"Because of this program I'm ready to step into a career."
WHAT WE DO.
Pre-apprenticeship training, advocacy, and the partnerships that connect labor and community across our region.
TRAIN.
Breaking the Chains is our pre-apprenticeship program for adults in our region who are ready to build a future in the building trades, manufacturing, and emerging energy sectors. The free 8 week program pairs hands-on training with industry certifications, from OSHA 30 worksite safety to HAZWOPER and First Aid and CPR.
Participants who complete the program with a letter of recommendation are guaranteed interviews with local trade unions. We partner with United Steelworkers and a network of unions, employers, and training providers to move you from training to a family-sustaining career.
Graduates of Breaking the Chains on what the program made possible. 30 seconds.
From the Count Me In campaign by PA Black Votes Matter.
ADVOCATE.
PA Black Votes Matter is the APRI led, non partisan coalition of Black organizations that has been building voting power in Western Pennsylvania since 2020. In 2024 the campaign covered eight counties, home to an estimated 130,000 to 140,000 Black voters, with roughly 90,000 in Allegheny County alone.
The Count Me In campaign carried that message across television, streaming, and social media. It is one piece of the same mission that drives our workforce programs: power built through participation.
59
Cohorts trained to date
30
Employer and union partners
115,000
Black voters mobilized
Every dollar and every member strengthens the alliance between labor and community that builds family-sustaining careers in the Pittsburgh region.