WASHINGTON — Associated Builders and Contractors issued the following statement in response to President Biden’s executive order, Scaling and Expanding the Use of Registered Apprenticeships in Industries and the Federal Government and Promoting Labor-Management Forums.

“While ABC supports efforts to expand government-registered apprenticeship programs—or GRAPs—as part of an all-of-the-above approach to upskilling the construction industry, this latest executive overreach by the Biden administration is likely to be very disruptive and will undermine taxpayer investments in the construction of infrastructure, clean energy, and domestic manufacturing projects,” said Ben Brubeck ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs. “The executive order creates an artificial demand for contractors and apprentices participating in GRAPs by directing federal agencies to require or incentivize GRAP participation on federal and federally assisted projects.

“This will reduce competition from qualified contractors that lack access to GRAPs or simply choose not to participate in the GRAP system because they use alternative workforce development programs,” said Brubeck. “The government data are clear: America’s government-registered apprenticeship system, which had an enrollment of 250,000 apprentice participants and graduated between 40,000 and 45,000 apprentices in FY 2023, is not keeping up with construction industry demand for skilled craft professionals.*

“This order, a product of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, appears to disproportionately benefit unionized contractors and unions,” said Brubeck. “About 69% of all construction industry GRAP participants are in union programs, so this is another way that the Biden administration is using policy to steer taxpayer-funded construction contracts primarily to unionized contractors and union labor. Instead of imposing new hurdles for the 89.3% of the construction industry that does not belong to a union, this administration should be crafting a policy that encourages fair and open competition regardless of how contractors choose to upskill their workforce. That will deliver the best value to all taxpayers.

“Further, initial feedback from ABC member contractors on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Jan. 17 rulemaking proposing controversial changes to apprenticeship regulations has been overwhelmingly negative,” said Brubeck. As currently drafted, the proposed rule will ultimately weaken a key ingredient in the construction industry’s all-of-the-above solution to its short- and long-term skilled workforce shortage.

“This new executive order further complicates the proposed rule, given that contractors will now face new requirements and strong government policy incentives to participate in GRAPs,” said Brubeck. “ABC urges stakeholders to utilize ABC’s Action Center, or draft their comments, to oppose this costly new policy by the March 18 comment deadline.

*Note that five states did not report complete GRAP data to the DOL, so ABC’s figure incorporates rough estimates to account for missing data to paint a more complete picture.

In the statement, President Biden says, "It is the policy of my Administration to promote Registered Apprenticeships to meet employer needs while investing in workers’ skills; reducing employment barriers; and promoting job quality, equity, inclusion, and accessibility for the benefit of the Federal Government and the Nation.  Further, it is the policy of my Administration to establish cooperative and productive labor-management relations throughout the executive branch.

Based on recommendations from the initial report described in section 3(d) of this order and in consultation with the Working Group*, agencies, as part of their strategic workforce planning, shall take steps to develop and expand the use of Registered Apprenticeship programs, where practicable, to train and develop incumbent workers and candidates for employment to obtain the skills necessary to meet the current and emerging needs of the agency workforce."

*The function of the Working Group is to coordinate policy development with regard to Registered Apprenticeships and the effective implementation of this order. 

Sec. 3(d)

The Working Group will submit an initial report to the President within 180 days of the date of this order.  This report shall contain:

         (i)    initial findings and recommendations on potential opportunities for Registered Apprenticeship programs at participating and interested agencies, including an assessment of the need for new hiring and promotion authorities;

         (ii)   initial findings and recommendations on the promotion of hiring and career advancement in the Federal Government for individuals who have completed a Registered Apprenticeship;

         (iii)  an assessment of how Registered Apprenticeships may enable agencies to address hiring needs and improve employee retention for roles that are important to the mission of participating agencies and the operations of the Federal Government; and

         (iv)   an assessment of how Registered Apprenticeships may expand equity and accessibility and provide pathways into and up through Federal employment for individuals in underserved communities.