Why
Should Labor Leaders Care?
If unions
and their employers do not play an active role in setting
higher standards on their local and state Workforce Investment
Boards (WIBs), they risk allowing advocates and beneficiaries
of low-roadpractices to determine their community’s
workforce agenda.
By championing
higher workforce development standards, unions build stronger
relationships with other community stakeholders who share
their vision of creating a high road economy that benefits
both employers and workers.
Unions
can build alliances with their community’s better-paying
employers to discourage public subsidization of low-paying
jobs without benefits.
By helping
WIBs conduct comprehensive high road community audits, unions
can have a much better understanding of the strengths and
weaknesses of their regional economy—the first critical
step in developing an effective strategy that ties the retention
and creation of more good jobs to those economic strengths.
By setting
realistic self-sufficiency standards and expanding their use,
WIBs can direct workforce investment dollars to assist more
workers (including union members in lowerwage industries)
to advance into family-sustaining jobs.
By enlisting
the support of the WIB in advancing a high road agenda, unions
gain credibility at the bargaining table and in other union
activities. |
The
High Road Workforce Agenda calls for:
-
Comprehensive high road community audits so
that WIBs can identify the good jobs in their communities
and implement strategies that encourage more of them;
- Expanded
use of realistic selfsufficiency standards
so that WIBs can extend eligibility for training services
to more low-wage workers; and
- New
policies for public subsidy accountability so
that taxpayers can find out what kinds of jobs are being
underwritten with public dollars.
|
Why
Should Communities Care?
Local
leaders can have a direct impact on the quality of life in
their communities by setting higher standards for workforce
investment.
Raising
standards creates more and better- trained workers, who, in
turn, can make a community more attractive to employers.
Insisting
on subsidy accountability encourages better-paying employers
to locate in and contribute to the growth of the community
and discourages low road employers from applying for public
subsidies.
Comprehensive
high road community audits can help WIBs meet the requirements
of the Workforce Investment Act on strategic planning, stakeholder
engagement and customer information and can help identify
demand occupations in the region.
Determining
what it really costs to live and work in a community facilitates
programs that help more workers to get the skills to earn
family-sustaining wages and builds cohesion among diverse
constituencies within that community.
Advocating
new policies for subsidy accountability can help every taxpayer
in the community understand the cost/benefit ratios involved
in government subsidies. |
