Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Light Company announced Wednesday that a first-in-the-nation lineworker apprenticeship program developed with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Lineworkers (IBEW) Local 29 had been approved by Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor & Industry (DIL).
The program would allow DLC’s overhead lineworkers to become accredited “journey-level workers” once they have completed a registered apprenticeship providing extensive hands-on and classroom training. DLC and the IBEW Local 29 said the program was recently unanimously approved by the DIL’s Apprenticeship and Training Office.
The apprenticeship program is the first of its kind in the country, the two organizations said. Additionally, it’s the first program to be registered in Pennsylvania by the IBEW in 25 years, the union said. While the two entities have used an apprenticeship model for decades to train new workers, this program would allow existing union members in the state to receive state and federal recognition for the skills they’ve learned on the job.
“Through this registered lineworker apprenticeship — the first to be implemented anywhere in the country — we can encourage more schools and community organizations to promote the program as an option for high-value employment training,” said DLC’s Workforce Development Manager Katy Rittle, Ph.D.
DLC and IBEW Local 29 were the first organizations to request standardization for the apprenticeship program in the state and country. Prior to their efforts, the United States did not have a “journey-level worker” accreditation for overhead lineworkers. With the new program, the company and union hope to encourage new workers into the field through a clear career path. Additionally, the company and union said they hoped it would serve as a model for similar programs across the United States.
“The nationally recognized credential of ‘journey-level worker’ in the lineworker trade is something every IBEW member should be able to achieve,” said Glenn Camp, IBEW Local 29’s president and assistant business manager. Josh Ewing, business manager for IBEW Local 29, adds that “this additional level of accreditation will help us draw more candidates to the electric utility industry while strengthening our future workforce.”