Apprenticeship Directory
It’s better in a union. Union apprenticeships are training programs designed to help anyone learn the skills it takes to work in the unionized trades. Apprenticeships usually include a mix of classroom instruction with on-the-job training, and are often a chance to earn money while you learn new skills.
A number of the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO's Affiliate unions offer apprenticeship programs. Learn more about them including how to apply below.
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689
ATU Local 689 comprises more than 15,000 members and retirees performing occupations within the many skilled transportation crafts for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), MetroAccess, Fairfax Connector, DASH, Loudoun County Transit, Martz Gold Line, Dillons Coach USA, Battle’s Transportation, DC Circulator, DC Streetcar, and more.
ATU Local 689 offers a number of apprentice programs, including an Elevator/Escalator Apprenticeship and Bus Mentorship Program with WMATA, as well as a Bus Mechanic Apprenticeship with Fairfax Connector. Email for more information.
Boilermakers National Apprenticeship Program, Southeastern Area
Field construction boilermakers work on construction sites, sometimes at great heights or where working conditions may be hot or extremely cold. Boilermakers often operate potentially dangerous equipment, such as acetylene torches and power grinders. The Boilermakers' National Apprenticeship Program instructs new Boilermakers through our comprehensive apprenticeship program. The union takes great pride in its extensive training for apprentices as well as continuing training for qualified journeymen. The union’s four-year apprenticeship program is “earn while you learn” training. Those who qualify for the training are quickly on their way to a satisfying career earning top wages in the building trades.
Application period: Year round
Apply online
Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1
The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers represents the most highly skilled trowel trades craftworkers across the United States and Canada, including bricklayers, stone and marble masons, cement masons, plasterers, tile setters, terrazzo and mosaic workers, and pointers/cleaners/caulkers. With more than a century of experience protecting the rights of our workers, BAC is the oldest continuous union in North America. Their training program cultivates the talent of our apprentices by instilling in them the essential mechanics of craft, setting them on the path to becoming skilled masons.
Application period: Year-round
Apply online
Insulators and Allied Workers Local 24
Insulators Local 24 has been a chartered member of the Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers since August 24, 1907. The purpose of this program is to provide proper and uniform training for persons who desire to become skilled journeymen through an orderly method of improving the mechanical skill and technical knowledge of apprentices in this industry.
Application period: Applications are taken the first (1st) and third (3rd) Monday of every month at 9:00 AM except holidays. Anyone interested in our Apprenticeship or Improver programs, please call for further information, Monday through Friday at (301) 725-2400.
Application period: First and Third Mondays of the month
Learn more and apply
IBEW Local 26 and National Electrical Contractors Association Joint Apprenticeships & Training Committee
The Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee is responsible for the training of the electrical and telecommunication workers employed by all signatory contractors of Local Union 26 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers which covers the Washington, DC metropolitan area and Central to Southwestern Virginia.
Application period: Year-round
Learn more and apply
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 77
IUOE Local 77's Joint Apprenticeship and training committee has a two fold mission. The committee is dedicated to a fully accredited apprentice program, as well as assisting our members attain the skills of the future through operator upgrade and training.
Application period: Applications are generally accepted once each year
Apply at: 2114 Fiddler Lane Accokeek, MD 20607
Learn more and apply
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 99
Local 99 members operate and maintain boilers, chillers, generators and automated or computerized building systems. Our job responsibilities include monitoring, repairing, maintaining and inspecting plant equipment, alarms, meters and other instruments to ensure maximum efficiency. The apprenticeship curriculum lasts four years. During those four years, the apprentices must maintain at least a 70% grade average, pass all exams required by the International Union of Operating Engineers, and continue to show competency on the job. In addition to on-the-job training, apprentices receive classroom instruction in boiler operation and maintenance, air conditioning and refrigeration, practical chemistry, elementary physics, blueprint reading, applied electricity, instrumentation and controls, electronics, welding, direct digital controls, air balancing, indoor air quality, and other technical subjects.
Application period: May 1-5, 2024, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Apply at: 9315 Largo Drive West, Upper Marlboro, MD 20774
Learn more
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 51's Finishing Trades Institute
The mission of the Finishing Trades Institute of Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C. and Vicinities is to provide apprentices and journey workers advanced and necessary skills to compete in the ever-changing climate of the construction and safety industry so that excellence in business can be achieved.
Application period: Year-round
Apply at: https://ftimdvadc.edu/index.php/apply/
Ironworkers #5
Ironworkers Local Union #5 played a major role in the construction of the regions’ most famous structures. Some of our proudest accomplishments are the Capital Building, FedEx Field, M&T Bank Stadium, Nationals Park, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Capital One Arena and more.
Application period: Second Monday of every month starting at 7:00 AM.
Apply at: 9301 Peppercorn Place, Largo, MD
More details: https://www.ironworkers5.org/news-details/webview/about-apprenticeship/single/15390
https://www.ironworkers5.org/news-details/webview/about-apprenticeship/single/40325
LIUNA Mid-Atlantic
As a LIUNA Construction Craft Laborer apprentice you will “earn-as-you-learn” and receive all the training you need. LIUNA Training has two apprenticeship programs: one for commercial construction, and one for residential construction to help get you started on a new career.
