Senate Democrats Oppose Department of Labor’s IRAP Rule
This week, forty-four Senate Democrats sent a letter to Acting Secretary of Labor Patrick Pizzella opposing the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposal to undermine the high-quality registered apprenticeship program by creating Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs).
In the letter, the Senators said that the proposed rule would establish a “confusing, unnecessary, and duplicative program” that would “undermine important standards around wages, training structure and quality, and equal opportunity employment.” The letter further notes that DOL’s proposed rule would not guarantee those participating in IRAPs the same benefits that workers participating in a registered program receive, including, “minimum hours or specific requirements for on-the-job training and classroom-based instruction, nationally recognized stackable and portable credentials of value, workplace safety and equal opportunity protections.” You can read the letter in its entirety here
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