WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-LEDGER. By John F. Bailey. July 7, 2003: A bill authored and developed by Councilman Glen Hockley will be offered this evening at the regular monthly Common Council meeting beginning at 7:30 P.M. The bill requires any city department contracting services to ask a company whether or not they have an "apprenticeship" program, and the second part of the regulation requires the company to document the nature of the apprenticeship program they have in place. The bill also requires city contracted departments to post apprenticeship jobs and publicize them.

Councilman Hockley says he has developed the bill working with city departments and the legal department, and that it is designed to encourage companies to hire youths into trades positions "with a future." Hockley told WPCNR that 25% of all students going to college do not last the first year and the vast majority of them are minorities. He reports that his bill provides an incentive for companies wishing to do work for the city to begin apprentice programs if they do not already have them in place. He also sees the bill as a way of weeding out companies who pay below trade rates to unskilled workers to facilitate low bids to secure contracts.