Washington, D.C. – April 30, 2025 – Today, North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) President Sean McGarvey issued the following statement:

“On National Apprenticeship Day 2025, we celebrate the life-changing power of Registered Apprenticeships. As the data confirms — and the Trump Administration has reinforced — these debt-free, time-tested programs are the gold standard for developing a highly skilled workforce and opening doors to fulfilling, family-sustaining middle-class careers. With world-class training in both technical expertise and jobsite safety, these programs are built to meet the needs of today’s infrastructure and tomorrow’s innovation.

“Across the country, Building Trades apprentices are helping construct the backbone of America — from roads and bridges to hospitals, schools, and energy systems. And because of collective bargaining and labor-management partnerships, our apprentices earn while they learn, graduate without debt, and enter careers that offer long-term stability and opportunity. Today, the Building Trades have a record 316,000 Registered Apprentices across all crafts — and we train 7 out of every 10 construction apprentices nationwide.

“As we recognize the remarkable talent, grit, and impact of our union apprentices — whose success reflects the unmatched strength of our training model and its value to the American economy — NABTU welcomes the growing attention from Congress on workforce development and the recent Executive Order from President Trump directing federal agencies to support and expand Registered Apprenticeships. We look forward to working with the Administration and Congress to strengthen and uphold our proven building trades apprenticeship model — the most effective workforce development system in the nation — and demonstrating how it can serve as a blueprint for other industries in desperate need of a successful apprenticeship model.

“Today and every day, we honor the dedication of our apprentices and the unionized building trades programs that support them. NABTU remains committed to building a workforce as strong and resilient as the infrastructure they create.”

###