In conclusion
State effort to create green jobs after the Great Depression. Will the new California job training programs be better than the epidemic?
ሊታ article in Spanish.
At his own expense, his efforts to train Californians for the “green jobs” out of the Great Depression have failed to help them find jobs and improve wages.
Using the 2009 federal recovery fund, the state created training programs for jobs such as energy auditors or roof solar panels.
However, the State Department of Employment Development acknowledged that its programs were based on climate change and “myths and misconceptions that have made human resource development programs effective.” And as demand for these high-profile green jobs declines, job opportunities and wages also decline — not the long-term, high-paying jobs that the state hopes it will create.
Since 2017, California has tried a variety of approaches – high road training partnerships – to build on those lessons, create more workplaces, and work more closely with industries.
Now Gav Gavin Newsom and lawmakers want to invest millions more in a major road partnership to rebuild California after another economic crisis.
Newcomer contributed $ 25 million in its January budget, and in May it revised $ 90 million, to a total of $ 115 million. He cited the long-term effects of the COVID-19 epidemic and the long-term impact on the government labor market — particularly among women, people of color, at-risk youth, and groups at work that had previously been a barrier to employment.
On Monday, the legislature approved Newsom’s first $ 25 million budget for highways, and $ 60 million for labor development is tied to a major job and economic development package.
While the final budget agreement is still being debated, the legislature approved the buyer’s request for an additional $ 20 million for housing programs, as well as $ 10 million in federal funds, the Labor Board, colleges and the housing industry.
Is the investment worth it?
Although it is growing in popularity as part of government policy and expenditure, the “highway” is not a new idea. It began as a concept discussed in academic and advocacy circles. A.D. In 1990, Wisconsin-Madison sociologist Joel Rogers described the family as “a family of human development strategies under a competitive market that treats common prosperity, environmental sustainability, and efficient democracy as a necessary complement, not a bargaining chip.”
People who criticize the traditional approach say it’s about the train and praying – they train and pray for as many skills as they think they want.
Carol Zabin, UC Berkeley Labor Center
According to the California Road Safety Program, in 2012, there were 39 proposals for $ 1.7 billion to create “clean energy” jobs and improve energy efficiency in K-12 schools over five years.
A.D. A 2013 analysis by the State Department of Employment found that “green companies are more likely to create jobs than green companies.”
From 2014 to 2018, the California Workforce Development Board registered 2,701 individuals in 12 pre-construction training partnerships focusing on employment needs of 39 industries in Prop, $ 2,3 million, of which 2,100 completed. End of 18 month trial program. Of those who completed the program, 79% have been employed since February 2019.
Building on these results, California In 2017, $ 10 million was sent to a major pilot project to create partnerships in the areas of “equity, sustainability, and quality of work” in transportation, healthcare, hospitality, and other sectors, according to the California Workforce Development Board.
“People who really criticize the traditional approach say it’s about the train and praying: they train and pray a lot of people in the skills they need,” says study co-author Carol Zabin. UCC Berkeley Workers Center, which supports highways.
Highway road partnerships are designed to eliminate those pitfalls under the initiative of an industry leader to ensure that the works are there and that workers remain within them.
The initial results are not clear.
The California Workplace Development Board says it does not yet have general results, but believes the new program is working on past results. Some individual programs report some findings. The pilot training program trained 445 people in the region in 2015-18. Another Los Angeles County frontline health workers program has trained 16 out of 50 students and employed 30, including 13 women, in a seawater treatment program. Other recipients did not start training due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
‘Life-Changing’ Experience
The Highway Hospitality Program has trained 25 people during the pilot year. One of them was Alhagi Damfa, and it changed his life for him.
Damfa, 34, came to the United States from The Gambia to receive training from a charity that she brought home from work. At the time, he lived in Alhambra, Los Angeles County, and worked as a grill cook in his restaurant.
According to others in the program, Damfa said the training was a good use of time during the outbreak. He completed courses in “high-level” Asian cuisine and workplace hygiene, among others. Damfa had three interviews with prospective employers who visited the training site – and got a job After completing the training.
“After a while, the executive called me and asked me to give him my contact information.
The job placement had additional benefits – getting a union job means that Demfa has received legal aid by applying for citizenship. He became a US citizen in January 2021.
“Words cannot describe how blessed and fortunate I am,” said Damfa.
As a matter of fact, the purpose of the program is not only to study but also to help the unemployed.
California has about 2 million unemployed residents, and according to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, another 1.1 million have part-time jobs due to business circumstances or inability to find full-time jobs. And another 270,000 California people have stopped looking for work because they are in school, caring for a family, or because they do not believe they have a job.
Motivation and accountability
The key to the success of highways is to uplift the traditional manpower training model – to get companies trained for the jobs they want, rather than competing for limited quality jobs.
And getting companies to partner with their competitors and invest in employees is not always an easy task. Owner.
Sometimes companies spend money on training, only to lose those employees when a project is completed. When starting a new project, employers have to start from scratch – they often use expensive labor agencies that do not focus on fairness.
An effort to encourage companies to receive advanced road training is by Assembly Bill 1192, written by Ash Calra, a San Jose Democrat. All private companies with 1,000 or more employees are required to report annual employee metrics such as wages, benefits and security to the entire United States. Workforce to the Labor and Employment Development Board. According to Bill, companies that meet high road standards will be given priority over state contracts, tax incentives, and more.
The law did not pass the Assembly, but was opposed by groups representing the airline, the food and beverage industry, and other businesses. Calra agreed this month to keep the bill until next year: It will not be implemented until March 2023.
The California Chamber of Commerce warns employers of “instantaneous data” about inappropriate criticism, as well as possible charges that do not take into account various state labor laws.
“We do not think it provides an accurate picture, nor does it seem to determine who is a good employer to use this information, and who should be eligible for certain state benefits or state contracts or tax credits. Or what do you have, ”Ashley Hoffman, a policy advocate at the Chamber of Commerce, told Calcutta.
But Calra says that’s not the goal. “Ultimately, this information is designed to create an incentive program – not to harass employers or embarrass employers,” he told CalMatters. On the contrary – they want to respect employers.
Pomona Kevin Coleman, 43, has been working in construction for the past 23 years, but says his participation in the training has exposed him to more career opportunities than he knows.
In the San Bernardino Community College District, Coleman received workplace safety and CPR certification in advanced road training, learned to read designs, and improved his math skills. But he said that the most valuable thing is that instead of pursuing jobs, he has contacted various companies.
If there is no foot in the door, at least one and a half feet in the door.
Kevin Coleman, Senior Road Trainer
He graduated from the program, and because he did not have it, he wore the dress given by the program. That garment is now carefully wrapped in plastic. He is currently looking for a job.
“There is at least one and a half feet in the door,” Coleman said.
Robert Castro, 53, of San Bernardino County, said the benefits of joining the association after 25 years of construction were being realized.
“They learn not only one or two things but also what skills there are,” he said.
Most partnerships work with associations as well as community-based organizations. But any industry can take a higher road approach, says Zabin from the UCC Berkeley Center for Labor.
“Is it really a choice – do we work in the sweat industry, or do we get a product that is valued and valued by workers and that lasts a long time?”