REJATC
Redwood Empire Electrical Training Trust

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is the largest electrical union in the world. The IBEW represents workers' rights in all areas of the electrical industry. The National Electrical Contractors Association is the management association for electrical contractors. NECA represents thousands of employers who guarantee their installations and perform quality work on time and on budget. To provide the highly skilled work force necessary to meet the customer needs and insure job satisfaction for the electrical workers, the IBEW and NECA sponsor the very best, unparalleled apprenticeship training programs.

IBEW Local Union 551 received its charter on October 11, 1948. Our jurisdiction covers Sonoma, Marin, Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties.

Information on Apprenticeship Program & Process

Procedure to Apply for Electrical Apprenticeship

The Inside Electrical Apprenticeship is a five-year training program that consists of eight thousand hours of on-the-job training in addition to nine-hundred hours of classroom instruction held two separate weeks in the Fall semester and two separate weeks in the Spring semester as well as two mandatory Saturday classes. Apprentices are paid while they work and learn, with wages starting at forty percent of journeyman electrician wages and increasing five percent every six months, or one thousand hours. Current starting pay is $17.73 an hour plus medical benefits (once the apprentice accumulates 500 hours on the job), with journeyman pay at $44.33 an hour. Union dues for apprentices are 2.25 percent of gross wages.

The Sound and Communication Apprenticeship is a three-year program that consists of six thousand hours of on-the-job training in addition to six hundred hours of related classroom instruction held one evening per week. Current starting pay is $15.38 an hour with journeyman/installer pay at $27.97 an hour. In both apprenticeship programs apprentices receive retirement and medical benefits while they train.

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

1. Be 17 ½ years old to apply and 18 years old to enter the apprenticeship.
2. Have graduated from high school or passed the GED or an equivalent.
3. Have completed one full year of high school algebra with a grade of “C” or better, or completed an equivalent post-high school algebra course, with the burden of proof of successful completion on the applicant.
4. Official high school and/or college transcripts must be mailed directly to the apprenticeship training office before an application will be considered complete.
5. Pre-employment drug testing will be required before an applicant is put to work.

Applications for entry into the Electrical Apprenticeship Program are accepted on the first Thursday of each month between the hours of 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Training Center office at 1700 Corby Avenue, Suite F, Santa Rosa, California. Once the application is completed, you will be given a letter inviting you to a written examination. The examination is usually scheduled approximately one month later. The test consists of three sections covering algebra, reading comprehension, and spatial ability (Please note: It may take anywhere between four weeks to six weeks to receive results for the aptitude tests.).  All applicants who receive a minimum qualifying score on the examination will be scheduled for an interview before the Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee. Oral interviews are [normally] scheduled approximately one month after receiving math aptitude test results.  All applicants interviewed will be rated and merged into the pool of eligible applicants. The Committee will select the top-rated applicants from the pool for placement on the job and for classroom training. New apprentices usually start working in the spring and early summer and begin classroom instruction in the third week of August. Further information is available from the Training Center at 707-523-3837. Those who have Internet access can visit our web page at http://www.rejatc.org.

Further information is available from the Training Center at 707-523-3837, or visit the Redwood Empire Electrical Training Trust website.

WHEN APPLYING: Be sure to indicate that you saw this information online at UNIONJOBS.COM. Do not just say the Internet.