Workforce Development
Alaska's union apprenticeship programs have been setting the gold standard for craft training for more than 50 years.
The Building Trades Apprenticeship programs combine classroom and hands-on instruction by seasoned experts in the field with the finest on-the-job training available in the construction industry today.
Members of IUPAT, Local 1959 working for Bucher Glass in Juneau on the State Library Archives and Museum (SLAM). Pictures courtesy of Bronson Frye.
Helmets to Hardhats
Helmets to Hardhats is a program that connects men and women from the Armed Forces to quality jobs in the building and construction trades.
Bronson Frye, IUPAT Local 1959
“Joining a union was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my entire life. I wanted to join the Painter’s Union because starting an Apprenticeship in a construction trade afforded me an opportunity to learn a craft while making a livable wage at the same time.”
Our programs have created multiple pathways with Alaska school districts and vocational programs as well as rural training outreach through relationships with Alaska Works Partnerships and the Denali Commission. These pathways lead right into our full blown apprenticeship programs, all of which require at least one year of Alaska residency, high school graduation or GED equivalency, and in some trades passing grades in Algebra to become a successful candidate for apprenticeship.
The Building Trades Unions comprise 85% of the construction apprentices registered in the state of Alaska, and our unions represent 85% of the skilled workforce building the heavy and highway projects throughout the state, the type of workers that will be required to construct the Alaska Gas Line project. Looking for a rewarding career, Contact a union apprenticeship program today for a rewarding career that will make you the most skilled of craftsmen, while paying you with dignity by providing high wages, good working conditions, and the best of fringe benefits available, including medical coverage and the strongest of pension plans in the country.