Gov. signs bill setting apprentice-to-journeyman ratios at one-to-one

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With the stroke of a pen, Gov. Scott Walker gave his approval to legislation preventing more than one journeyman from ever being needed to oversee the work of an apprentice entering the trades.

The governor signed into law Assembly Bill 508, which sets Wisconsin’s journeyman-to-apprentice ratio at one-to-one for all types of construction work. Before the adoption of the law, the requirements had varied from trade to trade.

For carpenters, for example, the mandatory ratio was one-to-one when there was only one apprentice in a class. But for every apprentice that joined after that, three more journeymen had to be added.

Proponents of the legislation, like the Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin, say the current ratios set up an artificial barrier that hindered workers in their attempts to join the trades. Fixing the ratio at one-to-one for all trades, they argue, would help combat the construction industry’s persistent labor shortage.

John Mielke, president of the ABC of Wisconsin, said the law will bring Wisconsin into line with many nearby states.

“Wisconsin was behind other states – Iowa, Utah, North Dakota, Colorado, and Nebraska have 1-1 ratios,” Mielke said. “The federal government routinely approves 1-1 ratios for its apprenticeship programs. Michigan just passed a law that allows 3 electrical apprentices to serve under 1 skilled worker.

“AB 508 will help get more skilled workers to get into the building trades without costing taxpayers any more money or endangering safety.”

Critics of the legislation have contended that the ratios should continue to be left to the trades’ apprenticeship-advisory councils, which are made up of representatives of both labor and management interests. Many of those same critics had also originally warned that the legislation could run athwart of the training requirements found in collective-bargaining agreements reached between construction unions and contractors. Bill proponents responded to those concerns with an amendment stating that the legislation could not supersede requirements laid out in union contracts.

Beyond setting a one-to-one journeyman-to-apprentice ratio for all trades, AB 508 would eliminate statutory requirements that set minimum lengths for carpentry and plumbing apprenticeship programs. Those standards would instead be set in consultation with individual trades’ advisory councils. Follow @TDR_WLJDan