Construction industry groups welcomed President Trump’s new directive aimed at expanding the rolls of apprenticeship programs and reducing the federal role in determining those programs’ requirements. But some officials are uncertain about how much specific impact—if any—Trump’s action will have on construction’s extensive, long-established apprenticeship programs.
The executive order, which Trump signed on June 15, calls on the Dept. of Labor to consider drafting regulations to let third parties, such as companies, trade associations and labor unions, develop their own guidelines for apprenticeship plans in order to receive a registered-apprenticeship designation. DOL then would review those guidelines.