1 min read

Season 4, Episode 159

Diversity in the trades a major focus for Missouri’s AFL-CIO

MO AFL-CIO GRAY

 

Guest Name:


Jake Hummel

Guest Website:


https://moaflcio.org/ 

Guest Social Media:


Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

LinkedIn

Supportive Documents:


Jake Hummel, President of the Missouri AFL-CIO, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and spoke about the Building Union Diversity Apprenticeship Readiness Program in St. Louis. Hummel explained what the program does and when the ARP will be offered in area high schools.

The Missouri AFL-CIO has a special non-profit branch that serves as a workforce development arm of the organization. This branch is known as the Missouri Works Initiative, and it handles all the workforce development needs for the state labor federation. The program recently featured by North America’s Building Trades Unions President Sean McGarvey during his city highlight tour was the Building Union Diversity (BUD) pre-apprenticeship program in St. Louis. This program started about 10 years ago to help provide a path for members of the St. Louis underserved communities to begin a career in the union building trades.

A six-week ARP, BUD utilizes the Multi-Craft Core Curriculum developed by NABTU. This allows participants to earn certifications and develop soft skills. Hummel explained how the BUD St. Louis program has set itself apart from other Apprenticeship Readiness Programs throughout the country.

Currently, BUD is geared to recruit adults in their 20s and 30s, as most of their recruits are between the ages of 25 and 35. While the age of the participants may differ, each student seeks to find a life-changing career, which is the goal of the BUD program, Hummel said. Starting this upcoming school year, BUD a version of BUD will be taught in St. Louis area high schools to target high school seniors. This will help develop a pipeline of students who are ready and have the skills to enter a registered apprenticeship program right out of high school. Hummel believes this will help Missouri’s building trades grow and help the communities in which their affiliated members live and work.

For more information on BUD St. Louis, listen to the whole interview by clicking the play button.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

SUBSCRIBE ON:

Group 342

Group 341

Group 343

Group 339

Group 397

Group 397

 

Helmets to Hardhats assists veterans find a career in the trades

Wrapping up the National Apprenticeship Week coverage on America’s Work Force Union Podcast, Martin Helms, Executive Director of the Helmets to...

Read More

Safety on the job sets Iron Workers apprentices apart from others

Continuing the America’s Work Force Union Podcast coverage of National Apprenticeship Week, we welcomed Lee Worley, Executive Director of...

Read More