Murkowski Speaks on Workforce Development in Alaska with Industry Leaders

Murkowski Speaks on Workforce Development in Alaska with Industry Leaders

Washington, DC - During a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions hearing today, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) highlighted the importance of "wraparound services" in apprenticeship programs to train Alaska's workforce. She also asked during the hearing about the versatility of workforce training across the state, and the need for a workforce that can help Alaska build out its all-of-the-above energy strategy.

Click thumbnail above or here to watch Senator Murkowski's exchange

Rough Transcript

Murkowski: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your contributions here before the committee.

I wasn't here when Senator Baldwin was asking her questions, but we visited outside, and I felt both of us made some pretty good progress with the National Apprenticeship Act that we had worked on in the previous Congress.

One of the things that I had really taken away from the lead up to the introduction of that bill, I reached out to our unions around the state of Alaska, I reached out to those that have apprenticeship programs, and I said, "what's really the big challenge here when it comes to apprenticeships in a state like Alaska that is not only rural, it's really rural."

And so, one of the things that we heard, and we heard it repeated, was a shortage of what we will call "wraparound services." It's everything from childcare. It's everything I need to take care of an aging parent. It's education, it's housing. It's all the things that go into those barriers that keep someone from completing their apprenticeship training.

And so, I throw this out. You know, you've got shipbuilding here. You've got different interests represented. You've got some of our unions here. Is this an issue beyond just the state of Alaska? Can the federal government be helpful in ensuring that those who have the interest, those that have the talent, are going to be able to participate in some of these programs? Or do you just have to kind of figure it out on your own. And if you're lucky enough to be able to do that.

But if you all can weigh in on that, and I'm not going to identify anybody to go first, whoever wants to weigh in, go ahead.

John Downey, General President, International Union of Operating Engineers: Thank you, Senator. I would just point out two areas I think that the federal government can help, and it's already been discussed today. That would be in the pre-apprenticeship world, where we can attract the younger generation to come into the trades. Somebody had mentioned Job Corps. The IUOE (International Union of Operating Engineers) runs 10 Job Corps centers in the United States. We had 300 graduates last year, and of those 300, we put 40% of those into our apprenticeship programs.

So, I think there's an opportunity there to attract younger people.

Murkowski: Anybody else?

Josh Laney, Vice President of Apprenticeship and Work-Embedded Learning, Competency-Based Education Network: Yes, Senator Murkowski, I would say that Alabama has a lot of similarities there. We are rural, not as rural as Alaska, but we do face some of those same challenges [with] wraparound services, [with] the integration. Registered Apprenticeship is the only program that automatically qualifies for WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act), go on the ETPL (Eligible Training Provider List).

The integration of those two things is not effective right now. There's money there. It's too difficult for the employers to access. Many of them would rather just not fool with it, because the juice is not worth the squeeze, as we say. So, we need to work on those integrations of existing programs so that we can take advantage. WIOA is there for those wraparound services. Registered Apprenticeship doesn't need to try to take that on independently, we need to address that with the existing programs.

Brent Booker, General President, Laborers' International Union of North America: Just to add to that real quick. So, the wraparound services childcare tax credit is helpful to get people to allow to afford childcare where they're gone. We as a union have embraced and embarked upon providing a maternity leave policy for our female laborers who have been working to make sure that they don't have a choice between they or their baby's health and their career that we're going to pay for them while they're out.

And the last thing I would say is to sign a collective bargain agreement. There's no disparity between a man and a woman, race, color, creed, anything like that. When you're working under collective bargaining agreement, your wage is defined in that agreement, and that is a pathway, and a way, to participate.

Murkowski: Let me ask another question. We are a state where we've been very keenly focused on oil production, and that has been our backbone for a while. But we are also a state that recognizes that we've gotten all-of-the-above energy opportunity. But how do we build out that workforce?

So, you've got workers who are very skilled in the oil and gas field, but we also need them to be equally skilled when it comes to wind turbines, solar projects. How do we make sure that you've got this ability to be nimble, between the training programs, again, for what we would say, it's all-of-the-above in the energy world.

Booker: The first thing that we have is the operating engineers at UA (University of Alaska) and the Teamsters have a joint training facility in Fairbanks that is specific to pipeline, 88 acres.

Murkowski: We're very excited, and very pleased about it.

Booker: I was there! I was there at the end of February, and that's another barrier to work on a pipeline. Go up on the North Slope in February, and that's going to be a barrier to entry as well.

Murkowski: It just proves what your mettle is.

Booker: Yeah, exactly. But you know, you have those training facilities that you do that we jointly train with. You know, our training curriculum is based off of training the labor to be effective in all fields of construction. So a construction craft laborer gets training across industries so that they do have the skill sets they need, whether they're going to work on a pipeline, or whether they're going to work on a wind or a solar farm, they can go back to that school if they need a very specific 20-, 30-, 40-hour class.

But the general registered apprenticeship training that we provide them is that they are a well-rounded in the skilled labor that can perform. They can produce safely, productively and quickly across the industry.

Murkowski: Versatility. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Laney: Can I just say, state apprenticeship agency. State apprenticeship agency. Your people in Alaska are looking at this idea already. That gives you exactly the kind of local control, flexibility to meet that very need that you have, so that you in Alaska can say, "these are our unique challenges with registered apprenticeship program." That's what we need across the country, every state needs to be in control of their own destiny for these things.

Murkowski: Thank you for adding that.

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