Washington, D.C. – September 23, 2022 – Today, North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) President Sean McGarvey issued the following statement:

“For over 80 years, North America’s Building Trades Unions have been fierce advocates for and leading practitioners in the Registered Apprenticeship system. Our robust labor-management commitment to and private multi-billion dollar investment in craft training ensure workers of all backgrounds including veterans, women and minority communities, can meet the demands of our competitive industry. America’s workforce relies on protections from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Fitzgerald Act, which is all about protecting the welfare of the apprentice. The Biden Administration made a major step to uphold these protections today by getting rid of the sketchy IRAP model and refocusing on the registered model. The repealing of this rule protects the integrity of the Registered model. We urge Congress to take the next step and pass the National Apprenticeship Act, which would expand the benefits of apprenticeship to new industries, strengthen the quality and training of workforce development, and put more Americans on a career pathway to the middle class.”

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