Obama Angers Union With Tax-funded Apprenticeship Program

Another rift between President Obama and his labor base surfaced Monday as the union representing the construction trades voiced its disagreement with his administration’s push to fund apprenticeship programs with tax dollars.

Sean McGarvey, president of North America's Building Trades Unions, reacted to the administration’s initiative by saying that the construction trade unions have been funding successful apprenticeship programs on their own for a century.

“I might sound a little ‘Republican-ish’ here, but we pay for our own,” Mr. McGarvey said in an interview. “All of a sudden people are starting to recognize [the value of apprenticeships], and they’ve kind of got their hand out, wanting the federal government to pay for it. We’re not enthused by that.”

He said his union isn’t opposed to the government providing “seed money” to start apprenticeship programs.

“But long-term, ongoing financing of an apprenticeship training program? We don’t think the government should be paying for that,” Mr. McGarvey said. “We think apprenticeship is a great idea, and we think employers can belly up to the bar with their own resources to pay for it. We don’t feel like our membership should pay for it [through taxes] when they’re already paying for their own.”

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