Apprenticeship: a life changing pathway

A good wage, a stable career, and dignity in work — just some of what we celebrate on National Apprenticeship Day

SEATTLE, WA (April 30, 2025) — There’s an antidote to dead-end jobs and low pay. At a time when many workers in the U.S. are finding it increasingly hard to make ends meet with stagnant wages, another way is possible: apprenticeship.

Registered apprenticeships — the gold standard of job training programs — combine on-the-job training, guided by an experienced master-level practitioner in an occupation, with classroom instruction. The federal government and states register apprenticeship programs that meet their standards, and the best programs are also operated by labor and management organizations, and funded through collective bargaining.

Apprenticeship is rightly called a pathway to economic stability. For many working people, what we think of as higher education — a college degree, or more — carries a steep trade-off. A degree may help secure a good job, but it often comes with crushing student debt. For some, that higher education is still the right choice. But while society too often presents college to young people as the only path forward, labor unions work hard to make sure apprenticeship is part of the conversation. After all, it allows workers to learn a trade — and earn while they do.

Members of IBEW 76 pose for a photo in front of their booth at a Elma, WA apprenticeship event for local high school students in the fall.

The AFL-CIO’s Working for America Institute brings together workers, unions, employers, and regulators to expanded registered apprenticeship opportunities. They estimate that the average starting salary after completing a registered apprenticeship is $80,000. Over a lifetime, an apprentice graduate can earn more than $300,000 more than peers who didn’t complete an apprenticeship. And 94% of apprentices stay on the job after completing their program.

There are registered union apprenticeships across industries like cybersecurity, care work, hospitality, manufacturing, and of course, construction. More information about apprenticeship is available from the AFL-CIO. State-specific information on construction and building trades apprenticeships can be found on the Washington State Building & Construction Trades Council website.

And there’s a relatively new option locally, a partnership between UNITE HERE Local 8 and local hospitality employers, the Pacific Northwest Hospitality Training Program, created in 2023. This program both trains news workers and helps place them in good union jobs, while also providing support to current hospitality workers to foster career advancement.

Hundreds of thousands of workers are in registered apprenticeships right now, learning the job skills our country relies on and working towards a better future for their families. We celebrate their hard work on National Apprenticeship Day and invite more working people to take a step towards a brighter future.