Building Hope for Women at Coffee Creek

Three Oregon building trades unions are doing vital work to organize within the correctional system and help build agency and power for incarcerated and post-incarcerated workers.

The union Pre-Apprenticeship Construction Training program (U-PACT) at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, run by Ironworkers Local 29, Cement Masons Local 555, and Bricklayers Local 1, aims to give incarcerated workers on the job and classroom training.

This unique pre-apprenticeship program offers workers a chance to learn in a fast-paced environment, receive training in multiple trades over the course of 12 weeks, earn their OSHA 10 card, and gain life skills they can use once out of the Department of Corrections system.

“This program was the walking path to everything I ever wanted in life,” Rachel Smith, another U-PACT graduate and cement mason apprentice said.

Upon release, graduates continue to receive support from the unions and have direct or preferred entry into one of the three apprenticeship programs. 

Knowing re-entry often comes with many barriers, especially financially, the program also offers free tools, tool belts, and helmets, and provides a boot voucher, gas card, and waives the first month dues and initiation fee into the union of their choice.

Portland General Electric and the Oregon Clean Energy Workforce Coalition help fund the program through a U.S. Department of Labor grant.

“This program, and the people running it, gave me the opportunity to create a better life for myself than I could have ever imagined,” U-PACT graduate and cement mason apprentice Delisa Guerrero said. “I’m a better person with a better life because of it.”

Thank you to Ironworkers Local 29, Cement Masons Local 555, and Bricklayers Local 1 for providing the information shared on this post and for their incredible leadership on this inspiring program. To learn more about this innovative and empowering program, click here.