During Dept. of Labor’s National Apprenticeship Week, DOL will not observe Women in Apprenticeship Day Contrary to Past Practice

April 28. 2026

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For Immediate Release
Apr 28, 2026

Media Contact
Nazirah Ahmad
[email protected]

The move comes on the heels of harmful guidance issued last month by U.S. DOL undermining apprenticeship programs and continues a trend of removing protections and initiatives that help women and other underrepresented groups enter construction trades apprenticeships, a debt-free path to well-paid skilled careers

Re: USDOL Circulars 2026-01, 2026-02, 2026-03, Bulletin 2026-35; issued March 9, 2026

SAN FRANCISCO, April 30, 2026 – As the U.S. Department of Labor and the broader apprenticeship community celebrate National Apprenticeship Week (April 27–May 2, 2026), and the National Taskforce on Tradeswomen’s Issues (the Taskforce) marks National Women in Apprenticeship Day on Thursday, April 30, the DOL is simultaneously moving to undermine the very institution it celebrates. Through new guidance issued March 9, 2026, the Department is weakening the 89-year-old Registered Apprenticeship system — diluting its standards, opening it to abuse, and racing toward a goal of one million apprentices at the cost of quality and worker protections.

At stake is the fundamental basis of apprenticeship. Registered apprenticeship was built on the principle of “earn while you learn”: supervised, paid on‑the‑job training combined with structured classroom instruction. This centuries-old practice was codified in U.S. law in 1937 by the National Apprenticeship Act (50 Stat. 664; 29 U.S.C. 50), also known as the Fitzgerald Act. The Act’s purpose is “to enable the [U.S.] Department of Labor to formulate and promote the furtherance of labor standards necessary to safeguard the welfare of apprentices and to cooperate with the States in the promotion of such standards.” The Registered Apprenticeship system exists, at its core, to protect workers.

“Strong standards and oversight are critical to preserving the value and credibility of apprenticeship and avoid unintended impacts.”

– Janelle DeJan

Apprenticeship offers a debt-free pathway to industry-recognized certifications and well-paying careers. This matters particularly to women because women are less likely to be in high-paying careers, more likely to have college debt if they attend college, and severely underrepresented in apprenticeship.  In FY 2025, women were just 13.7% of all apprentices, and just 5.3% of apprentices in high-paying construction fields.

Under the heading of “flexibility”, the March 9 guidance documents introduce a new interpretation of apprenticeship regulations (29 CFR 29 and 29 CFR 30) that threaten to dramatically weaken the fundamental pillars of apprenticeship by removing minimum requirements for both on-the-job training and classroom instruction.  While framed as advisory only, these guidance documents remove the structural pillars that have historically protected apprentices from exploitation and ensured a reliable path to a skilled career.

“I hope employers and the apprenticeship community will resist this race to the bottom.”

– Meg Vassey

Janelle DeJan, co-chair of the Taskforce, puts it plainly: “I am a master electrician, a graduate of an IBEW-registered apprenticeship program, and a CTE instructor serving communities across New Orleans and the surrounding parishes. As I work with people seeking entry into the trades, especially women, I am concerned that the USDOL is signaling a shift away from its core responsibility to ensure program quality and protect apprentices while placing increased emphasis on concepts of ‘flexibility’ that remain unclear in practice. Strong standards and oversight are critical to preserving the value and credibility of apprenticeship and avoid unintended impacts.” 

The March 9 guidance also undermines the reliability of apprenticeship credentials for employers. As Meg Vasey, policy committee co-chair of the Taskforce and retired electrician, explains: “The standards and best practices that the guidance undermines protected me as an electrical apprentice, providing me with quality training and an industry-recognized certification, despite my vulnerable position as one of the first women to graduate from my program. My employers could rely on my skills — that I was trained, ready to work, safe, and able to get the job done. I hope employers and the apprenticeship community will resist this race to the bottom.”

Not all the March 9 guidance is cause for concern. We welcome the DOL’s commitment to a new public data portal and its support for transparent reporting of apprenticeship participation and completion rates, along with a uniform measurement standard. We encourage the DOL to build on these efforts — and to ensure that the full range of demographic data continues to be collected and made accessible through the dashboard, including race, ethnicity, and gender, alongside age and veteran status. Past data, particularly for the trades, has consistently shown lower participation and completion rates among certain groups making continued, accurate measurement essential.

As we celebrate Women and Apprenticeship this week, the DOL’s recent actions risk undermining the best practices that have built Registered Apprenticeship’s trusted reputation. The system is valued because its structure delivers positive outcomes for workers and employers; without those core standards, it loses value for everyone.

• We urge the apprenticeship community and policymakers to reject moves that weaken standards and to uphold apprenticeship protections and best practices.
• We remind stakeholders that these guidance documents are advisory and do not carry the force of regulation or statute.
• We urge the DOL to reconsider Guidance 2601 and to reinstate prior Office of Apprenticeship advisories that preserve program quality and protect apprentices.

 

About Equal Rights Advocates
Equal Rights Advocates fights for gender justice in workplaces and schools across the country. Since 1974, they have been fighting on the front lines of social justice to protect and advance rights and opportunities for women, girls, and people of all gender identities through groundbreaking legal cases and bold legislation that sets the stage for the rest of the nation.

About The Taskforce
The National Taskforce on Tradeswomen’s Issues was established in 2011 as a coalition of organizations and individual members, including tradeswomen, to address the lack of access, opportunity, and equity in the construction industry and other skilled trades occupations. The Taskforce works to increase access to apprenticeships, sustainable careers, and respectful job sites for tradeswomen and provides educational and advocacy opportunities for more than 400 individual members from 24 states and Washington D.C., 25 tradeswomen-serving organizations, and 6 ally organizations. The Taskforce became a project of Equal Rights Advocates in 2024.