PRINTER'S NO. 1647

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

1005

Session of

2017

INTRODUCED BY COX, FEE, GROVE, JAMES, MENTZER, MILLARD,

B. MILLER, PICKETT, ROTHMAN, RYAN, TOPPER AND ZIMMERMAN,

MAY 5, 2017

training policy and program, and defining its powers and

duties and providing for administration."

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. The act of July 14, 1961 (P.L.604, No.304), known

as The Apprenticeship and Training Act, is repealed:

Relating to apprenticeship and training; creating a State

Apprenticeship and Training Council in the Department of

Labor and Industry to formulate an apprenticeship and

apprenticeship and training system through the voluntary

cooperation of management and labor and interested State

agencies and in cooperation with other states and the Federal

Government; (2) to provide for the establishment and furtherance

of standards of apprenticeship and training to safeguard the

welfare of apprentices and trainees; (3) to aid in providing

maximum opportunities for unemployed and employed persons to

improve and modernize their work skills; and (4) to contribute

to a healthy economy by aiding in the development and

maintenance of a skilled labor force sufficient in numbers and

(hereinafter called "The Council") as a departmental agency in

the Department of Labor and Industry to be composed of eleven

members who shall be appointed by the Governor. Four members

shall be representatives of employes and four members shall be

representatives of employers and three members shall be

representatives of the general public. Members of the council,

other than the ex-officio members, shall be appointed for a term

of four years and until their successors are appointed, except

that two of the original members shall be appointed for a term

of one year, two for a term of two years, and two for a term of

the Bureau of Employment Security of the Department of Labor and

Industry, the Executive Director of the Advisory Board on

Problems of Older Workers of the Department of Labor and

Industry, and the Coordinator of Industrial Education of the

Department of Public Instruction, and Chief of the Bureau of

Rehabilitation of the Department of Labor and Industry, shall be

ex-officio members of the council but shall not be entitled to

vote, except that in the event of a tie vote, the Deputy

Secretary of Labor and Industry shall have the right to cast the

tie-breaking vote. The council shall organize immediately upon

compensation at the rate of twenty-five dollars ($25) per day

for the time actually devoted to the business of the council.

Section 4. Powers and Duties.--(a) The council shall (1)

establish standards for apprenticeship in conformity with the

provisions of this act and applicable statutes and regulations

of the Federal Government; (2) adopt such rules and regulations,

subject only to the approval of the Secretary of Labor and

Industry, as may be necessary to carry out the intent and

purpose of this act; (3) compile such data on population and

employment trends, industrial production, vocational and

modifications of such agreements; (5) maintain close liaison

with Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, the United States

Department of Labor, the State Board of Vocational Education,

the Department of Public Instruction, the Department of

Commerce, Bureau of Rehabilitation of the Department of Labor

and Industry, and Juvenile Forestry Camps under the Department

of Public Welfare, and such other agencies which carry on

programs closely related to the purposes of this act; (6)

conduct studies, surveys and investigations of the special

problems of retraining or training unemployed or employed

agencies in order to promote closer local cooperation in

establishing better apprenticeship and other training programs

including programs for employed persons who wish to improve and

modernize their work skills; (8) use appropriate media of

information and education to acquaint employers, employes and

the public at large with the advantages and availability of

apprenticeship and other occupational training programs; (9)

study the effectiveness of apprenticeship agreements and make

recommendations in accordance with the provisions of such

agreements for their improvement; and (10) perform such other

Department of Labor and Industry, on or before February

fifteenth, each year, indicating the extent of apprenticeship

and other occupational training programs during the previous

year, trends in employment requiring adjustments in

apprenticeship training and other occupational programs, needs

for expansion of apprenticeship and other occupational training

programs, activities of the council and such recommendations as

are in accord with the purposes of this act.

(c) No action affecting the status of an agreement shall be

taken by the council until an attempt has been made to bring the

council members at least one week in advance of each meeting. A

majority of the voting membership of the council shall

constitute a quorum if at least one representative from both the

employe and employer groups is present.

Section 6. Administration.--The Secretary of the Department

of Labor and Industry shall appoint a Director of Apprenticeship

and Training who shall be responsible to the Secretary of Labor

and Industry in carrying out the provisions of this act and who

shall serve as ex-officio secretary of the council. The

Secretary of the Department of Labor and Industry is authorized

duties shall include, but shall not be limited to, (1)

encouragement and promotion of the standards established in

accordance with this act and with the basic standards of the

Federal Committee on Apprenticeship; (2) bringing about the

settlement of differences arising out of apprenticeship

agreements when the differences cannot be adjusted locally or in

accordance with established trade procedure; (3) supervision of

the execution of agreements and maintenance of standards; (4)

registration of apprenticeship agreements as the council shall

authorize as conforming to the established standards; (5)

and industrial training; (8) promotion of employe, employer and

public awareness of apprenticeship and other occupational

training; and (9) keeping a record of the progress of

apprenticeship and training programs initiated in accordance

with the provisions of this act and informing the council

periodically as to the results.

Section 8. Limitation.--The provisions of this act shall

apply only to persons, copartnerships, associations,

corporations and political subdivisions, and employer

associations or organizations or associations of employes as

Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.