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New
Union-Sponsored Programs Assist Hundreds of Laid-Off Workers in
Washington, D.C. Metro Area
Hundreds of workers who
recently lost jobs in the Washington, D.C. area are benefiting from several
union-sponsored programs developed by the Community Services Agency of the Metropolitan
Washington Council AFL-CIO, local unions and the AFLCIO Working for America
Institute.
D.C. officials
join labor leaders in cutting the ribbon at the opening of the new A.
Philip Randolph Worker Center that serves as headquarters for the Metropolitan
Washington CareerPath Project. From right are AFL-CIO President John Sweeney,
D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, Washington Metropolitan Council AFL-CIO President
Joslyn Williams, City Council Chair Linda W. Cropp and At Large Councilman
Phil Mendelson. |
9-11 Worker Resource
Center
The Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO recently helped launch a new jobs
center near Reagan National Airport to assist D.C. area airport workers who
lost their jobs or saw their salaries reduced as a result of the September 11
terrorist attacks.
Under the program, which
is supported by the September 11th Fund, hundreds of former workers at Reagan
National Airport could be eligible for up to several thousands of dollars in
additional financial assistance as well as counseling, training and job placement
services.
The program plans to reach
out to as many as 3,000 airport workers including union members represented
by the Association of Flight Attendants, Transportation Communication International
Union, International Association of Machinists, Local 1759, Hotel Employees
and Restaurant Employees (HERE), Local 25, and Communications Workers of America
(CWA), Local 2000. The Institute and the local AFLCIO Community Services Agency
are collaborating with The Workforce Organizations for Regional Collaboration
to run the program.
SEIU, HERE Assist
Laid-Off Workers
Two other union-sponsored programs are helping D.C. area workers who lost their
jobs following the September 11 attacks.
The Service Employees International
Union (SEIU), Local 82 Education Fund, with support from the Washington Area
Grantmakers’ Community Capacity Fund, is providing basic skills and computer
training this fall to 50 low-wage building service employees laid off because
of the economic slowdown following 9/11.
HERE Local 25 has helped
100 laid-off hotel workers upgrade their skills to become banquet servers—a
high-end job that pays as much as $26 an hour.
The Institute and the local
AFL-CIO Community Services Agency are collaborating with The Workforce Organizations
for Regional Collaboration to run the program.
CareerPath Project
Expands
Last August, with support from the Institute, union and city officials
joined forces to open the A. Philip Randolph Worker Center and D.C.
One Stop Career Center, which serves as the new headquarters of
the Metropolitan Washington CareerPath
Project. Initially created
to help local unions respond to the closing of D.C. General Hospital
in the summer of 2001, CareerPath has provided counseling, training
and job placement assistance to more than 300 former hospital workers
including many represented by AFSCME, AFGE and the D.C. Nurses Association.
The program met its initial goal of placing 160 displaced workers
into new jobs during its first year. Career- Path is now expanding
to help additional displaced and low-wage workers —both union
and non-union—find self-sustaining jobs in hospitality, health
care, the building trades and other industries.
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