Dina Morsi, who serves as the Executive Director at NorCal Construction Industry Compliance (NCIC) - a Non-Partisan Industry Watchdog, recently penned a Labor Perspective on Apprenticeship for the Capitol Weekly, which covers California Government and Politics. It read, in part:

This Summer, California overtook Japan to become the fourth largest economy in the world. Our State’s economic strength isn’t just about our size or market power in sectors ranging from technology to agriculture. It is also about the economic and physical infrastructure we’ve built to connect producers to markets, power emerging industries and invest in the development of a world-class workforce. Today, that work has never been more important. From billions in Federal and State dollars flowing to repair highways and bridges, to efforts to expand affordable housing, modernize energy and utility systems and rebuild communities devastated by wildfires, demand for Skilled Trade Workers is surging. Policymakers, contractors and communities across our State are asking: Where will we find the sufficiently Skilled Workers to get it all done? The answer has been here since 1937. It lies in California’s system of Registered Apprenticeship. California trains more Apprentices than any other State, in large part because of the network of Joint Apprenticeship Training Committees (JATCs) that train vast majority of our skilled construction workforce. One recent study found that Union-affiliated JATCs run 87% of all Registered Apprenticeship Programs and produce 93% of our State’s Skilled Trade Workers. In 2023, more than 10,500 Apprentices graduated into Journey-Level careers - a 62% growth rate since 2013, and nine out of 10 came from JATC Programs. This included more than 90% of Women and People of Color choosing to pursue careers in the Construction Industry. The impact of JATCs cannot be overstated. They are the difference between whether California has enough qualified Workers to safely and efficiently build the homes, schools, transit lines and energy and utility systems our fast-growing economy cannot function without.

To Continue Reading This Apprenticeship And Training Labor Perspective, Go To: Building California’s future means investing in apprenticeships - Capitol Weekly | Capitol Weekly | Capitol Weekly: The Newspaper of California State Government and Politics.