Mirror photo by William Kibler U.S. Senator Bob Casey, D-Pa., talks with Jeremy Struble, Carpenters & Joiners Local 423 council representative, outside the Carpenters Union Training Center in Duncsanville on Friday morning. Casey toured the facility.

DUNCANSVILLE — At a news conference Friday, a trainer for the carpenter’s union didn’t quarrel with the observation that in recent decades, society’s respect for blue collar workers has declined.

“More and more people don’t want to work with their hands and get dirty,” said Larry Gresh, who teaches apprenticeship courses for the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters & Joiners Local 423. That aversion to physical work aligns with the “stigma” against the trades that require it, stemming from a belief “that you have to have a college education to be successful,” Gresh said.

But in reality, skilled blue collar workers can make livings comparable to that of the average holder of bachelor’s degrees and can sustain their families as well and live in similar nice houses in similar nice neighborhoods, said Gresh, in the aftermath of a news conference called by U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., to tout potential funding in the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the kinds of apprenticeship programs that Gresh teaches.

There is no specific amount set aside in the $1 trillion BIL for apprenticeships, but the law allows states to use money for workforce development and training, said Casey spokeswoman Natalie Adams in an email.

“Finally, legislation that recognizes and validates that quality training leads to (these) highly skilled jobs of the future,” Casey said, after touring the local’s apprenticeship training facility, which includes a row of practice doors, bulkheads where apprentices can practice cabinet and trim installation, areas for hands-on instruction for installation of flooring and ceiling materials — along with standard classrooms.

Half a dozen years ago, the facility had about 60 apprentices enrolled. Now there are 190.

That reflects both high demand and lack of supply, he said.

“There’s work all over,” Gresh said, citing State College and Johnstown in particular.

There’s also an “exodus of baby boomers retiring,” he said. “We need to catch up.”

The local periodically holds informational events for people interested in an apprenticeship via Zoom, after which it takes applications.

Officials interview candidates and offer slots based on criteria that include how hard they’re likely to work — based on prior employment — and on personal qualities exhibited in the interviews.

“The biggest thing we’re looking for is not how skilled you are coming in,” Gresh said. “It’s more the work ethic.”

Drew Simpson “knew nothing about carpentry” when he enrolled years ago, after learning that college wasn’t his thing.

He worked as a journeyman for a few years, then became an estimator and project manager.

Now he’s regional manager for the 17-county local, whose territory runs from the New York border into West Virginia and Maryland.

Members of the carpenters union can work in diverse segments of the trade from concrete forming to framing to running screws into drywall to installation of flooring and ceiling tile, Simpson said.

The local’s apprenticeship classes run over a four-years period, with apprentices generally working in the field during the interim times between classes, according to Gresh.

The local enrolled six new classes this year, Gresh said.

The classes — generally limited to about 12 students — start with basic wood framing and move to metal framing, drywall, ceilings, doors, hardware, wall layout, then level and transit work and finally to “robotic total stations,” which are electronic layout tools used by surveyors.

Students pay no tuition. The program is funded through what is currently a 60 cents per hour training assessment paid by contractors. Participating contractors employ the union in all the jobs they do within the local’s territory, according to Wade Baumgartner, senior council representative.

The union’s share of work in the area has risen “dramatically” in the last decade, according to Gresh.

On jobs valued at $1 million or more in the last year in the local’s territory, the union has taken about 85 percent of the work, Baumgartner estimated.

It’s mostly commercial and institutional — building stores, schools and hospitals, he said.

When candidates enter the apprentice program, they must join the union.

Workers start at $19.55 an hour and advance through competency levels up to the journeyman rate of $32.05 upon completion of the program.

On average, carpenters work about three-quarters of the year, depending on work availability and weather conditions.

The union tries to get work within about an hour of where members live.

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