Construction apprenticeships are growing with joint labor-management programs, study shows

Construction unions partnered with signatory contractors have been a driver for apprenticeship growth in Wisconsin, with graduation rates and job quality that rival four year universities, a study showed. However, apprenticeships in Wisconsin are still behind states that have prevailing wage laws.

That’s according to a study by the Midwest Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal (PMCR) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The study examined Wisconsin’s joint management-labor programs and tracked the state’s progress against those with prevailing wage laws, which are minimum wage standards for different skilled workers.

Only 22% of Wisconsin’s construction industry is unionized, MEPI data showed. But training programs administered by unions and signatory contractors enroll 77% of Wisconsin’s construction apprentices and make up 96% of all apprenticeship investments across the state. That generated $64 million in total annual revenue compared to less than $3 million from employer-only non-union programs, MEPI officials said.

Between 2016 and 2024, the number of apprentices in the state increased by 2,080 to 3,110, or 49.5%, the study data showed. In 2024, there were 12,451 active construction apprentices in Wisconsin.

“At a time when the construction industry faces high demand for qualified tradespeople to modernize infrastructure, energy systems, and manufacturing facilities, this study provides an important assessment of the performance of Wisconsin’s workforce development institutions and their interaction with recent changes in state labor policy,” said Frank Mazo IV, an MEPI economist who coauthored the study. “The data makes clear that the joint labor-management system is punching well above its weight to deliver the skilled workforce supply that Wisconsin’s construction industry needs, and the job quality that its economy demands,” he added.

One of the key differences in program investment and outcomes was the joint model used financing for apprentices training through a “cents per hour” contribution in collective bargaining agreements, while employe-only model used voluntary contributions for incentivized employers, the study showed.

“Interestingly, there is a growing body of research that suggests the employer-only model of voluntary workforce training may actually increase construction costs,” said Jacob Hager, a research analyst for MEPI who also coauthored the study. “Industry surveys have shown that skilled labor shortages that can delay projects are far more pervasive in the nonunion side of the industry. Similarly, research has documented that projects completed by nonunion firms are more likely to suffer from safety problems and lower levels of worker productivity, linking these issues with lower wage rates and underinvestment in apprenticeship training,” he added.

However, Wisconsin slowed in some areas compared to other states. New construction apprenticeship enrollments grew 14 percentage points slower than neighboring states that had prevailing wage laws, the study showed. States with prevailing wage laws had 8% higher construction apprenticeships than those without, the study added. Lawmakers in Wisconsin repealed the prevailing wage law in 2017.

“These findings confirm what we’ve long known: Wisconsin’s building trades are doing the heavy lifting to solve the skilled labor crisis,” said Emily Pritzkow, executive director of the Wisconsin Building Trades Council, in a statement. “We’re not just training workers—we’re building middle-class careers, creating ladders of opportunity, and ensuring Wisconsin employers have the skilled workforce they need to thrive,” she added.