Innovative Apprentice Training and Federal Union Advocacy Aim to Plug the Looming Plumbing and Pipe Skills Gap

Each year, the number of unfilled jobs for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters will average about 43,000 over the next decade, according to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor findings.  This pipe trades labor shortage is expected to cost the economy nearly $33 billion in the years to come, according to an analysis commissioned by Lixil Americas.

Their report projects the country will be short about 550,000 plumbers by 2027. This projection focuses primarily on residential and commercial plumbing and does not include shortages in ancillary hard trades skills such as large pipelines and gas delivery lines.

How we as a nation choose to address this critical shortfall of half a million critical employees is a question some are just now starting to ask. But this isn’t new news to officers at the largest pipe fitters labor union in North America, the UA, or less commonly referred to as the United Association.

The UA has been tracking and responding to the skills gap for decades. The gap, as foretold years ago, is just now starting to pinch the U.S. economy, so naturally mainstream media is starting to take notice.

How Did We Get Here?

For decades, the hard trades struggled to attract top tier talent. Trade schools were under-represented in high schools and were overshadowed by the lure of 4-year academic pursuits. But as 4-year college costs continue to skyrocket, and an aging baby-boomer generation continues to exit the workforce, labor union training arms have stepped up to fill the vocational need. But it takes time – and resources.

Industry executives say there’s no quick fix. Bolstering the plumber pipeline will require deep investment in recruiting and training, starting from middle school upward, says Ed Brady, chief executive officer of the Home Builders Institute, a provider in Washington, DC, of trade skills training for the construction industry. “We are going to have this for a long time. This is not a market cycle issue. This is a generational issue.”

Innovative Apprentice Training Programs are the Key

Labor needs to rethink how it charts the course ahead as well. Consider a traditional pre-apprenticeship course offered for the first time last fall at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Maryland. As NPR reported, it had room for 18 students. Only three applied.

Plumbing is far more than the residential repairmen you may have encountered in your home. The entire global infrastructure and it’s re-investment, is dependent on the pipe trades at its core. Oil, gas, water, coolants – all rely on the hands of highly-trained union pipefitters.

Trying something new, UA Local 486, serving plumbers and pipefitters in Maryland and Delaware, created an online apprentice application portal late last year. For the first time in their history, the local began collecting these applications via the internet, and so far, the response has been overwhelming. Hundreds of applicants have expressed interest in the program and completed their comprehensive application process. Other UA Locals have expressed interest in similar online student registrations.

From registering new apprentices online, to the delivery of digital training content, to the latest in test taking and evaluations; technology now plays a huge role in maintaining the lifetime-of-learning information that a career in the trades requires. Robust training management applications like UnionTrack® ENGAGE® make all of this possible.

Labor unions can now track their apprentices training in detail as they make their way through to journeyperson amid a collection of on-the-job and classroom learning over time. When those students are lucky enough to join the trade, all of their demographic, certification, and training information is ready to go.

Federal Apprenticeship Initiatives

Notably, the U.S. Federal Government has begun to take notice of this labor gap since the Biden-Harris administration took over.

During this year’s Youth Apprenticeship Week, Apprenticeship Trailblazers gathered May 6 at the Department of Labor’s Washington headquarters for a kickoff event, and the department’s Employment and Training Administration welcomed new youth apprentices for a signing event. These apprentices represented industries central to the “Investing in America” agenda such as construction, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, education, cybersecurity, healthcare and the pipe trades. 

The UA Advocates Workforce Training at the Federal Level

The UA has not been shy in taking these discussions to the federal level. United Association Special Representative Larry Bulman, a 4th Generation UA member, was appointed last fall by President Biden to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Workforce Information Advisory Council (WIAC).

This advisory council was established to provide recommendations to the U.S. Secretary of Labor to evaluate and improve the nationwide workforce and labor market information systems – an essential component of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which helps grow and strengthen workforce training, like the United Association’s gold-standard registered apprenticeship model.

“I am incredibly humbled to be given the opportunity to provide an essential voice shaping the future of workforce training and development: that of the men and women who perform the important work of building and maintaining our great nation,” said Brother Bulman. “The United Association is home to the best trained and most highly skilled craftspeople in the mechanical industry, and our voice is critical to improving and expanding workforce training initiatives.”

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act was first signed into law by President Obama in 2014 and is “designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy.”

“When the United Association gets involved in politics, we win more work for our members and solidify our standing as the most influential voice in organized labor,” said Russ Breckenridge, Director of Legislative and Political Affairs for the United Association. “Brother Bulman will continue to bring that voice to the highest levels of government in his work on this important committee.”

The UA Centralizes Training and Member Data to support an on-the-move Workforce

The UA International provides a secure means for a UA Local or Member to access their certification information in real-time.  UANet ensures that all UA Members are connected wherever they may be across the country. When a UA Member travels across the nation to perform their trades, their unique certifications can be verified through this single-point system at any of the UA Affiliates. 

This forward-thinking approach and use of technology is just another way the UA is ahead of the curve on supporting and engaging their members in order to keep the pipeline of skilled trade workers flowing.

As part of a robust training program containing a single-source database, local organizers and leaders use UnionTrack® ENGAGE® to keep apprentices on track for a lifetime of success – wherever the work may take them.