Press Release
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| 17 April, 2008 | |
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Unionized Construction Industry Built on Big Investments in Training by A.Cywinski _____________________________________________________________________________ Ontario’s unionized construction industry is a leading provider of skilled trades and apprenticeship training in Ontario. To capture the magnitude of the unionized sector’s contribution to skilled trades training, the Ontario Construction Secretariat, over the last 12 months, has been documenting union administered training facilities and programs across Ontario. The preliminary findings of the study indicate that the unionized construction sector has invested close to $200 million in highly specialized union training facilities and programs across the province. Furthermore, these programs and facilities are supported annually through labour and management contributions to training trust funds which ensures a legacy for apprenticeship, skills, and safety training in Ontario. The OCS estimates there are just over 60 union training facilities throughout Ontario ranging from multi-million dollar state-of-the-art training centers, delivering certified apprenticeship programs for union and non-union indentured apprentices, to a variety of union locals, of all sizes, delivering an array of specialized in-house skills, safety training and certification courses. Of the 62 training centres documented in the report, 28 of the facilities were identified as MTCU accredited apprenticeship training delivery agents. The remaining 34 are union locals containing in-house training facilities for structured and on-going training activities for journeypersons or supplementary training for union apprentices. More than half of the 113 union locals we interviewed or surveyed were found to have either in-house or off-site local affiliated training facilities. Moreover, regardless of size, every union local was found to conduct on-going training activity, either through the college system or utilizing the facilities of other union locals. One common feature among all training centers, regardless of size, was the significant commitment on the part of the union to invest time, money and personnel to run and maintain state-of-the-art facilities and specialized equipment. The OCS estimates that the total capital investment in union training facilities and equipment ranges from $170 - $200 million, with a best estimate of approximately $190 million.1 Moreover, union training facilities are supported annually through hourly wage package ‘check-off’ contributions ranging from $0.08 to $0.86 2 per manhour worked, with some additional contributions provided at the union local and international levels. Based on 2006 union training fund contributions, OCS estimates that the unionized construction sector contributed $36.6 million annually to support its training programs and facilities.3 A final report of the study will be published and released in the next few weeks. The facts will speak for themselves. Our inventory of union training facilities and the associated investment by labour and management in construction trades training is significant. What is even more interesting is the diversity and complexity of Ontario’s trades training system. Whether training new apprentices, or continually improving the skills and safety awareness of skilled journeypersons, each of the 25 trades studied, through strong labour, management and industry partnerships, have developed their own individual approach to effective training that reflects the unique requirements demanded of their trade and the construction industry. _________________________________________________________ 1 The estimate of the 62 identified facilities is based on size and facility value data gathered on some 49 facilities documented through a combination of visits and surveys between April 2007 – April 2008 2 based on 2006 collective bargaining wage schedule contributions. 3 figure based on 2006, ICI and (limited) Non-ICI, man hours (approx. 102 million hours) |
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