Opinion ID: 779933
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Apprenticeship Training Programs in General

Text: 4 An apprenticeship training program prepares individuals for jobs in certain skilled trades, including the electrical trade, where competence is acquired through hands-on experience, through training and work on the job. See N.Y. Comp.Codes R. & Regs. tit. 12, § 601.3(b), (d)(1). Such programs benefit apprentices and employers alike. Trainees learn needed skills, while employers gain access to a relatively cheap labor pool because apprentices are paid less than experienced journeymen. Taxpayers also benefit indirectly because public works contracts are awarded to the contractor that submits the lowest responsible bid, and contractors can reduce their labor costs by hiring apprentices. Lower labor costs lead to lower responsible bids, which in turn lead to savings for the public fisc. New York's public policy officially recognizes the importance of apprenticeship training programs in meeting the state's labor needs and expanding the state's industrial economy. See N.Y. Lab. Law § 810 (To these ends, it is the declared public policy of the state of New York to develop sound apprenticeship training standards and to encourage industry and labor to institute training programs.). 5 Pursuant to the National Apprenticeship Act of August 16, 1937, ch. 663, 50 Stat. 664 (codified as amended at 29 U.S.C. §§ 50-50(b)), the federal Department of Labor registers those programs that offer training to apprentices in certain skilled trades provided they meet certain eligibility criteria. See Associated Builders & Contractors, Inc. v. Herman, 166 F.3d 1248, 1251 (D.C.Cir.1999). Federal authority over the registration of a proposed apprenticeship training program in New York has been delegated to defendant New York State Labor Department. See Joint Apprenticeship & Training Council of Local 363, Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters v. N.Y. State Dep't of Labor, 984 F.2d 589, 591-92 (2d Cir.1993); see also 29 C.F.R. § 29.12 (2001) (providing for delegation of authority to qualified state agencies). These training programs do not need to be registered, but registration is desirable because it confers financial benefits. Joint Apprenticeship & Training Council, 984 F.2d at 591-92. According to the parties, only contractors who participate in a registered program may submit bids on certain New York public works contracts. Further, the parties have stipulated that a training program registered in New York is eligible for New York State Apprenticeship Related and Supplementary Instruction Program funding, which defrays up to 50 percent of the costs of an apprenticeship program. 6 Every program has a sponsor. A sponsor may be a single employer, a group of employers, or a joint committee composed of both labor and management representatives. See N.Y. Comp.Codes R. & Regs. tit. 12, § 601.3(b). Even when the workforce is represented by a labor union, that union need not participate in a training program in which the employer participates; that is, an employer with a unionized workforce is not limited to participating in jointly-sponsored programs. But, according to a state regulation, if a labor union is certified to represent an employer's bargaining unit employees, that union must at least be notified of — and in some cases approve — any program that the employer or employers' group seeks to have registered by the State Labor Department. See id. § 601.4(g). The training program at issue in this case is being sponsored by a group of employers whose employees are represented by a single union, so that union must be notified in some manner. 7 The dispute before us centers on the permissible interpretations of the state's union notification regulation, § 601.4(g) of Title 12 of New York's Compilation of Codes, Rules & Regulations, which states that 8 [u]nder a program proposed for registration by an employer or employers' association, where the standards, collective bargaining agreement, or other instrument provides for participation by a union in any manner in the operation of the substantive matters of the apprenticeship program, written acknowledgment by the union of the union agreement or no objection by the union to the registration is required. Where no such union participation is provided, the employer or employers' association shall simultaneously furnish to the union local, if any, which is the collective bargaining agent of the employees to be trained, a copy of its application for registration and of the apprenticeship program. In addition, upon receipt of the application and apprenticeship program, the commissioner shall promptly send by certified mail to such union local another copy of the application and of the apprenticeship program, together with a notice that union comments will be accepted for 30 days after the date of the agency transmittal. 9 To paraphrase this regulation, the State Labor Department's union notification process depends on whether there exists any agreement or other instrument that provides for participation by a union in any manner in the operation of the apprenticeship program. If such an instrument exists, then the union must approve the registration of any employer-sponsored program; if no instrument exists, the union only needs to be given an opportunity to comment on the program prior to its registration. In the former case, the union essentially has a veto power over the registration of a program sponsored by the employer.