Voluntary associations, organized across firms within an industry or among workers in a trade, offer skills training and apprenticeships as well. While it is perhaps better known that labor unions frequently operate apprenticeships for their new members, it is also possible for the demand side of the labor market to coordinate and provide formal training. Two of the larger such groups in Michigan are the Associated Builders and Contractors for construction trades and the Jackson Area Manufacturers Association for manufacturing skills.
ABC is a national nonprofit construction trade association with three chapters in Michigan, each operating its own training programs. The Greater Michigan Chapter of ABC facilitates apprenticeships — a combination of work and academics — and “craft training” — requiring no work participation — in a variety of construction trades.[39] The West Michigan ABC chapter offers training in a smaller set of construction trades, but offers additional training in leadership roles in construction. Some of their programs were designed in cooperation with and are currently offered on the campus of Grand Rapids Community College.[40] The Southeastern Michigan Chapter runs a construction academy that provides training in similar trades, emphasizing apprenticeships.[41] Students in all three ABC programs are responsible for tuition on a semester basis, but receive a lower tuition rate if employed by an ABC-member company.
JAMA runs the Academy for Manufacturing Careers, offering 12 apprenticeship tracks related to manufacturing trades and additional certifications in five of those areas.[42] AMC also reportedly offers customized programs and can locate at businesses within its network to provide training “designed by manufacturers to meet the needs of manufacturers.”[43]
Organized labor also provides apprenticeships in many trades, often with different raining locations around the state. But among the 11 largest unions by membership in Michigan, only three offer apprenticeships in their trade.[*] The largest union in Michigan, the United Auto Workers, has over 400,000 members. The UAW has training partnerships with each of Michigan’s Big Three auto manufacturers — Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler — but it appears that apprenticeships are not a ready on-ramp to jobs in those firms.
For example, candidates for the joint apprenticeship program offered through the UAW and Ford face some delays in moving toward apprenticeship and employment. Each candidate must complete an Industrial Readiness Certificate Program at an approved college — Henry Ford College, Macomb Community College or Schoolcraft College. After that, they can register for the waitlist for available apprenticeships.[44] The Fiat Chrysler-UAW Apprentice Program is not currently accepting applications, and the UAW-GM Center for Human Resources appears to only list short-term training classes.[45]
The Operating Engineers 324 union, the eighth largest in Michigan by membership, offers apprenticeship programs in either heavy equipment repair or stationary engineering, with classes for each in Howell and Detroit, respectively.[46] The ninth largest union, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, also provides a four-year apprenticeship program and conducts training at seven locations around the state.[47]
Some smaller unions offer regular, in-depth apprenticing around the state as well. For example, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers offers 13 apprenticeship programs to Michiganders, 11 in Michigan and two in local unions that straddle the borders with Ohio and Indiana (in Toledo and South Bend, respectively.) Local affiliates of the United Association of Plumbers, Fitters, Welders, and Service Techs offer 11 training programs.[48] In addition, the International Association of Sheet Metal Workers has three local affiliates that provide workforce training, some operating multiple training facilities.[49]
The statewide chapter of the Iron Workers Union also provides similar services and focuses its training efforts in the Ann Arbor area.[50] Would-be apprentices can enroll in a pre-apprenticeship program that jump starts the work toward a construction supervision certificate or associate’s degree, obtained through Washtenaw Community College.[51]
Outside of trade associations and labor unions, apprenticeships may be supported within a particular business. One of the most formal and larger scale apprenticeship programs identified through this research (and not associated with one of the above programs or a community college) is facilitated by electrical contractor Feyen Zylstra, which facilitates multiyear electrical apprenticeships after which their students may continue working for the contractor or move to another employer.[52]
Still, the most established apprenticeships are through formal collaborations or partnerships, including some incentivized by state government efforts. Since 2014, the state of Michigan has incentivized and supported employers in providing apprenticeships through the Michigan Advanced Technician Training Program, or MAT2. Employers select apprentices whom they will train on the job but send them to one of four approved community colleges for coursework in either mechatronics or computer numerically controlled manufacturing. Employers pay an apprentice’s wages, a stipend for schooling and cover the cost of the college tuition over the course of a three-year program.[53] Michigan Works! assists MAT2 employers in applying to the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship for a “training grant” of up to $5,000 for the first year of the three-year commitment to an apprentice and smaller amounts in subsequent years.[54]
[*] A fourth, the Service Employees International Union does not offer training in a trade but has in the past offered a 90-day apprenticeship to become a union organizer. The largest labor unions in the state are reported here: Jarrett Skorup, “A Look at Unions in Michigan, Five Years After Right-to-Work, Michigan,” Michigan Capitol Confidential (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, April 20, 2018), https://perma.cc/K9T5-64Y7.