ATU Awarded Department of Labor Apprenticeships Building America Grant

Silver Spring, MD – In a huge win for public transit in America, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) has been awarded a Department of Labor (DOL) Apprenticeships Building America (ABA) Grant. This $8 million grant, aimed at expanding, diversifying, and strengthening registered apprenticeship programs, will create equitable pathways into high-quality union jobs in critical sectors, including transit.  

In February, the Biden-Harris Administration announced nearly $200 million in grants to expand registered apprenticeships through a second round of grants under the ABA, continuing their commitment to investing in the American workforce. Under the leadership of Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su, the DOL’s mission is to provide all of America’s workers access to training.

“President Biden’s Administration and his Investing in America agenda is changing people’s lives,” said ATU International President John Costa. “Through this grant, the ATU will have the opportunity to build on the work we’ve been doing to advance our members’ careers and strengthen our nation’s public transit systems. I’m proud that the President and the Department of Labor recognize the ATU as a leading union in the United States for apprenticeship programs. This grant was hard-earned and reflects the critical importance of our work.”

The $8 million awarded to the ATU will be strategically utilized to establish the National Center for High Road Clean Transit Careers (High Road Center). This new Center will address the urgent need for a national infrastructure that supports a High Road Training Partnership (HRTP) approach to transit workforce development and will expand the ATU’s successful statewide infrastructure in partnership with California Transit Works! (CTW), one of the original HRTPs funded since 2017 by the California Workforce Development Board.

Along with CTW and the UCLA Labor Center, the High Road Center will focus on equity, climate, and jobs to build economic opportunity and mobility for those who have been marginalized, disadvantaged, and/or denied opportunities, to mitigate and support adaption to climate change, and to engage with high road employers to increase quality jobs.