Apprenticeship Program Now in its 5th Year – New Graduates Announced

Upward mobility and career development is a union priority, and on March 24, 2022, 11 Local 1000 members became the latest graduates of one of our groundbreaking apprenticeship programs.

Over the last two years, prospective apprentices worked toward completion of the zSystems Apprenticeship, with training and education focused on mainframe related careers such as mainframe system administrators, applications developers, and software engineers. Our newest apprentice graduates now meet the minimum qualifications to promote into an IT classification, and many of them have already accomplished that goal.

The zSystems Apprenticeship is one of a half-dozen apprenticeships Local 1000 offers. We’ve innovated union apprenticeships beyond the traditional trades and have created unique opportunities in health care (LVN-to-RN), financial services, and three different IT paths that also include cybersecurity and client services/help desk.            

Since its inception, our Apprenticeship Program has provided new career opportunities for nearly 200 Local 1000 members. A myriad of partners work to make the program a success, from numerous state agencies and industry partners to community colleges across the state. These valuable training and development opportunities were augmented by seven state and federal grants applied for and won by Local 1000 staff over the past five years.

Apprenticeships couple on-the-job training with related study and instruction to increase workers’ skills and allow them to be more competitive in their civil service career. At the same time, workers continue to receive their full income, avoiding financial barriers that otherwise would prevent them from attaining education and new skills.

As we look forward to future apprenticeship opportunities, an application period for the LVN-RN Apprenticeship at Riverside Community College will open beginning April 11, 2022.  Application periods for the Cybersecurity and Financial Services Apprenticeships are tentatively planned for fall of 2022.  For details about eligible institutions, minimum applicant criteria, and upcoming apprenticeship opportunities, please visit seiu1000.org/grow