Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no use restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Minutes of the Virginia Apprenticeship Council, 1938-2023. State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Accession 54197 transferred by the Virginia Dept. of Labor and Industry, xx-xx.

Biographical Information

The Virginia Apprenticeship Council, established by the Virginia General Assembly (§2.2-2044), sets standards for apprentice agreements in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Apprenticeship Council is authorized to determine standards for apprenticeship agreements; to approve, terminate, or cancel such agreements; to issue certificates of journeymanship; to review decisions of local and state joint apprenticeship committees adjusting disputes; to initiate deregistration proceedings; and to advise the State Board for Community Colleges on policies to coordinate apprenticeship-related instruction delivered by state and local public education agencies. The Council includes eleven members, four representatives from employer and employee organizations respectively with familiarity of apprenticeable occupations are appointed by the Government. The remaining three members of the Council serve as ex-officio members include: Director, Virginia Works (Department of Workforce Development and Advancement); Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System; a local superintendent from a school division that provides apprenticeship related technical instruction. The Virginia Registered Apprenticeship program is an employment training model that produces highly skilled workers to meet the demands of employers competing in a global economy, through a combination of on-the-job training and related technical instruction.

The Virginia Apprenticeship Council fall under the Virginia Dept. of Labor and Industry. The Dept. of Labor and Industry has its origins in the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics, which was created by an act of the General Assembly passed on March 3, 1898. The General Assembly saw a need for an agency to compile and circulate data on the industrial pursuits of the state as they related to the commercial, industrial, social, educational, and sanitary condition of the laboring classes and to the permanent prosperity of the productive industries of the state. The name of the Bureau was changed to the Bureau of Labor and Industry on February 13, 1924.

Several division were added to the bureau to deal with a variety of labor related issues. The Division of Mines and Quarries was created in 1912 (duties of this division transferred to the newly created Dept. of Mines, Minerals and Energy in 1985) and joined the Division of Factory Inspection as a unit with the Bureau. In 1922 The Division of Women and Children was created to enforce child labor laws, the 10 hour work day limit and regulate issues related to the employment of women. The Division of State Public Employment Service was created in 1926 to help connect people seeking jobs and employers seeking workers (this division was eliminated in 1960 with the creation of the Virginia Employment Commission).

The state government reorganization act of April 18, 1927 changed the name of the bureau to the Dept. of Labor and Industry and gave it the status of a regular administrative agency of the state. The governor appoints a commissioner, subject to confirmation by the General Assembly, who exercises supervision and control of the department. Several additional divisions were created in the department: Division of Apprenticeship Training (1938), Division of Factory, Institution and Mercantile Inspection (1951 - in 1967 this becomes the Division of Construction Safety Inspection and the Division of Industrial Safety), Advisory Council on Industrial Safety (1951), Safety Codes Commission (1962 - which later becomes the Safety and Health Codes Board), Division of OSHA Voluntary Compliance and Training (1977), Division of State Labor Law Administration (1978), Bureau of Occupational Health (1985 - transferred from Virginia Dept. of Health).

The Dept. of Labor and Industry's primary responsibility is the administering and enforcing of occupational safety and occupational health activities in both the public and private sectors. The mission of the Dept. is to make Virginia a better place to work by promoting safe and healthful workplaces, best employment practices, and job training opportunities. The Dept. provides Virginians with a broad variety of services to employers and workers that range from workplace safety, assistance to companies in establishing apprenticeships, to collecting unpaid wages for workers.

Scope and Content

Minutes and related attachments documenting the meetings, activities, discussions, policy decisions, and recommendations of the Virginia Apprenticeship Council. Includes official board minutes, as well some committee meeting minutes, agendas and other meeting materials, such as correspondence, briefs, forms, legislation, meeting transcripts, membership lists, newspaper clippings, plans, public hearing transcripts, publications, regulations, reports, resolutions, standards, statistics and talking points. There are no minutes for 1960, 1966-1968, and 1971, and each year may not contain minutes for all council meetings held in that year.

Arrangement

These volumes are arranged chronologically.