Craft, Education, and Training

The complexities of today’s construction projects necessitate that workers in the construction industry continually develop their craft and safety skills. Projects that once took months to complete with scores of workers now rely on sophisticated technologies, enabling jobs to be completed with shorter time frames an with fewer workers.

Our coalition provides the most advanced quality training available to both apprentice and journeyperson tradesmen and woman in the industry. This enables our contractors to complete their projects with workers that have every skill necessary to excel in today's ever-changing construction industry.

Our programs are administered by local joint labor and management apprenticeship and training committees (JATCs). Our comprehensive training includes on site and simulated learning environments as well as mandatory classroom sessions. Course offerings for our crafts include construction skills training, safety, and environmental remediation curricula. Our focus is not geared towards just meeting minimum regulatory and licensing requirements. Instead, it is geared towards making our member craftsmen the most highly skilled in the construction inudstry.

Through union apprenticeship programs, our contractors are able to cultivate new craftsmen at minimal cost. The new entrants receive supervised training on the job and related theoretical instruction under the tutelage of union master craftsmen. Sponsoring Joint Apprenticeship Training committees assists in paying for the cost of apprentices' instruction, creating yet another cost-effective solution to address the needs of all our contractors.

Minimum qualifications, application and selection procedures, training content, and the wage progressions of each affiliated union determine program completion requirements for apprenticeship programs.

Our commitment to training does not end upon completion of an apprenticeship. Our training funds provide ongoing skills improvement via classroom instruction at various state of the art training centers across the state to ensure that our members are consistently immersed in the latest innovative techniques and technologies available in the construction industry.

All of our programs operate under the standards registered and certified by the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, U.S. Department of Labor and the State of Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training.

On the job safety is an integral part of our members’ skills training. Rigorous safety and health courses for all members enable our craftsmen to avoid hazards and injury saving our contractors millions of dollars in insurance premiums and related costs. Our member unions have developed a comprehensive inventory of training materials and video so well-regarded that Occupational Safety & Health Administration has used them to train their own compliance officers.