Inside Wireman 'A' Apprenticeship Program

This program is a 5-year training program with standards approved in the State of Maryland, Commonwealth of Virginia, and District of Columbia. It requires that each apprentice receive a minimum 8,000 hours of on-the-job training in the electrical construction industry with the supervision of a journeyman electrician. During the course of the apprenticeship, each apprentice is transferred on a yearly basis to a new contractor. This affords the apprentice the opportunity to receive varied experiences during their apprenticeship. The Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee makes all placements with contractors.

While in the Training Program apprentices are required to attend 800 hours of classroom related instruction. This instruction is setup in the following manner over the 5-year period.

During the first three years of apprenticeship, an apprentice will attend school one day, every two weeks, year round for a minimum of 23 days in a 12-month period. While attending Day School, apprentices will be taught the curriculum set in place by the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (NJATC). This Curriculum consists of the following:
  • AC THEORY
  • DC THEORY
  • JOB SAFETY
  • HISTORY OF THE IBEW AND NECA
  • BLUEPRINT READING
  • CONDUIT BENDING
  • SOLID STATE ELECTRONICS
  • DIGITAL ELECTRONICS
  • CATEGORY 5 WIRING
  • MOTOR CONTROLS
  • OPTICAL FIBER
  • FIRE ALARM AND SECURITY SYSTEMS
  • PLCs
  • TRANSFORMERS
  • NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE

For the days that apprentices attend school and are not on the job, they receive attendance checks after successfully completing the day’s coursework. In the last two years of apprenticeship, apprentices attend school one night a week from September through May. While attending night school the apprentices choose from numerous different skill improvement classes to attend. In their fourth and fifth year of apprenticeship they must take four skill improvement classes. Typical classes consist of the following:

  • CATEGORY 5 WIRING
  • FIBER OPTICS
  • NEC CODE TEST PREPARATION
  • FIRE ALARMS
  • MOTOR CONTROLS
  • TRANSFORMERS
  • GROUNDING
  • COMPUTER LITERACY
  • HIGH VOLTAGE CABLE SPLICING
  • ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
  • BICSI CERTIFICATIONS
  • NETWORKING
  • INDUSTRIAL POWER
  • VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVES
  • POWER QUALITY

Apprentices will receive pay increases during the course of their apprenticeship based on the amount of work hours they have successfully completed in the program and successful school performance. Those raises are set in the following increments:

45% $16.90/hr. 1st Period
Completion of 1000 hours
47% $17.65/hr. 2nd Period
Completion of 1000 hours and 1 year of school
50% $18.78/hr. 3rd Period
Completion of 1500 hours and 1 year of school
60% $22.54/hr. 4th Period
Completion of 1500 hours and 1 year of school
70% $26.29/hr. 5th Period
Completion of 1500 hours and 1 year of school
80% $30.05/hr. 6th Period
Completion of 1500 hours and 1 year of school

The rate of pay for an individual who completes the 5-year apprenticeship program and becomes a journeyman electrician in Local Union 26 is:

$37.65/hr. plus 
Paid Benefits

An apprentice who completes the apprenticeship program with the Local 26 JATC is also eligible for 60 college credits through the American Council on Education. These credits have been set up through the NJATC. The Local 26 JATC also has an articulation agreement with Montgomery College, Prince George’s County Community College, College of Southern Maryland, and Northern Virginia Community College. This would afford an individual the opportunity to work towards achieving a Bachelors degree.