Working For America - Workforce Investment Act of 1998

In many states, labor leaders are discussing the role Labor Representatives need to play given the changes under the new Workforce Investment Act.

The most critical of these changes include:

> Smaller minority on the board There are generally a limited number of labor representatives on a Board, at the same time as the number of business and other members have grown.

> Focus on business The new Act has shifted from a human service to economic development focus. While this opens new approaches to influencing the economy and building good jobs, it also means that some of the safety net for workers and communities in need is weakened and labor representatives need to consider these concerns.

> Complex, difficult structures Local Workforce Investment Boards are bigger, more arm's length from the day-to-day delivery of services, and use more aggregate, long term performance measures to determine what is going on than boards under JTPA. (They are restricted from delivering services. One-Stops can have their own boards. They usually get limited data after a long lag period.) This means that without asking more questions, getting on the right subcommittees, and getting more information, you will not know what is going on.

Labor Representative Job Description

The following include ideas from many meetings of labor leaders and WIB representatives around the country.

1. Represent and advocate for all unions and all workers, as well as communities, not your the local or union.

2. Connect to the CLC, Building Trades Councils, and other councils so that information about the uses of public money flows to union leaders. Without this two way communication, it is hard to have a strategic response to WIB decisions. See if your report can be presented at monthly meetings or committee meetings and go to all council meetings.

3. Connect with local unions who may want to use public funds in their industry or community or for their members. Work with labor councils to let local unions know the resources available to them.

4. Be informed of federal, state, and local policies, programs, and resources.

5. Actively seek to be on Executive Committees and other critical board committees. With the board so large, critical work will get done in committees.

6. Learn the jargon: be labor's technician who understands what is really going on and can explain it to others.

7. Build a coalition on the Board and in the community. With so few representatives, usually just two, labor cannot win without allies. Look for employers and agency staff who agree with a "High Road" perspective. Identify union employers who will sit on the board. Many boards are having a hard time getting business representatives, so adding more labor representatives may be possible.

8. Know the requirements for labor review and comment on plans and modifications of plans. Identify labor organizations to review WIA plans and policies with you. Work with the WIB staff to institute the level of labor notification that existed under JTPA, so that all unions are notified if training is proposed in an industry in which they represent a substantial number of workers.

9. Make sure you involve the unions that have jurisdiction in those cases and that your board understands that you cannot review these without that participation.

10. Identify an alternate representative for meetings you cannot make, and work to have alternates allowed to attend and participate in all meetings, including committee meetings.