Bricklayers Union Applauds President Biden’s Action to Strengthen Registered Apprenticeship

[Washington, D.C.], February 17, 2021 – The International Union of Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers applauds President Biden’s actions today to strengthen the role of registered apprenticeship in our society and to reaffirm the critical role that union labor provides in the oversight of apprenticeship programs. 

Today, President Biden rescinded former President Trump’s Executive Order that created the employer-dominated IRAP (Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Program) system. While the construction industry successfully obtained a temporary exemption from IRAP, this action by President Biden effectively regulates them out of existence. His additional action to reinstate the National Advisory Committee on Apprenticeships at the Department of Labor ensures that unions will reclaim our rightful role in ensuring that apprenticeship programs faithfully serve the workers they are entrusted to train and educate. Finally, his endorsement of Congressman Bobby Scott’s bipartisan National Apprenticeship Act of 2021 establishes that President Biden understands and values the role that apprenticeship and labor unions have to play in rebuilding an economy that works for all Americans.

The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, represents 75,000 skilled masonry-trowel trades craftworkers providing essential construction services across the United States and Canada.