National Skills Summit

National Skills Summit
Innovative Initiatives: Manufacturing

Alcoa, Inc.-Tennessee Operations and United Steelworkers of America, Local 309 Tennessee Operations Apprenticeship Program

The Challenge:

To cultivate a skilled, loyal workforce at Alcoa, Inc. that will be needed to replace a wave of retiring highly-skilled craft employees.

The Solution:

Provide production employees with intensive classroom and on-the-job training so that they can be prepared to occupy high-level craft positions.

The Partners:

Alcoa, Inc.-Tennessee Operations, located 13 miles south of Knoxville in rural Blount County, produces molten aluminum and rolled aluminum sheet for the world-wide beverage can market, and has developed an apprenticeship program to satisfy its employment needs.

United Steelworkers of America, Local 309 provides training coordinators and skilled craftspersons as instructors for the Tennessee Operations apprenticeship program.

The Story:

In the next two to three years, a substantial number of Alcoa-Tennessee Operations' technical workforce will retire. There is no ready and waiting pool of adequately-skilled replacement workers. Competition among the area's many manufacturing employers for this caliber of craftsperson is keen. The chances of finding trained employees locally are minimal.

Faced with this dilemma, Alcoa, Inc. has implemented a strategy entitled "growing our own." Production employees are given the opportunity to learn alongside Alcoa's experienced craftsmen and women, who tailor the training to meet the unique needs of Alcoa's technology. The Department of Labor's Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training assists with continuous quality assessment.

The Tennessee Operations Apprenticeship Program is in large part supported and managed by hourly workers represented by Local 309 of the United Steelworkers of America. Hourly employees serve as training coordinators - developing curriculum, recruiting highly skilled craftsperson as instructors, and monitoring the apprentices' progress.

Apprentices complete a total of 1,200 hours of classroom and hands-on instruction. Their remaining time in the three-year program, throughout which they are paid entry-level wages, is spent on the job, working with craftspersons to learn their profession. By the time the apprentices have completed the first year of the program, they can perform a large portion of the tasks involved in the craft.

A Model of Innovation:

The best of short and long-term training are represented in this practice. By investing so heavily in its employees over such a long period of time, Alcoa, Inc. builds company loyalty in addition to skills. The involvement of the U.S. Department of Labor and the United Steelworkers of America in developing the training program ensures that Alcoa, Inc. produces workers of the highest quality.

Contacts:

Terri L. Lyon, Training Director
Alcoa, Inc. Tennessee Operations
2300 N. Wright Rd.
Alcoa, TN 37701
865-977-2736 (p)
865-977-2599 (f)

Jack Murphy
United Steelworkers of America, Local 309
339 S. Hall Rd.
Alcoa, TN 37701
865-982-8142 (p)
865-977-9510 (f)