NABTU made the latest stop on our Opportunity Pipeline Tour in Rhode Island. Participants took a tour of the Building Futures Training Center, and heard from various state and local leaders on the importance of Building Trades members on Rhode Island, and the impact of the Biden Administration.

The trip kicked off with a career fair, drawing in a crowd of over a thousand high school students, organizations, and experts to highlight opportunities within the building trades. NABTU then went to Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 18 for a tour of their state-of-the-art training facility and heard from apprentices and elected leaders about the importance of the building trades careers to strengthening America’s middle class.

This event featured several great speakers, including Mayor Ed Gainey, State Rep. Nick Pisciottano, PennDOT Executive Deputy Secretary Larry Shifflet, Pittsburgh Gateways ARP Director Chiquita Barnett, and several success stories from rank-and-file members on how joining the trades changed their life.

In March, NABTU resumed its nationwide Opportunity Pipeline tour with an event in Detroit, MI, at IBEW Local 58’s Zero Net Energy Center.

“Being new to this career field it was intimidating not knowing all these jobs, the terminology and some of the tools… But again, my coworkers and the team, everybody has been really encouraging and super helpful, making it not so scary.”

Unions may soon begin recruiting thousands of workers to construct the high-speed Brightline West rail system between Rancho Cucamonga and Las Vegas.

After almost 100 years of operation the Radford Studio Center is due for a facelift and on Wednesday, Mayor Karen Bass and union leaders gathered to celebrate a labor agreement for a $1 billion makeover.

In October, NABTU visited the Los Angeles / Orange Counties B.C.T.C. for several events… Over the course of this trip, key initiatives such as local hire, apprentice utilization, and apprenticeship readiness programs were featured. 

“Working in the trades changed his life, Wilson Sr. said. It taught him solidarity and helped him understand what it’s like to be a part of a brotherhood.”

In September, NABTU visited Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a variety of events continuing the nationwide Opportunity Pipeline Tour… This event specifically focused on the urgent need for childcare accommodations for all workers, but especially those in the building trades who work untraditional hours.

The union careers being created by these funds are not only going to sustain a lot of Wisconsin families for years to come, but are in the process of reviving the economies of whole communities. 

“When you look back 10 years from now, … you’re going to see whole communities changed,” NABTU president Sean McGarvey said.

On August 24, NABTU visited UA Local 572 in Nashville, TN as the fifth stop of the Opportunity Pipeline Tour. This event featured several significant local speakers including Mayor John Cooper, Mayoral Candidate Freddie O’Connell, Tennessee Valley Authority’s Justin Maiherhoffer, Stand Up Nashville’s Nathaniel Carter, and more. The event also included several inspiring speeches from Music City Construction Careers ARP graduates.

“One of the country’s top union officials, Sean McGarvey, the president of North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), brought an urgent message to the Sheetmetal Workers Union training center in Lower Mills last Wednesday, pitching a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build out massive infrastructure funded by the federal government.”

On June 28, NABTU visited St. Louis, Missouri at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 training center. This event highlighted the career opportunities created through St. Louis’s Building Union Diversity Apprenticeship Readiness Program, as well as the new partnership between TradesFutures and the National Urban League aimed at recruiting and retaining more underrepresented communities to building trades careers.

On June 1, NABTU visited Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Laborers’ District Council training center. This event focused on how the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council has worked diligently to provide pathways to building trades careers for local underserved communities.

On May 17, NABTU made the second stop of its national tour in Boston, Massachusetts at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 17 training center. This event focused on how the Greater Boston Building Trades Unions and Massachusetts State Building Trades Unions are leading the way with their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts – particularly through the Building Pathways Apprenticeship Readiness Program.

“Leaders at an event held at the Local Union 189 Thursday called Columbus America’s “opportunity city,” and said Ohio is becoming the nation’s capital for upwards mobility.”

“Workers with union wages and benefits earn enough money to support their families, invest in their homes and neighborhoods, spend money in their local communities, and provide opportunities for their children. Unions are the foundation of a strong middle-class.”

On March 30, Team NABTU kicked off its national Opportunity Pipeline Tour in Columbus, OH at the Plumbers & Pipefitters 189 training center.