CITC WINS APPROVAL OF ITS HEAVY EQUIPMENT PROGRAM -- AGAIN (11/01/2008)
The Washington State Apprenticeship and Training Council (WSATC) unanimously re-approved the Construction Industry Training Council of Washington’s (CITC) Heavy Equipment Operator apprenticeship standards at the council’s quarterly meeting in October.
When CITC submitted its operators’ standards for approval in 2000, existing union apprenticeship sponsors filed objections to approval which resulted in an eight-year legal battle to get the standards approved in their entirety. This included three adjudicative proceedings, two superior court appeals and two arguments before the Washington Court of Appeals. In addition to unanimous approval, the council made their approval retroactive to their July 2008 meeting so CITC’s standards, in effect, never lost their state approval. The union competitor’s objections were not based on the quality of the program, but rather administrative details concerning the selection method for employee representatives to CITC’s apprenticeship committee and the demonstrated knowledge of apprenticeship by CITC’s committee members.
Without the support of ABC and funding from its Construction Legal Rights Foundation over the last 25 years, there would be no open shop apprenticeship in Washington and open shop apprentices would have no options for receiving training under state-approved standards.