Francis L. Greenfield Laborers’ Training and Apprenticeship Institute
4721 Boston Way, Lanham, MD 20706
PHONE: (202) 726-8820
FAX: (202) 726-8825
Mid-Atlantic Carpenters Training Centers Fund
The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC) is one of North America’s largest building trades unions, with over a half-million members. With pride in our more than 135-year history, we strive for job fairness and family-sustaining wages and benefits. UBC education and training advances leadership, skill, quality, productivity, safety, and attitude with the goal of creating a constructive culture within the construction industry and providing a competitive workforce for our contractors and owners.
Application period: In order to apply for apprenticeships, you must attend an Information Session. We currently do not have one scheduled but you can sign up on the waitlist.
Join the waitlist: https://www.mactc.net/waitlist-for-the-info-session-for-upper-marlboro/
Learn more: https://www.mactc.net/
Operative Plasterers and Cement Masons International Association (OPCMIA) Local 891
Organized in 1864, the OPCMIA has represented and trained plasterers and cement masons for over 100 years. Plaster and concrete are ageless building materials that will not fall out of favor as long as there is a sufficient amount of workers who are skilled in the arts of installation and finishing. If you’re looking for a career in a skilled trade with good wages and benefits and lifelong work in a fulfilling profession, you can earn as you learn to be a plasterer or cement mason through the OPCMIA International Training Fund’s Apprenticeship Program.
Learn more: https://opcmiatraining.org/
Start an application: https://www.opcmia.org/members/how-to-join/
If you’re still in high school or a recent graduate with no experience in the building trades, the OPCMIA’s partnership with the federal government’s Job Corps program, the National Plastering Industry’s Joint Apprenticeship Trust Fund, enables you to join a pre-apprenticeship program that will give you a leg up in entering our craft.
More details: https://www.opcmiajobcorps.org/training/
Plumbers and Gasfitters Local 5
The Washington, D.C. Joint Plumbing Apprenticeship Committee is dedicated to training apprentice plumbers and pipefitters, on behalf of the United Association of Plumbers Local 5 & Contractor Association. The five-year program, provided to qualified applicants, combines intensive technical classroom instruction at the school’s state-of-the-art facility with on-the-job training.
Application period: Year-round
Apply at: https://www.local5plumbers.org/training.aspx?zone=Training&pID=4575#p4575
More details: https://local5training.org/
Roofers Local 30
You don’t have to go into debt to get a great education and a lifelong career. If you’re interested in working with your hands and building structures and facilities that will last a lifetime, a career with Roofers Local 30 is for you. Apprentices earn an average of $20.54 an hour and get access to great benefits like medical coverage, pensions, vacation funds, and more. Our union partners with local contractors to give apprentices hands-on experience on job sites while getting key safety and skills training from the union. Once you’ve learned the practical and technical aspects of the work, you’ll graduate to journeyperson status.
Application period: Year-round
Apply at: https://www.rooferslocal30.com/join-us/#apprenticeships
1199 SEIU Training and Upgrading Fund
The 1199SEIU Training and Upgrading Fund (TUF) of the Maryland/DC region is a collectively bargained joint labor-management fund that provides educational and job training programs to eligible members. TUF provides a safe space for you to meet your educational goals. If you are employed at a participating facility and maintain employment at the facility for one year, you are eligible for tuition assistance and continuing education benefits.
Learn more: https://www.1199seiubenefits.org/md-dc/
Sheet Metal Air Rail Transportation (SMART) Local 100
The Sheet Metal Workers’ Apprenticeship is a combination of classroom work and on-the-job training. The apprenticeship teaches skills that are technically and professionally oriented. Therefore, the prospect for a rewarding, good paying career is very good. New apprentice classes start every three months.
Application period: Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm.
More details: http://www.smart100trainingcenter.org/ and https://smart100.org/apprenticeships/
Sprinkler Fitters Local 669
The United Association’s Sprinkler Fitters Local 669 Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (JATC) is currently accepting applications for our apprenticeship program throughout the United States. The Apprenticeship Program is a five-year program with on the job training and a 19 Course correspondence through a nationally recognized college. Once you have entered the Apprenticeship Program and have completed your six-month probationary period you will become a member of Local 669.
Apply at: https://training669.org/get-started-with-local-669-jatc/dc
More details: https://training669.org/
Steamfitters Local 602
The United Association’s Sprinkler Fitters Local 669 Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (JATC) is currently accepting applications for our apprenticeship program throughout the United States. The Apprenticeship Program is a five-year program with on the job training and a 19 Course correspondence through a nationally recognized college. Once you have entered the Apprenticeship Program and have completed your six-month probationary period you will become a member of Local 669.
Apply at: https://training669.org/get-started-with-local-669-jatc/dc
More details: https://training669.org/
UNITE HERE Local 7
The UNITE HERE Baltimore Hospitality Academy is accepting applications for the Winter Training Session. Register here to be included in upcoming Information Sessions. The Hospitality Academy is a recruitment and training program for workers seeking to secure good union jobs in the hospitality industry. It is jointly administered by UNITE HERE Local 7, the hospitality workers' Union, and hospitality industry employers. Tuition for the training is covered by outside financial support at no cost to trainees, including the Baltimore City MOED Train-Up grant. Certification from the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute, ServSafe, RAMP. and TIPS are included, as well as textbooks, training uniforms, and a small transportation stipend. In addition, culinary trainees receive a knife set and carrying case at no charge.
Express your interested: UNITE HERE Local 7 Baltimore Hospitality Academy
Add your union’s apprenticeship program
The list above aims to include all Apprenticeship programs offered by our Affiliate unions. Does your union offer an apprenticeship program that we missed? Let us know!
If your union offers an apprenticeship program but is not currently affiliated with the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO, apply to become an Affiliate today.