Joshua Johnson, state director of the Wisconsin Apprenticeship Program, is famous for saying, “apprenticeship is for everyone.”
However, recent numbers suggest the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated racial disparities in the construction industry, and retaining Black apprentices in that industry may pose one of the state program’s biggest challenges to date.
Apprenticeships, paid training opportunities that can last three to seven years, represent the primary way people interested in construction careers become journeyworkers in trades such as plumbing, bricklaying and electrical work.
Based on state Department of Workforce Development statistics, the share of minority construction apprentices in Milwaukee fell from a high of 17% in 2009 to 15% last year; the share of Black construction apprentices fell from 9% to 5%.
With construction projects expected to increase in the post-pandemic world, some minority contractors say two of the area’s largest participation programs may be doing more harm than good to companies and workers from underrepresented groups.
However, union officials and other construction industry insiders say mandates are the best way to ensure the inclusion of people from these groups.
The programs in question are the City of Milwaukee’s Residential Preference Program (RPP) and Milwaukee County’s Target Business Enterprise (TBE) policy, which set geographic or participation goals for members of underrepresented groups who are working on publicly supported projects.