March 4, 2003
AFL-CIO President Sweeney greets
James Shelton, President of SEIU, Local 586 + 517. |
AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney called on labor representatives from regional
Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) around the nation to champion higher workforce
development standards and build strong relationships with others who share the
AFL-CIO’s vision of a high road economy.
More than 170 labor representatives who serve on WIBs in 35 states gathered
at a national training conference in Arlington, Va., organized by the AFL-CIO
Working for America Institute. WIB labor representatives shared strategies for
building stronger communities for working families.
WIBs were created by the 1998 Workforce Investment Act (WIA), which guaranteed
labor a voice in the new workforce investment system by providing labor representatives
on each of the over 600 State and local workforce investment boards.
“We fought hard for that provision” Sweeny told the representatives,
“even in a system that was designed to be ‘business-led.’
Serving as one of these labor representatives is an important job, because you
are really serving as representatives of all workers, not just your union local.
You are representing the labor movement as a whole and advocating for the general
interests of all workers in your communities.”
WIBs act as “boards of directors” for a range of activities in
local labor markets funded by public money under the Workforce Investment Act.
"You are the ones who will help us connect to the public system; the ones who will help unions and their employers change public policy to promote a strong climate for manufacturing in the region," AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka told the WIB representatives. He noted that the Tri-State project that he has initiated in parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio is just one example of how WIB reps can use labor's guaranteed role in the workforce investment system to protect and nurture the high wage industries that are important to the strength and vitality of communities. "There are similar efforts underway in other regions and other industries and I know many of you are in the vanguard of that work in your states," Trumka told the representatives.
The conference included a special session on fundamentals of WIA, which will
be up for reauthorization in the spring of 2003. The conference includes a Wednesday
plenary session on reauthorization with Jane Oates, Senior Advisor to Sen. Edward
Kennedy.
Federated Labor President D.S. Burkhalter and AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumpka talk before the closing session. |
The conference is the first national gathering of the labor representatives
who serve on their area boards. They are discussing practical ways that WIB
labor representatives—and other concerned WIB members—can create
a workforce investment system that embraces the principles of a high road economy,
one that competes on the basis of innovation, quality and skill rather than
on low wages and limited benefits. The AFL-CIO, which is a federation of international
unions, is asking labor representatives to steer their local boards toward bringing
good jobs to their communities and making employers accountable to the community
for the way they spend public subsidies.
Other speakers at the conference include: Grace Kilbane, Administrator of the
Office of Workforce Investment System, U.S. Department of Labor; and Sean McGarvey,
General Vice President at Large of the International Union of Painters and Allied
Trades.
More conference photos
