SEPTA, TWU Local 234 Start Apprenticeship Program

April 29, 2008

PHILADELPHIA, PA  – SEPTA and Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 234 today announced the launch of a Joint Apprenticeship Program providing skill development and training for public transit employees.

Recognizing that the introduction of new technologies and processes in the transit industry has made the work responsibilities of skilled labor positions increasingly complex, SEPTA and the TWU Local 234 proposed the establishment of a formal apprentice training program.

The two main goals of the program are to provide the skills and proficiencies necessary to maintain current work productivity standards and to create the resources needed to meet future manpower demand as workers retire.

General Manager Joe Casey praised the program as central to SEPTA’s customer service efforts. “Our employees are critically important in helping to meet the travel needs of our customers,” he said. “Through training initiatives like the Joint Apprenticeship Program, we can provide the tools needed to maintain the equipment and systems that is vital to the delivery of quality public transit services.”

The Joint Apprenticeship Council, comprised of two representatives each from SEPTA and TWU, Local 234, designed and developed the program in accordance with the apprenticeship registration guidelines recommended by state and federal apprenticeship licensing agencies. A registered apprenticeship is a structured, formal method of training consisting of on-the-job-training performed under the supervision of a first class mechanic coupled with related classroom instruction.

The first training courses for the new Joint Apprenticeship Program are scheduled to begin later this year. TWU President, Jeff Brooks, and SEPTA Assistant General Manager for Operations, Pat Nowakowski, praised the program as a means of maximizing resources to fill replacement positions and attract new workers.

“This program will offer our workers an excellent opportunity to acquire the skills and training necessary for a technologically advanced workplace,” Brooks said.

“The apprenticeships will increase the value of our workforce and provide our employees with new avenues for career development,” added Nowakowski.