Mbu Maqungo at CHRON reports to help local students access high-paying industrial jobs that might otherwise go to Workers from outside the area, a Texas Labor Leader is proposing interim credential programs for qualified high school juniors and seniors seeking Electrician Apprenticeships. Justin Cooper, who serves as President of the Sabine Area Central Labor Council, told The Enterprise that local tax abatement compliance across The Golden Triangle is not where it needs to be, but that could change if City, County and School Officials included training requirements in their Economic Development Agreements. Said Cooper: “What I’ve viewed with abatements is I’ve never seen any real enforcement mechanism or any dedicated entities tracking the local hiring compliance. I think we have looked at this wrong. Maybe instead of trying to do percentages of local hires, what about language that requires utilizing local Training Programs?” Cooper, who also serves as Business Manager at International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 479, is pushing for a paid, indentured, on-the-job Apprenticeship Program with Union Membership for students through the Electrical Training Alliance, a joint program between the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) and the IBEW that was founded in 1941. If the Cooperative Education Program is adopted as an option in the Beaumont Independent School District, Cooper said, students could earn wages while learning and make competitive pay by the time they graduate.

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