{"id":108842,"date":"2019-08-29T12:04:48","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T16:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=108842"},"modified":"2019-08-29T12:04:48","modified_gmt":"2019-08-29T16:04:48","slug":"brindisi-joins-local-labor-leaders-to-demand-administration-scrap-proposed-apprenticeship-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=108842","title":{"rendered":"Brindisi joins local labor leaders to demand administration scrap proposed apprenticeship changes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Rep. Anthony Brindisi<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With local labor\nleaders, Brindisi outlines plan to stop administration\u2019s dangerous proposal\ndead in its tracks<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congressman Anthony Brindisi (NY-22) joined local labor\nleaders and union workers to announce their opposition to the Department of\nLabor\u2019s proposed apprenticeship rule changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this summer, the Department of Labor issued a\nproposed rule which would take the first step in creating industry-regulated\napprenticeship programs. This rule would dramatically alter apprenticeships\nacross the country. These potential industry-regulated apprenticeships would\nundercut regulated union and non-union apprenticeships that have led to\ngood-paying jobs for generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the rule change could endanger veterans by\nallowing for the creation of scam apprenticeships that could defraud veterans\nof their G.I. bill benefits. Currently, veterans use labor-sponsored\napprenticeship programs like Helmets to Hardhats to find good-paying jobs in\nthe trades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis rule change threatens our veterans and union workers\nacross Upstate New York,\u201d Brindisi said. \u201cLabor-sponsored apprenticeships have\nprovided a pipeline for good-paying jobs and helped many veterans find work in\nthe trades. We need to be expanding access to workforce development and\ntraining but this is not the way to do it. I let the Department of Labor know\nthis rule change is a non-starter and I urge all friends of labor to do the\nsame.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brindisi called on the Administration to scrap the rule\nchange and protect union jobs. He sent a letter to Acting Labor Secretary Patrick\nPizzella urging him to reconsider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local labor officials praised Brindisi for standing up for\nworking families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to thank congressman Brindisi for standing with\nlabor on this important issue,\u201d said Building and Construction Trades Area representative\nTom Zalocha. \u201cThis apprenticeship rule change could threaten a powerful\npipeline for young people to get good-paying jobs in the trades.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The comment period for the proposed rule change is open\nuntil August 26th. The public can submit comments on the rule HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text of the letter Brindisi sent to Acting Secretary\nPizella is below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Acting Secretary\nPizzella,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I write with great\nconcern regarding the Department of Labor\u2019s proposed rule published on June 25,\n2019, which would allow for the creation of \u201cindustry-recognized\u201d\napprenticeship programs and \u201cStandards Recognition Entities\u201d (SREs) (RIN\n1205-AB85). While I agree that we must work to expand high-quality\napprenticeship programs, I do not believe that circumventing the Department of\nLabor\u2019s long-standing certification process would accomplish this goal. I am\nconcerned that these new programs would put populations including veterans at\nrisk and would jeopardize New York\u2019s oversight over apprenticeship programs\nwithin our state.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York State is home\nto 740,000 veterans, more than 100,000 of whom are veterans of the post-9\/11\nconflicts. As a Member of the House Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs, I am proud\nthat so many of these American heroes have chosen New York as their home. Many\nof these veterans have utilized their hard-earned post-9\/11 GI benefits to\nfurther their job opportunities, either through higher education or through job\ntraining and apprenticeship programs. The state and federal governments\ntogether have created an apprenticeship system where veterans can use their GI\nbenefits to improve their job prospects without fear of being scammed. I was troubled\nto see that the proposed rule does not explicitly preclude the possibility of\nthese new industry-regulated apprenticeship programs accepting veterans\u2019\nbenefits.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am also concerned\nthat these new industry-regulated programs would completely bypass the\nsuccessful state apprenticeship agency system. By setting up a new \u201cparallel\napprenticeship system,\u201d New York would not have oversight of the apprenticeship\nprograms operating within our borders. These new programs would be wholly\nunaccountable to the state government, answering only to the new \u201cSREs.\u201d When\noperating alongside proven apprenticeship programs regulated by New York\u2019s\nState Department of Labor, these new industry-regulated programs could appear\nindistinguishable. Veterans and other workers would be largely unaware if they\nare signing up for a safe, state-approved program, or a program without the\nprotections provided by Registered Apprenticeships.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apprenticeship\nprograms are an important element in creating a skilled workforce. Good-paying\njobs are available right now to workers through the training programs offered\nby unions and non-union sponsors and certified by the Department of Labor.\nHowever, by opening the door to industry-regulated apprenticeship programs, the\nDepartment of Labor is not only abandoning their statutory responsibility\nthrough the National Apprenticeship Act to safeguard the welfare of\napprentices, they are jeopardizing the successes we have found under the\ncurrent system. We should grow and improve the vetted apprenticeships we have\nnow, not set up a new parallel system. I oppose this proposed rule and\nencourage you to reconsider this program.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sincerely,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anthony Brindisi, Member\nof Congress<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With local labor leaders, Brindisi outlines plan to stop administration\u2019s dangerous proposal dead in its tracks Congressman Anthony Brindisi (NY-22) joined local labor leaders and union workers to announce their opposition to the Department of Labor\u2019s proposed apprenticeship rule changes. Earlier this summer, the Department of Labor issued a proposed rule which would take the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23814,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-state","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/102245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}