The HireLAX Apprenticeship Readiness Program graduated its sixth cohort with 25 students ready to take the next step in their construction careers after successfully completing the intensive eight-week program taught at Los Angeles Southwest College (LASC).
"Programs like HireLAX are critical to helping residents access quality union jobs and create pathways into the middle class,” said Los Angeles City Council member Marquee Harris-Dawson, District 8, who spoke at the graduation ceremony. “Congratulations to the 25 graduates for working diligently and preparing themselves to step into construction careers. Many of these students have experienced homelessness or involvement with the criminal justice system and need opportunities like these to find stability. Thank you LAWA for working with me to prioritize the career development of qualified candidates representing communities like South LA.”
“Thank you so much to Mayor Garcetti, the Los Angeles City Council, our county supervisors and Los Angeles World Airports for their leadership in collaborating with the Los Angeles Community College District’s Southwest College to help train our students and local residents with great construction jobs," said Mike Fong, Member, LACCD Board of Trustees, who also spoke at the graduation ceremony. "This valuable partnership is providing an important career pathway for students who receive in-demand skills training at Southwest College together with on-the-job apprenticeships at LAX that lead to jobs and careers in the construction industry.” “Through our HireLAX program we have now placed more than one hundred graduates in jobs helping build the future of LAX through a career in the construction trades,” said Justin Erbacci, Chief Operating Officer, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). “Los Angeles World Airports appreciates the collaboration of its many partners who make HIreLAX possible and we congratulate the newest graduates on this life changing accomplishment.”
HireLAX, which is free for participants, provides students with a training program focusing on specialized construction skills, physical fitness, OSHA regulations, CPR/first aid response, construction math, labor history, hands-on training and visits to local union apprenticeship training programs and major construction projects at LAX. Students also receive comprehensive case management funded by LAWA and provided by the nonprofits Flintridge Center and 2nd Call.
“With the boom in construction all across the United States, many organizations are complaining of worker shortages,” said Ron Miller, Executive Secretary, LA/OC Building Trades Council, who spoke at the graduation. “In partnership with LAWA, the LA/OC Building Trades are proud to provide men and women from the local community a pathway to good, middle-class careers in the unionized, skilled Trades. We welcome them to our family of the affiliated local unions of the Building Trades.”
Upon graduation, LAWA coordinates employment opportunities with its construction contractors and facilitates entry into the apprenticeship programs affiliated with the construction unions signatory to the LAWA Project Labor Agreement. More than 70 percent of graduates from previous classes have already started their construction careers at LAX or other nearby projects. This sixth cohort includes 12 graduates who live in the Airport Impact Area, communities closely surrounding LAX, with the remaining 13 from elsewhere in the City of Los Angeles.
