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Apprenticeship Start-up Summary
ProgressWorx
April 2023
If the workforce for the occupation to be registered as an apprenticeship is represented by a labor union, the employer and union would register the program as an Individual Joint program.
If the workforce is not represented, the program would be registered as an Individual Non-Joint program by the employer.
Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide
This practitioner’s guide provides recommendations and resources enabling transit agencies to better assess, plan, and implement their operator workforce management programs.
Eno Center for Transportation, International Transportation Learning Center (ITLC), Huber & Associates
January 2023
Making Connections 2022 – Program Overview
The Transit Workforce Center hosted Making Connections 2022: The National Transit Workforce Conference in Washington, D.C. on December 13-14, 2022. This conference brought together participants from urban, suburban, rural, and tribal public transportation and industry stakeholders in plenaries, workshops, networking, and ongoing dialogue. Discussions and sessions featured topics including recruitment and retention, training, mentoring and apprenticeships, new technologies, preparing today’s and tomorrow’s workforce, and advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and access.
Session materials from Making Connections 2022 are hosted on the TWC Resource Center. Please click here to view all related materials. A PDF copy of the conference schedule is linked below.
Transit Workforce Center
December 2022
TOPICS: Apprenticeship , Career Pathways , Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion , Hiring and Recruitment , Labor-Management Partnerships , Making Connections 2022 , Program Evaluation and ROI , Retention , Safety and Health , Trainer and Mentor Development , Training and Development , Zero Emission Buses
Making Connections 2022 – Out of the Box Strategies: Using Partnerships to Strengthen Recruitment, Retention and the Advancement of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access
This session was presented as part of TWC’s Making Connections 2022 transit workforce conference in December, 2022.
Transit Workforce Center
December 2022
Session Summary: This session featured cutting-edge partnership strategies that advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and access while strengthening recruitment and retention. Representatives from transit labor and management, education, and national and local transit supporters and stakeholders provided a range of perspectives, while discussing innovative programs and initiatives along with their positive outcomes.
Moderator
Jess Guerra: Executive Director, Transportation Workforce Institute – Los Angeles Trade Technical College
Speakers
Mona Babauta: Deputy General Manager – Golden Gate Transit
Rich Diaz: Golden Gate Transit Mentor Coordinator – Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1575
Meghna Khanna: Senior Director, Systemwide Team, Mobility Corridors – Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Judy Shanley: Director – National Center for Mobility Management; Assistant Vice-President, Education & Youth Transition Programs, Easter Seals Director – National Center for Mobility Management
Tracy Spikes: Workforce Development Program Manager – Central Ohio Transit Authority
John Tkach: Executive Director – Keystone Development Partnership
Jarvis Williams: President – Transport Workers Union Local 208
Making Connections 2022 – Growing Your Own Through Apprenticeship: A Joint Approach to Building Skills
This session was presented as part of TWC’s Making Connections 2022 transit workforce conference in December, 2022.
Transit Workforce Center
December 2022
Session Summary: Apprenticeship programs create a foundation for strong, effective workforce development programs. The ability to build and sustain these programs requires strong labor-management partnerships, or, in the case of nonunion agencies, ongoing involvement of, and management engagement with, the frontline workforce. In this session, panelists from a diverse group of transit agencies presented examples of challenges met and lessons learned as they designed and implemented their apprenticeship programs. Attendees heard how apprenticeship can support a variety of frontline transit occupations and the benefits that apprenticeship offers.
Moderator
Jamaine “G” Gibson: Director of Apprenticeships and Workforce Development – Amalgamated Transit Union
Speakers
Dexter Bishop: Elevator/Escalator Journeyman – Amalgamated Transit Union/Local 689
Stephanie Deiger: Chief Human Resources Officer – Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
Brian Funk: Chief Operating Officer and Deputy General Manager – MetroTransit Minneapolis
Michael Hanssen: Supervisor of Technical Skills Training – Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Alec Johnson: Bus Operator Apprenticeship Coordinator – MetroTransit Minneapolis/Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005
Making Connections 2022 – Moving Forward Together: Creating and Sustaining Successful Labor-Management Partnerships
This session was presented as part of TWC’s Making Connections 2022 transit workforce conference in December, 2022.
Transit Workforce Center
December 2022
Session Summary: Across the country, strong labor-management partnerships underlie many of the most effective public transportation recruitment, retention, career development, and advancement programs. In this session, experienced subject-matter experts from transit and from government discussed the importance and impact of these partnerships, provided program examples and outcomes, and highlighted key components in establishing and maintaining these relationships.
