Painters' union urges expansion of apprenticeships to address construction trades shortages

Brian Kurdian, business manager and secretary-treasurer for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 51, told the Education Workforce Development Committee that registered apprenticeship programs are a key route into stable construction careers and that the union seeks to expand pre-apprenticeship and school‑to‑career pipelines.

Kurdian described the union’s Finishing Trades Institute Center, US Department of Labor-registered apprenticeship programs that combine paid on-the-job training with classroom instruction, and outreach partnerships with Prince George's County public schools, Job Corps and Employ Prince George’s. He said the union is approaching 1,800 local members and that roughly 30% of those members live in Prince George's County.

Kurdian said common entry barriers include limited early hands-on exposure to trades in high school, transportation challenges and uneven math foundations. The union uses pre-apprenticeship bootcamps, outreach and workforce development partnerships to recruit and prepare candidates, and emphasized that public partners can help by increasing exposure to hands-on work and supplying tools or subsidies that reduce first-step costs for candidates.

Committee members asked which crafts are most affected and how the CTE programs are feeding into apprenticeships; Kurdian said shortages are broad across crafts and urged continued investment in school partnerships and pre-apprenticeship programs to build a steady pipeline.