SEATTLE - Gov. Chris Gregoire pledged $3 million to expand aerospace apprenticeship programs in Washington, saying this morning that it's essential to continue expanding Washington's high-wage workforce.

"Now's the time not to slow down and pull back," she told a friendly crowd at the union hall for Machinists who work at Boeing. "Now is the time to gear up and go forward."

On a national level, the International Association of Machinists is mounting a lobbying campaign for more government funds to prepare young people for high-skill blue-collar jobs. Gregoires made her announcement at a rally intended to fire up Northwest Machinists to back the effort.

Gregoire said she developed the proposal after meeting with the CEOs of aerospace companies around the state.

"Every one of them said 'We want to add more people.'" Gregoire said. "Some of them said 'We want to double our workforce. But every one of them had the same message: 'We can't find skilled people.'"

It wasn't immediately clear how the program - if approved by the Legislature - would work. But Machinists district president Tom Wroblewski said the union anticipates it will be able to use the funds to provide on-the-job training for aerospace jobs.

"That's one thing we can take to the other suppliers," he said. "We'll be able to provide skill training - help you compete."

Gregoire told the Boeing Machinists that Washington is home to "the best workforce to be found anywhere in the world."

But "that doesn't come by birth," she added. "That takes some training. That takes some opportunities."

This morning's rally attracted a high-profile line-up of speakers, including former Iowa governor Tom Vilsak, and Kathleen Kennedy-Townsend, a Georgetown University professor, former Maryland lieutenant governor and daughter of Robert Kennedy.

Like the Machinists union itself, Kennedy-Townsend is backing Hillary Clinton's bid to become the Democratic nominee for president. Clinton, she said, "gets it. She knows that you are the background of this country."

That drew some ribbing from the audience, who noted that several members of the Kennedy clan have come out in support of would-be nominee Barrack Obama. "Uncle Ted," a Machinist quipped, "must not have got the memo."

"You know about families?" Kennedy-Townsend replied. "I love my family and they love me. But like all families we can have disagreements around the dinner table.

"But in the morning," she told the cheering union audience, "we all understand that the real challenge is to beat the Republicans."