WASHINGTON D.C. - The Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO on April 11 released the final report in an extensive two-year study of apprenticeship programs sponsored by the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC).

And for the anti-union ABC, the results aren't pretty - less than a third of those workers who entered ABC apprenticeship programs graduated during the period 1995-2003.

Using data from the U.S. Department of Labor and state apprenticeship agencies, the report examines every ABC-sponsored apprenticeship program in the country, and every apprentice that was registered in these programs during that period.

The report found that of the 24,663 apprentices who registered in all ABC sponsored programs (except Hawaii) between 1995 and 1999, only 7,154 graduated by 2003, for an overall ABC graduation rate of only 29%.

"For several years we have repeatedly urged the Department of Labor to take action concerning these programs, with no response," stated Building Trades Department President Edward C. Sullivan. "We must conclude that even in the face of concrete facts, the Department of Labor has chosen to please its political friends rather than remedy a broken system."

The ABC designated President Bush their "man of the year" before the 2004 election and is a major campaign contributor to the president.

The report reveals that only six of the ABC's 80 local chapters in the U.S. sponsored an apprenticeship program that graduated more than half of its apprentices. In addition, 25 chapters had graduation rates below 25 percent - with many significantly below that mark. Another 20 ABC chapters either failed to sponsor a program or failed to enroll apprentices in the program it did sponsor.

The Associated Builders and Contractors - essentially the arch-enemy of construction trade unions - claims that "tens of thousands of construction apprentices train annually through ABC-registered apprenticeship programs." That's technically true, but they say nothing about how many of those apprentices graduate. They also have claimed the ABC is "the world leader in apprenticeship and craft training in the merit shop construction industry" - which isn't saying much.

There are two federal comparisons of union apprenticeship graduation numbers. A U.S. Department of Labor study, written by the independent Westat Group, found that for the class of 1995, multi-employer union programs graduated 59% of their apprentices

And from 1997 to 2001, Labor Department numbers indicate the union apprenticeship programs in 36 states that participate in its database graduated 75 percent of enrollees, or 45,580 apprentices.

The performance of specific ABC apprenticeship programs illustrates the scope of the problem:

• The apprentice graduation vs. enrollment ratio for Michigan's five ABC chapters overall outperformed the national average, but it was still only 31 percent overall ABC's Central Michigan Chapter's graduation rate was the highest in the state, with 47 percent, followed by Northern Michigan (30 percent), Southeast Michigan (29 percent), Western Michigan (29 percent) and the Saginaw Valley Chapter (27 percent). What's really astounding is the scant total number of graduating Michigan ABC apprentices in the boom years of 1995-1999: 562. By far, the ABC's Western Michigan Chapter had the highest number of apprenticeship graduates during that period, 413. The next closest chapter was in Central Michigan, with 62 grads.
• Only 18 of the 331 apprentices who enrolled in the New Orleans Bayou ABC chapter program between 1995 and 1999 graduated - a 5 percent graduation rate.
• Only 37 of the 515 apprentices who enrolled in the Greater Houston ABC chapter program between 1995 and 1999 graduated; a 7 percent graduation rate. Houston is an ABC hotbed.
• Only 178 of the 1,175 apprentices that enrolled in the Arkansas ABC chapter program between 1995 and 1999 graduated; or only 15 percent.

In addition, a number of ABC chapters have listed individual apprentices as active long after they had been scheduled to graduate. For example, of the 667 apprentices that enrolled in the Ohio Valley ABC apprenticeship program between 1995 and 1999, 233 of them (or 35 percent) were still listed as active in spring 2004.

"Building and construction trades unions take pride in the fact that we invest hundreds of millions of dollars annually to ensure the highest standards of skills training in every craft," Sullivan said. "It is deplorable that other programs are allowed to fall so far short."

Why should the federal government and the industry care about the ABC's lousy apprenticeship training record?

A huge demographic shift is expected over the next decade, with thousands of Hardhat retirements expected. The U.S. Department of Labor has standards for apprenticeship training, and union programs nearly always provide the model for how to train construction workers.

Substandard training and lack of oversight by the DOL brings down training standards in the construction industry - and further tilts the playing ground in favor of nonunion contractors, who skimp on employee training.

Discussing the report at the Building Trades Department legislative conference on April 18, Sullivan demanded DOL investigate the poor performance of the non-union contractors' apprenticeship programs. DOL certifies apprentice-training programs.

The building trades issued a preliminary report on ABC training in November 2003, but the DOL has failed to act.

"It proves what we've known all along: The ABC programs do not work," Sullivan said.