UA Local 43 on Bloomberg's $90M Apprenticeship Grant and Trades Growth

Joe Coke, Training Coordinator and President of UA Local 43 Plumbers and Steamfitters JATC in Chattanooga, Tenn., and UA Local 43 Business Manager Matt Johnson joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast for a trades day conversation about one of the oldest Local Unions in the South — chartered Aug. 25, 1890 — and the opportunities now opening for a new generation of skilled tradespeople.

Chattanooga recently received approximately $9 million of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ $90 million national initiative to create direct pathways from high school into registered apprenticeship programs. The announcement came on June 8, and Local 43 is already part of the planning coalition alongside community organization Chattanooga 2.0, the IBEW and Hamilton County Schools.

With 1,300 members at near full employment, new projects breaking ground regularly across their 17-county jurisdiction and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projecting more than 700,000 new construction hires needed annually to meet national demand, both guests described the moment as one of the brightest in the Local's 136-year history.

• Chattanooga received approximately $9 million of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ $90 million national initiative announced June 8, which targets 10 cities and is designed to create direct pathways from high school into registered apprenticeship programs. Local 43 is part of the planning coalition through its partnership with community workforce organization Chattanooga 2.0, the IBEW and Hamilton County Schools. They have a three-year implementation window to build and launch a structured program before results are measured.
• UA Local 43 covers 17 counties in the Tennessee Valley, currently has approximately 1,300 members at near full employment and takes in an average of 40 new apprentices per year to begin its five-year program registered with both the federal government and the state of Tennessee. The Local recently received 200 applications for its most recent apprentice class, with applicants ranging from age 17 to 50. The applicant pool reflects both the traditional high school pipeline recruits and a growing wave of workers in their mid-20s leaving jobs that offer insufficient pay, no benefits and unstable hours.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the construction industry will need to hire more than 700,000 workers annually to meet demand, including approximately 44,000 plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters per year. Local 43 Business Manager Matt Johnson described the Local's work pipeline as growing weekly, with major projects already on the books that have not yet broken ground. He expects the combination of the Bloomberg funding, Hamilton County school partnerships and UA International training support to produce sustained membership growth for the next three to 10 years.

A Local Chartered in 1890, Ready for What Comes Next

UA Local 43 Plumbers and Steamfitters has been part of the Chattanooga, Tenn., community since Aug. 25, 1890. That is 136 years of showing up for every type of construction the Tennessee Valley has needed. Chemical plants, power generation, hospitals, universities, food processing facilities, whatever has been built there, Local 43's members have had a hand in it.

Joe Coke came to the trade as a self-described late bloomer. He tried college and another career first, but then found his way in through the apprenticeship program. He finished it and started teaching the same year he graduated and spent the next 11 or 12 years in as an instructor, while also working in the field, doing estimating and cost analysis for a piping company. He would eventually become the Local’s JATC training coordinator — and also elected Local Union president. He described it as the most rewarding work he has ever done.

Matt Johnson followed a similar arc. He was 28 when he entered the trade, came through after military service and other work experience, topped out as a journeyman in 2015, briefly taught apprentices and then moved into union administration as a business agent in 2017. He has been the Local 43 business manager for three years.

Near Full Employment and a Growing Pipeline

Johnson described Local 43's current work environment in terms he said would have been hard to imagine a decade ago. The Local is near full employment. New projects are being added to the books weekly. Some of the larger projects slated to begin have not yet broken ground. The work scope covers everything the Tennessee Valley economy is generating right now — and that economy is generating a lot.

The numbers behind that picture are national, not just Local. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the construction industry needs to hire more than 700,000 workers per year to meet demand. That includes approximately 44,000 plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters annually. UA Local 43 averages about 40 new apprentices per year — a number both guests said will need to grow. Johnson said the Local brings in members at both the apprentice and journeyman levels, accepting workers with existing skill sets who are ready to join the union.

Bloomberg Philanthropies: $9 Million for Chattanooga

The conversation that generated the most excitement centered on Bloomberg Philanthropies’ $90 million national initiative, announced June 8, to transform how high school students enter registered apprenticeship programs and high-wage careers. The initiative targets 10 cities. Chattanooga is one of them, receiving approximately $9 million over three years.

Coke described how it came together. He had been working with Chattanooga 2.0, a Chattanooga organization that creates workforce pathways for young adults, which had an existing summer welding program. Chattanooga 2.0 approached him about pursuing the Bloomberg grant. The partnership that formed around that pursuit — Local 43, Chattanooga 2.0, the IBEW and several other Local organizations — had the right combination of leadership, existing infrastructure and community relationships to be competitive. The grant was announced in June. The planning is now underway.

Coke was candid about where things stand. The initiative is brand new. Meetings are happening. The planning takes time, and the Bloomberg group understands that. They included a three-year planning period because this is a pilot program. But the goal is clear: create a structured pathway from Hamilton County high schools into registered apprenticeship programs like the one at Local 43.

Hamilton County Schools already has two trade and tech pathway schools with a third under construction. Tony Donen, a key figure in the school system's STEM programming, has been part of the coalition and already has a blueprint for how to connect high school students to apprenticeship programs. Coke said he is looking forward to building on that existing foundation.

Who Is Coming Through the Door

The most recent apprentice class at Local 43 drew 200 applications for the May intake. Applicants ranged from age 17 to 50. The national average age for new apprentices, according to Bloomberg's own release on the initiative, is 29, and that tracks with what Coke sees in Chattanooga. A growing share of applicants are people in their mid-20s who have tried jobs with insufficient pay, no benefits and unstable hours, only to realize they need something more sustainable.

He described what Local 43 is looking for in an apprentice candidate: people who want to work hard, earn a living and become stewards of the union. The Local holds its membership to a standard and looks for applicants who are ready to meet it. College students transitioning out of a path that was not working, high school graduates who want to skip student debt entirely and experienced workers in other fields who have decided to change direction are all showing up. Coke said if the Local could take them all, it would. It takes as many as it can.

The UA's Investment in Training

Coke credited the UA International's commitment to quality training as one of the factors that make Local 43's program competitive. Ray Boyd, the UA International’s Training Director, is described as constantly working to ensure training centers across the country have current curriculum, modern equipment and the resources to deliver instruction at the highest level. Every UA training center is a registered apprenticeship program — with the federal government, the state or both. Local 43's program carries both registrations. The support from the International, Coke said, is substantial and ongoing.

The Broader Picture

Coke quoted two voices from the Bloomberg initiative's June announcement that he said resonated with him. Michael Bloomberg pointed to millions of unfilled good-paying jobs and students who never get the chance to learn the skills to fill them. Ford CEO Jim Farley said the future of the country depends on the skilled trades. Coke connected both statements to what he sees playing out in the data: the jobs that artificial intelligence is expected to spare the most are healthcare and skilled trades — two fields that require hands-on human expertise that cannot be automated. Local 43 is squarely in the middle of one of them.

Johnson gave the final word. He said the three-year Bloomberg commitment is just the beginning of what he expects to see grow over five, seven and 10 years. Coke has taken the lead on turning the opportunity into a plan, and Johnson said he is confident in what comes next. The future at Local 43, he said, is bright.

More information on UA Local 43 is available at ualocal43.org.

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