(a)
An apprenticeship program may be administered by a joint apprenticeship committee, unilateral management or labor apprenticeship committee, or an individual employer. Programs may be approved by the chief in any trade in the state or in a city or trade area, whenever the apprentice training needs justify the establishment. Where a collective bargaining agreement exists, a program shall be jointly sponsored unless either party to the agreement waives its right to representation in writing. Joint apprenticeship committees shall be composed of an equal number of employer and employee representatives.
(b)
For purposes of this section, the apprentice
training needs in the building and construction trades shall be deemed to justify the approval of a new apprenticeship program only if any of the following conditions are met:
(1)
There is no existing apprenticeship program approved under this chapter serving the same craft or trade and geographic area.
(2)
Existing apprenticeship programs approved under this chapter that serve the same craft or trade and geographic area do not have the capacity, or neglect or refuse, to dispatch sufficient apprentices to qualified employers at a public works site who have requested apprentices and are willing to abide by the applicable apprenticeship standards, as shown by a sustained pattern of unfilled requests.
(3)
Existing
apprenticeship programs approved under this chapter that serve the same trade and geographic area have been identified by the California Apprenticeship Council as deficient in meeting their obligations under this chapter.
(c)
For purposes of this section, an existing apprenticeship program serves the “same craft or trade” as a proposed apprenticeship program when there would be substantial overlap in the work processes covered by the programs or when graduates of the existing program would be qualified to perform a substantial portion of the work that would be performed by graduates of the new program.