Senior White House adviser experiences union expertise at Local 312’s JATC

Tom Perez, a senior White House adviser and director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, spent March 22, 2024 with Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, highlighting local initiatives funded through the American Rescue Plan Act — including a county pre-apprenticeship program to promote apprenticeships and careers in the trades. As part of the day’s itinerary, SMART Local 312 (Salt Lake City, Utah) hosted a meeting with Perez and Wilson at the local’s JATC in West Valley City, where members are training up-and-coming sheet metal workers.

Salt Lake County’s pre-apprenticeship program is funded by $2.8 million from the American Rescue Plan, with the goal of helping 240 aspiring tradespeople become Utah’s next generation of union workers and build the future of our country

That bright future was on full display at the Local 312 JATC, as Perez and Wilson toured the training center and witnessed apprentices working on layout and project fabrication. Perez met with several members of Local 312, including Apprenticeship Coordinator Gordon Hyde, as well as Matt Brumbaugh and Derek Chapman, the JATC’s two fulltime instructors. Together, Hyde, Brumbaugh and Chapman have 64 years of teaching experience at the local, elevating it to the platinum status it has today.

Perez said he was proud of Wilson and other local leaders for investing in local workers.

“The most precious resource we have in any community is our human capital,” Perez said, telling the apprentices: “You are not only entering a great profession, but … a profession that has a brotherhood and a sisterhood that will always have your back.”

The meeting was attended by Local 312 Business Manager Tony Ericksen; Utah Women in the Trades President Concetta Defa; leaders from IBEW Local 354 and Iron Workers Local 27; and other members of the state AFL-CIO and the local building trades.