The SoCal Laborers Training School Graduates More Than 750 Highly-Skilled Construction Professionals To Journeyperson Status
The Laborers' Training and Retraining Trust of Southern California celebrated the graduation of 754 apprentices to journeymen and journeywomen status on Saturday, January 20th. Despite the torrential rains, friends and families celebrated as apprentice graduates were recognized for obtaining journey worker status by the Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Apprenticeship Standards.
"The graduates' years of grit, sacrifice and perseverance show the commitment that our members and this union have for the construction industry. I congratulate them on behalf of the 33,400 LIUNA members in Southern California," stated Jon P. Preciado, Business Manager of the Southern California District Council of Laborers (SCDCL).
The post-pandemic high graduating class represents a 17% increase over last year's record-setting year and continues the momentum, enthusiasm that Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) has built for developing its top-notch construction workforce in California. Over the last five years, nearly 3,000 LIUNA apprentices have graduated from one of the many programs sponsored by the Laborers' Training and Retraining Trust of Southern California, including the Construction Craft Laborer Apprenticeship, the Laborers' Landscape & Irrigation Fitter Apprenticeship, and the Laborers' Cement Mason Finisher Apprenticeship. Presently, the Laborers' Training School has nearly 2,500 indentured apprentices employed full-time for one of LIUNA's over 2,000 union-signatory contractors in Southern California.
Preciado states, "These new journeypersons serve as amazing examples of inspiration for future apprentices and should be very proud of themselves. A special thank you to all who helped celebrate their achievement! The path to journeyperson status is not easy and their efforts will pay off for years to come for them, their families, their employers and their communities. These graduating LIUNA members are beginning their journeyperson status filled with superior construction knowledge and skills, discipline, professionalism and perseverance?all characteristics that exemplify the LIUNA skilled construction professional."
With tens of billions of new construction investment coming to SoCal over the next few years, LIUNA and its contractors are providing opportunities for life-long careers in the construction industry. For the past 5 years, the SoCal LTS has trained over 29,000 construction professionals in its apprenticeship program, approved by the California Division of Apprenticeship Standards and recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor. Each apprenticeship program requires the completion of 4,000 to 4,200 on-the-job training hours and 288 to 432 hours of related and supplemental instruction. Before the individual can begin on such dedicated work, applicants are screened, and then selected by means of a strength endurance test, an interview, and a drug test.
"These new members are the future of our organization and their dedication to their apprenticeship these past 4 years assures me that LIUNA members will continue to be SoCal's Workforce Solution for the construction industry for many years to come," says LIUNA Vice President and Pacific Southwest Regional Manager Ernesto Ordonez.
The Laborers' Training and Retraining Trust of Southern California is a partnership between the SCDCL and its signatory contractors. The Laborers' School operates 12 facilities in Southern California and provided more than 387,361 hours of construction skills training in 2023.
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