The number of registered active apprentices more than doubled in Kentucky between 2013 and 2021, including carpenters, cement masons, construction laborers and electricians, among more than 100 occupations.

A new report found apprenticeships deliver big benefits for communities and employers.

Research shows apprentices earn more than comparable workers, with an average starting salary of $50,000 per year and increased estimated earnings of $300,000 over the course of a lifetime.

Ed Willoughby, administrator of the Kentucky Laborers' Training Fund, said his organization is always recruiting, and currently has small waitlists. His concern is ensuring immediate full-time employment for apprentice grads.

"The big key with apprenticeship and to make an apprenticeship work is to have a job for those people to go directly to," Willoughby pointed out.

According to a recent report, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act called for infrastructure improvements and repairs, abandoned mine land reclamation, repurposing shuttered coal plants, grid modernization and renewable energy growth, which will require boosting the nation's skilled-trade workforce.

Willoughby noted an apprenticeship also offers workers a chance to get hands-on experience without paying tuition, gain college credits, and earn a paycheck while learning on the job. He added residents interested in apprenticeship training should visit the state's apprentice website to learn more.

"You get paid while you're working," Willoughby emphasized. "You get your training or education paid for. So you won't incur the student loans with college."

The nation's unionized construction workforce has aged steadily over the past three decades. As workers retire, a new crop of younger workers is needed to meet demand. According to the report, more than 61,000 construction laborers in the Commonwealth have received apprenticeship training.

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are aiming to appeal to labor groups on the campaign trail, especially in battleground states like Nevada.

Christofer Kimes, organizer for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, lives just outside of Reno. He calls northern Nevada the "new Silicon Valley" and supports heavier union presence in the region to foster better wages, worker protections and benefits.

Kimes commended the Biden-Harris administration for being pro-union and pointed to policies such as the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act as proof.

He emphasized the conservative Project 2025's "anti-labor agenda" threatens the progress unions have made.

"They're sold an idea that if you make this guy that writes your paycheck, you make him richer and the company gets bigger, you're going to have all of this stuff that you have already, you have worker's rights," Kimes outlined. "They don't understand that Project 2025 is a direct repeal of a lot of that."

Project 2025 lays out a number of labor-related reforms, like outlawing public sector unions as well as investigating labor leaders. Kimes argued another four years of Trump would "decimate" unions.

In 2018, Trump signed executive orders weakening the ability of unions to negotiate contracts and cut the hours union representatives were able to tend to member complaints. Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025. Conservatives argue the plan is about government accountability.

Kimes is an independent, but added when people in his mostly conservative northern Nevada community find out he is a union organizer, they are skeptical. He acknowledged they have preconceived notions about what being pro-union means. Instead of approaching the conversations in a political tone, he uses a historical one.

"The moment you begin to have the political argument on the level that I'm at, people shut down and they don't want to hear it," Kimes noted. "People gave their lives so that you have Saturday and Sunday with your kids, you get a weekend, you don't have to work 80, 90 hours a week, that all comes from unions."

Kimes recognized there has been a significant decline in the number of workers represented by unions over the past several decades. The share of U.S. workers who belong to a union has fallen since 1983. In 2023, only 10% of workers were in a union, according to the Pew Research Center.


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A dozen Eastern Kentucky counties will receive a total of around $40 million in federal funding to connect working-age residents to resources and training for jobs in a region heavily impacted by the decline of coal mining.

State data show last year, Eastern Kentucky's unemployment rate was more than 7%, far higher that the Commonwealth's overall rate of around 4%.

Brandon McBride, executive director of the Appalachian Regional Commission, said federal investment is critical for boosting local workforce capacity.

"We want to make sure that Appalachians have the skills and workforce training that they need to take advantage of new opportunities that might be coming into the region," he explained.

The nonprofit Shaping Our Appalachian Region or SOAR is spearheading the project, in collaboration with major local employers Pikeville Medical Center and Appalachian Regional Healthcare, to build new training facilities. The funds will also be used to support businesses and nonprofits that focus on regional childcare, transportation and housing challenges - longstanding barriers to employment for rural and low-income communities.

Research shows job skills training can in some cases increase earnings by nearly 70%. McBride predicted future growth is expected in several industries.

"Right now we're seeing growth in tourism, IT and cyber security. We've also seen some growth in manufacturing, especially in the automotive space, and then we're also seeing growth in the healthcare industry," McBride continued.

According to SOAR, healthcare has been among the fastest-growing local sector. Over the past three decades, the number of private sector healthcare employers in Eastern Kentucky increased by more than 200%.

U.S. postal workers will rally across the country on Tuesday to bring attention to their working conditions. An Idaho postal worker helped start the event.

Sheri Butler with the United States Postal Service is a member of her local postal workers union based in Spokane. She lives and works in Coeur d'Alene.

She spoke out about understaffing at a USPS Board of Governors meeting last year. Then, the board limited public comments at its hearings to once a year.

So she started a letter-writing campaign, which has since turned into two rallies.

"It just kind of grew as more people became interested," said Butler. "The small idea of a letter-writing campaign turned into a larger movement called 'We Won't Be Silenced.' With this movement we are ending the silence and sharing why our stories need to be told."

Members at the American Postal Workers Union national convention in July then passed her resolution for a rally. Rallies are scheduled across Idaho - including in Boise, Caldwell, and Idaho Falls.

Workers will call for more public comment opportunities at Board of Governors meetings, better staffing and services, and more cooperation from management at the bargaining table.

Workers are also frustrated with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's consolidation and reform plan for the post office - called Delivering for America - which is likely to slow mail delivery in many rural parts of the country.

DeJoy argues the changes are needed to improve the postal service's financial situation. But Butler noted that DeJoy has delayed the implementation of parts of his ten-year plan.

"He began to change his course once people started speaking up," said Butler. "Constituents are reaching out to their senators, and the senators are responding. We need the public to keep voicing their concerns loudly and pressuring USPS management to act in the best interest of the people."

Organizers have planned more than 120 rallies nationwide for Tuesday.