In an important ruling, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Administrative Review Board (ARB) Jan. 31 upheld the derecognition of the state of California’s apprenticeship system, making California the first state ever to be derecognized by DOL. The derecognition occurred because the state imposed numerous improper restrictions on the approval of merit shop apprenticeship programs, that discouraged or prevented such programs from registering or operating in the state. (
Department of Labor v. California Department of Industrial Relations, DOL ARB, No. 05-093)
The ARB affirmed the April 2005 recommended decision of DOL Administrative Law Judge John M. Vittone. ABC filed an amicus brief in support of Judge Vittone's decision, with the support of the Construction Legal Rights Foundation.
Federal regulations provide DOL’s Office of Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services (OATELS) with the authority to recognize an individual state apprenticeship council (SAC) as an official agent of DOL. This recognition allows the SAC to approve apprenticeship programs where apprentices are registered for federal purposes. Currently, OATELS recognizes state apprenticeship councils in 27 states and the District of Columbia.
In order to maintain their authority over programs, federally-recognized state councils must comply with federal regulations for apprenticeship. However, the California legislature adopted a statute in 1999 that established a “needs-based criteria” for approving apprenticeship programs. Specifically, Section 3075 of the California Labor Code dictated that a program could only be approved if there was no existing apprenticeship program serving the same craft or trade in the geographic area, or if the existing program did not have the ability to dispatch a sufficient number of apprentices to qualified employers at a public works site. The statute and the state's enforcement of it plainly discriminated against merit shop apprenticeship programs in favor of entrenched union programs, and limited apprenticeship opportunities throughout the state.
In its decision, the ARB concluded that OATELS has the authority to derecognize the CDIR and CAC because "OATELS reasonably interprets the amended California apprenticeship statute as not conforming to federal apprenticeship standards."
"We have examined OATELS’ interpretation of the amended statute. We agree with the ALJ that OATELS’ interpretation is consistent with the NAA and the relevant regulations and that OATELS has reasonably exercised its discretion to implement and enforce the NAA," the ARB decision stated.
"ABC applauds the Labor Department's ruling," said Kirk Pickerel, ABC president and CEO. “We only hope that the state of California will conform its regulations to the federal standard so that apprenticeship training opportunities are encouraged, not restricted, throughout the state. The Labor Department's ruling also sends a clear signal to any other state that unfairly limits apprenticeship training by the merit shop construction industry."