Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan stood along with members of Plumbers Local 98, Mechanical Contractors Association of Detroit (MCA Detroit) and their Joint Apprentice Training Committee announced last month a new program that will put more Detroiters on a path to lifelong careers in the skilled trades.

Under the new Detroit Skilled Trades Employment Program (STEP), Detroit will partner with local unions and their Joint Apprentice Training Committees to set annual goals that will help increase the percentage of Detroiters in that local’s membership. Participating unions agree that an increased percentage of their first year apprenticeship slots will go to Detroit residents.

Plumbers Local 98 is the first union to commit to the city’s STEP. Its leadership, in partnership with MCA Detroit, has committed to tripling the number of Detroit residents in its local over the next 10 years and will build towards that by ensuring 25 percent Detroit resident enrollment in of all their incoming apprenticeship classes.

In part, the program offers one alternative to contractors who have faced fines for failing to meet an executive order form Duggan that at least 51 percent of construction workers on projects funded by more than $3 million in public funds must be Detroit residents.

Last October, contractors building the new Red Wings stadium were fined $675,000 for not hiring enough Detroit resident to build the facility.

More details here.

Source: The Detroit News