Moderators
Brian Turner: Founding Director – International Transportation Learning Center
Speakers
Shirley Block: President/Business Representative – Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757
Jamaine “G” Gibson: Director of Apprenticeships and Workforce Development – Amalgamated Transit Union
Andrew Hasty: Senior Advisor – U.S Department of Labor’s Office of Labor Management Standards; Commissioner – Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
Nate Holton: Director of Labor Relations – TriMet
Denise Jenkins-Agurs: Chief People Officer – IndyGo
Charles Jenkins: Director – New York City Transit Training & Upgrading Fund/Transport Workers Union Local 100
Darnice Marsh: Labor Management Partnership Coordinator – U.S. Department of Labor
Building Pathways to Infrastructure Careers: Framework for Preparing an Infrastructure Workforce
This resource provides a framework for all workforce stakeholders, including infrastructure project leads, to engage the public workforce system in implementing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law with strong workforce commitments and proven strategies that produce high-quality education, training, and employment opportunities for all workers.
U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
October 2022
National Transit Frontline Worker Recruitment Campaign
Across the United States, whether large, small, urban, rural, or tribal, transit agencies are facing the challenge of recruiting and retaining drivers, mechanics, and technicians who can operate and maintain the buses of our public transit systems. To help support local transit efforts, TWC is developing the #ConnectingMyCommunity national frontline worker recruitment campaign, coordinated with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and industry, labor, and community partners from around the country.
Transit Workforce Center
July 2022
Bus Operator Recruitment and Retention: Confronting Obstacles and Creating Opportunity
This multimedia case study details a high-road training partnership jointly operated by Golden Gate Transit and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1575. This resource contains a brief written summary, presentation slides, and video of a Golden Gate Transit / ATU presentation, which can be accessed by clicking here, or the “Learn More” button. The entire June 7, 2022 TWC webinar, Recruiting and Developing Today’s Transit Workforce, can be found here. It includes a question and answer session, beginning at 51:53, that covers more detail on this and other recruitment initiatives discussed in the webinar.
Transit Workforce Center, Golden Gate Transit, & Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1575
June 2022
Golden Gate Transit (GGT) serves four counties in San Francisco’s North Bay. GGT suspended approximately 90% of its commute service during COVID. As of Spring 2022, the agency was operating at roughly 50% of pre -COVID service levels, but needed to hire and retain large numbers of bus operators as ridership demand returned. To achieve this goal, a GGT and ATU labor-management partnership created a high-road training partnership that worked with local colleges and California Transit Works to establish bus operator mentorship, pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs. To guide its initiatives and actions, the partnership also examined data and asked underlying questions about the root causes of their employment challenges, resulting in reevaluating and adjusting some of its pathways to employment and hiring guidelines.
The Power of Partnership: Automotive Technology/Collision Career Technical Education Program
This multimedia case study details an internship program developed by the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) and Transport Workers Union Local 208. This resource contains a brief written summary, presentation slides, and video of a COTA-TWU Local 208 presentation. The entire June 7, 2022 TWC webinar, Recruiting and Developing Today’s Transit Workforce, can be found here. The complete webinar recording includes a question and answer session, beginning at 51:53, that covers more detail on this and other recruitment initiatives.
Transit Workforce Center, Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA), & Transport Workers Union Local 208
June 2022
Summary:
To meet its need for vehicle maintenance technicians, COTA leadership partnered with TWU Local 208 and Columbus City Schools to provide a Vehicle Maintenance Internship Program, helping students already enrolled in an automotive program to develop additional technology competencies and prepare them for entry level positions. The COTA Vehicle Maintenance Internship Program provides career technical center high school students who have completed their junior year in a participating career-technical program the opportunity to work as paid interns in the Vehicle Maintenance Department at COTA. Students receive classroom training, hands-on training, laboratory experiences, and are partnered with mentors in preparation to enter the workforce as entry level automotive/collision technologies service technicians. From this foundation, COTA has now established a state-registered pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship program to support vehicle technician hiring, retention, and workforce development.
Strategic Workforce Planning in Transit: Recruiting and Developing Today’s Transit Workforce
This is the second in the Transit Workforce Center’s webinar series on strategic workforce development planning in transit. The TWC’s first webinar examined workforce development for the incumbent workforce. This second webinar focuses on how transit agencies and partner organizations are working to meet the significant recruitment challenges across the country and how to best turn these challenges into opportunities to reach, attract, and retain a diverse workforce. Two transit agencies and their labor partners discuss their innovative outreach and recruitment programs–including mentoring, pre-apprenticeships, and community college partnerships–followed by a presentation from a national organization leader who has coordinated cross-sectoral recruitment initiatives with agencies across the U.S.
