, how do you know there is enough work for all apprentices out there?”

The construction industry is dealing with societal issues that make attracting, training and hiring new generations of workers difficult, said task force member Frank Wall, executive director of the Plumbing and Mechanical Contractors Association of Oregon. In the past, many kids worked on cars or on a farm and could be pegged as future construction workers; today, kids often play video games and have less work experience, he said.

The education system has not helped, he added, by cutting shop classes in middle school and directing kids more toward four-year degree programs.

Wall said it’s critical too that training opportunities increase for women and minorities.

“It used to be in the building trades that if my father was an electrician, I would become an electrician; it was a natural progression,” he said. “We need to say those days are different and open up opportunities for new workers.”

The next three or four months will be critical for the task force; it has a November deadline for proposing policy that could become law in 2015. The group’s next meeting will likely be in Salem in late June or early July, Brennan said. No date has been set.