Biden administration officials announce battery apprenticeship guidelines in Michigan

Clara Hendrickson, Detroit Free Press
Updated Tue, March 26, 2024 

Top officials in President Joe Biden's administration visited a United Auto Workers union hall in Michigan on Tuesday to tout their efforts to support clean energy jobs, announcing new training guidelines for apprenticeships to expand the country's battery workforce amid growth in the market for electric vehicles.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su characterized the latest initiative as a way to create a skilled workforce for the battery manufacturing sector and create an entry point to middle-class jobs. The government's guidelines were developed in partnership between manufacturers, community colleges and labor, according to a news release from the Energy Department.

"President Biden is leading a renaissance in American manufacturing, and nowhere is that more evident than with the rapid growth of investment in electric vehicle production," said Granholm in a statement.

"Workers benefit when unions are strong," U.S. Secretary of Energy and former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm said on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, as she talked about the future of the EV battery industry at the UAW Local 652 headquarters in Lansing.

"Good jobs have the power to change lives, and today we are expanding the pathways into those good jobs through Registered Apprenticeships in the fast-growing battery manufacturing industry," Su said in a statement.

The new U.S. Department of Labor-certified national standards for registered apprenticeships for battery machine operators will accelerate the timeline for initiating new trainings and open the door for public funding of workforce development programs in battery manufacturing, the Energy Department's news release states.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — who has made growing battery manufacturing jobs a key pillar of Michigan's economic development strategy — joined the Biden administration officials in Lansing for the announcement. UAW President Shawn Fain also attended the event held at the UAW Local 652 union hall near an Ultium battery manufacturing facility under construction. Fain cast the UAW strike against the Detroit Three automakers last year as a fight to ensure the transition to electric vehicles would not leave workers behind.

UAW President Shawn Fain speaks on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, at the UAW Local 652 headquarters in Lansing.

U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Lansing, celebrated the announcement to support battery manufacturing apprenticeships as a way to maintain Michigan's economic edge in the auto industry as it evolves. "It's either Team America or Team China that will build the next generation of cars — and I want us on the job. I can't think of a better place than Michigan to roll out the standards that will shape our skilled workforce," Slotkin wrote in a tweet following the event.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Biden officials tout battery manufacturing apprenticeships