A video recording of the webinar and the associated slides are attached below (if you are on the main Resource Center page, click “Learn More” to view the video). Please follow the link below to view all past TWC webinars and to register for upcoming events.
Transit Workforce Center
June 2022
Strategic Workforce Planning in Transit: Developing, Supporting, and Strengthening Your Incumbent Workforce
This webinar, presented on April 27, 2022, explores important considerations and best practices for creating strong strategic workforce development plans.
FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez provided opening remarks, followed by insightful workforce development guidance and case examples from leading, experienced, and insightful presentations from IndyGo (Indianapolis IN), ATU International and Local 558, SporTran (Shreveport LA), TWU Local 100- NYCTA Training and Upgrading Fund (NYC), SEPTA (Philadelphia PA), and ProgressWorx.
It is the first in a series of TWC webinars on Strategic Workforce Planning.
A video recording of the webinar and the associated slides are attached below (if you are on the main Resource Center page, click “Learn More” to view the video). Please follow the link below to view all past TWC webinars and to register for upcoming events.
Transit Workforce Center
April 2022
TOPICS: Apprenticeship , Career Pathways , Labor-Management Partnerships , Retention
ITLC Elevator/Escalator Training Consortium
The International Transportation Learning Center (ITLC) organizes multiple national training consortia to develop standards-based national training courseware for frontline occupations in public transportation organizations.
The Transit Elevator-Escalator Training Consortium (the Consortium) was the first in an ongoing series of industry-wide collaborative programs to develop integrated systems of training for key frontline occupations in public transportation. Building on national training standards developed by industry Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from 2006 to 2010 and then adopted by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the Consortium developed a full set of standardized national courseware to support training and apprenticeship programs for transit elevator/escalator (El-Es) technicians. The curriculum and courseware development team was composed of subject matter experts (SMEs) from five member agencies and unions from across the country. Membership of the Consortium consists of transit systems that maintain their vertical transportation equipment in-house, rather than relying on outside contractors. Equipment manufacturers contributed access to their technical drawings and manuals to enrich the courseware.
The list of courseware as of Summer 2020 is contained in the attached catalog.
International Transportation Learning Center
September 2020
ATU Setting the Standard for Transit Apprenticeships
This article summarizes ATU’s and the International Transportation Learning Center’s (ITLC’s) efforts to promote transportation mentorship and apprenticeship program development.
Amalgamated Transit Union
September 2018
The Transit Elevator-Escalator Training Consortium: A Model for Successful Training Development
A report on the process, products and outcomes related to the first National consortium for development of training for public transportation maintenance employees. This joint labor-management effort set a proven model for multiple other similar consortia. Products include – instruction ready courseware, a nationally recognized apprenticeship program for transit maintenance elevator/escalator maintainers and train-the-trainer program.
International Transportation Learning Center
September 2016
TCRP Report 181: Labor–Management Partnerships for Public Transportation, Volume 1: Toolkit
This toolkit provides resources for public transportation management and labor union leaders to establish, manage, and improve labor–management partnerships.
Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP)
January 2015
TCRP Report 181: Labor–Management Partnerships for Public Transportation, Volume 2: Final Report
TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 181: Labor–Management Partnerships for Public Transportation, Volume 2: Final Report, documents the materials used to develop Volume 1: Toolkit. Volume 1 provides resources for public transportation management and labor union leaders to establish, manage, and improve labor–management partnerships.
Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP)
January 2015
National Guidelines for Apprenticeship Standards for Bus Maintenance Technicians
These National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (NJATC) Apprenticeship Standards have as their objective the training of Bus Maintenance Technicians skilled in all phases of bus maintenance. The NJATC and its affiliated Local Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committees recognize that in order to accomplish this, there must be well-developed on-the-job learning combined with related instruction. This recognition has resulted in the development of these Apprenticeship Standards.
Developed by the Transportation Learning Center and National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (NJATC) in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship.
Approved and certified by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship on 8/25/2010.
International Transportation Learning Center & National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (NJATC)
August 2010
TOPICS: Apprenticeship , Labor-Management Partnerships
Transit Partnership Training: Metrics of Success
The Metrics of Success series chronicles measurable outcomes, in particular return on investment, of transit training partnerships in which the International Transportation Learning Center has had a substantial role. Each Metrics report focuses on quantitative data from a specific partnership, while Transit Partnership Training: Metrics of Success is an overview of key findings from all Metrics reports to date.
