On July 6, 1994, the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training (BAT) approved Laborers-AGC Education and Training Fund's (Laborers-AGC's) National Apprenticeship Standards for the Construction Craft Laborer occupation. The National Apprenticeship Standards also include model standards to be used by local joint apprenticeship committees when registering apprenticeship programs at the state level. The occupational code for the Construction Craft Laborer is 869.463 580.

The National Apprenticeship standards were developed by the Laborers-AGC, with the sanction of its sponsoring organizations, the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).

National approval of apprenticeship for the Construction Craft Laborer is a significant milestone for the members of LIUNA and their employers. Approval of the Laborers-AGC National Apprenticeship Standards recognizes that the work of the laborer has evolved along with many changes in the modern construction industry. The work of the laborer has grown more complex. To become a fully qualified journeyworker in the laborer craft, a worker increasingly needs to have more than just on-the-job experience. An Apprenticeship combining practical on-the-job training with related classroom instruction is a time-proven method for developing the highly qualified craft workers that are needed in today's construction industry.

Approval of the Laborers-AGC model program at the national level makes it easier for labor and management at the local level to create an apprenticeship program. However, the decision whether to implement an apprenticeship program is a choice that must be made at the local level through collective bargaining process.

The Local 310 Administration recognizes the need for mandatory training in a structured way and successfully negotiated an Apprenticeship Program into the Collective Bargaining Agreement in May 1997.

Local 310 has now received approval for its Standards of Apprenticeship from the State of Ohio Apprenticeship Council and the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training.

The program will be administered by a Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee comprised of three members from Local 310 and three members from the Construction Employers Association. Apprentices will enter the workforce when industry demands allow it.