SEPTA, TWU Local 234 Start Apprenticeship Program
Stan Feldman
To: TRANSPORTATION EDITORS
Contact: Felipe Suarez of SEPTA Public Relations, +1-215-580-7842; or Joe
Primwhere of TWU Local 234, +1-215-972-4140
PHILADELPHIA, April 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SEPTA and Transport
Workers Union (TWU) Local 234 today announced the launch of a Joint
Apprenticeship Program providing skill development and training for public
transit employees.
Recognizing that the introduction of new technologies and processes in the
transit industry has made the work responsibilities of skilled labor
positions increasingly complex, SEPTA and the TWU Local 234 proposed the
establishment of a formal apprentice training program.
The two main goals of the program are to provide the skills and
proficiencies necessary to maintain current work productivity standards and
to create the resources needed to meet future manpower demand as works
retire.
General Manager Joe Casey praised the program as central to SEPTAs customer
service efforts. Our employees are critically important in helping to meet
the travel needs of our customers, he said. Through training initiatives
like the Joint Apprenticeship Program, we can provide the tools needed to
maintain the equipment and systems that is vital to the delivery of quality
public transit services.
The Joint Apprenticeship Council, comprised of two representatives each from
SEPTA and TWU, Local 234, designed and developed the program in accordance
with the apprenticeship registration guidelines recommended by state and
federal apprenticeship licensing agencies. A registered apprenticeship is a
structured, formal method of training consisting of on-the-job-training
performed under the supervision of a first class mechanic coupled with
related classroom instruction.
The first training courses for the new Joint Apprenticeship Program are
scheduled to begin later this year. TWU President, Jeff Brooks, and SEPTA
Assistant General Manager for Operations, Pat Nowakowski, praised the
program as a means of maximizing resources to fill replacement positions and
attract new workers.
This program will offer our workers an excellent opportunity to acquire the
skills and training necessary for a technologically advanced workplace,
Brooks said.
The apprenticeships will increase the value of our workforce and provide our
employees with new avenues for career development, added Nowakowski.
SOURCE SEPTA
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