International Transportation Learning Center
February 2010
Training Partnerships That Work: An Emerging National Network
Training Partnerships That Work provides vivid summaries of successful labor-management training partnerships at sites across the country. The cases included here represent a diverse set of transit systems and unique training partnerships. Most importantly, they illustrate how labor and management can work together successfully on issues of training, and provide valuable lessons for other industries facing the problem of retiring baby boomers and inadequate capacity to train replacement workers.
International Transportation Learning Center
February 2010
Transit Partnership Pays: Working Together – Everybody Wins
This report highlights the evidence that the most successful, cost efficient and durable training systems come from industry based labor-management partnerships.
International Transportation Learning Center
September 2009
TOPICS: Apprenticeship , Labor-Management Partnerships
Jointly Sponsored Training Systems In American Industries
This paper examines recent developments in credentialing in jointly sponsored training and qualifications systems across the United States. This paper builds on previous work on building trades joint apprenticeship and training programs, which describes their structure and activities and documents their superior performance over programs unilaterally operated by employers. Jointly sponsored training programs are not common in the U.S., but strong programs are found in the building trades where they serve important roles in preparing and qualifying the skilled craft workers.
International Transportation Learning Center (with Robert W. Glover, the University of Texas at Austin)
February 2009
Working Together: A Systems Approach for Transit Training
Transit faces a critical skills challenge driven by changing technologies, shifting workforce demographics and record-breaking growth in ridership.
Working Together: A Systems Approach for Transit Training outlines how constructive training partnerships provide the most effective way for the transit industry to address its skill challenges. National labor-management committees have met regularly for several years to develop consensus training guidelines. These joint committees have been focusing on five transit maintenance occupations: bus, rail signals, traction power, rail vehicles and elevator/escalator. A parallel joint effort has been crafting a national framework for transit apprenticeship.
International Transportation Learning Center
January 2009
Metrics of Success Series
The Metrics of Success series chronicles measurable outcomes, in particular return on investment, of transit training partnerships in which the International Transportation Learning Center has had a substantial role. Each Metrics report focuses on quantitative data from a specific partnership, while Transit Partnership Training: Metrics of Success is an overview of key findings from all Metrics reports to date.
International Transportation Learning Center
May 2008
Transit Partnership Training: Metrics of Success – Expanded Edition
Smart Investment Partnership: New York State's Transit Workforce Training Proves its Worth
Measuring Up: Keystone Training Partnership – Vol. 1
Measuring Up: Keystone Training Partnership – Vol. 2
Keystone – Making a Difference in Pennsylvania Transit
Keystone – Pennsylvania Transit on the High Road
People Make the Hardware Work: Transit Experts Call for Labor-Management Training Partnerships
This short piece outlines five tools for success in labor-management training partnerships:
1. Unions as Partners
2. A Joint Training Strategy
3. Empowering the Workforce
4. Cultivating a Learning Organization
5. Reaching High Performance
International Transportation Learning Center & TCRP
March 2007
Pennsylvania Transit on the High Road
This report is part of a larger case study that chronicles the development of the Keystone Transit Career Ladder Partnership, including the process of job task/work task analysis, skills gap analysis, and data-driven training development.
International Transportation Learning Center
Critical Sector Job Quality Grants
Administering Agency: Department of Labor – Employment and Training Administration
Closing Date for Applications: July 17, 2023
Estimated Total Program Funding: $15,000,000
Award Ceiling: $3,000,000
Geographic Scope: National
Description: The purpose of this demonstration program is to support transformative efforts to improve job quality and availability of good jobs, particularly for the benefit of historically marginalized populations and communities that have experienced barriers to employment in good jobs. The primary focus of these demonstration grants is expanding job quality in the care, climate resiliency and clean energy transition, and hospitality sectors. In the transit industry, these funds could support job quality for those operating and/or maintaining zero-emission buses. These demonstration grants will support industry-led, worker-centered sector strategies built through labor-management partnerships aimed at improving job quality in key sectors. These partnerships will address equity, job quality, and worker voice as they design training models and train workers for family-supporting jobs. Projects under this announcement will fund both short-term capacity-building planning grants and longer-term implementation grants.
Posted May 18, 2023 to TWC Resource Center. Please refer to the link below for the most up to date information from the funder.