Under the leadership of General President James A. Williams, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, has pushed a new effort to boost craft labor recruitment, performance standards and respect by seeking full academic accreditation for its registered apprenticeship programs. That accreditation, by the Council on Occupational Education, the same group that now sets standards for two-year colleges, would enable the union's training programs to act as full degree-granting institutions, meet stricter standards than now required under the U.S. Labor Dept., and gain the same types of federal funding now offered traditional community colleges.

Painters union training will earn college credit.

This effort is the first in the construction industry, and would make painters' union programs the largest ever to seek this new distinction. Only a smaller Boeing Co.-run apprenticeship program in Newport News, Va., has been so accredited. The union's first three local apprenticeship programs are now accepted candidates for the accreditation, with site visits set for this summer and full accreditation expected in the near term. Two others will become candidates in January. Williams' effort to raise standards, expectations and career potential for union members now and in the future could become a role model for craft training programs throughout the industry and help alleviate the dire worker shortages expected.