WHEREAS:

The nation's primary worker training law, The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) expired in 2003; and

WHEREAS:

The Bush Administration has proposed legislation continuing WIA that would end the Employment Service and block grant it with the adult and dislocated worker training programs under WIA, and

WHEREAS:

The House approved, on a party-line vote, legislation incorporating the Administration's block grant proposal, which also gives governors broad authority to transfer funds to one-stop operations from one-stop "partner" programs, including unemployment insurance, vocational rehabilitation, adult education, trade adjustment assistance, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; and

WHEREAS:

In addition to resulting in funding declines over time, block grants also eliminate public administration requirements that exist in such programs as the Employment Service; and

WHEREAS:

The Senate approved bipartisan legislation that rejects a block grant, but still requires that funds from "partner" programs must pay for one-stop infrastructure costs; and

WHEREAS:

WIA boards in some states have hired private, for-profit companies to operate their one-stop centers; and

WHEREAS:

The House bill also repeals longstanding civil rights requirements in federal job training programs that prohibit providers from engaging in religious-based discrimination in their hiring practices; and

WHEREAS:

Workers are facing dramatic new changes in the economy as more and more companies shut down domestic operations and transfer their operations overseas. This trend has expanded rapidly beyond manufacturing to the technology and services sectors, including call centers for government-funded welfare programs, radiology work, and medical transcription services; and

WHEREAS:

The Trade Adjustment Act (TAA) was enacted to provide benefits to workers who lose their jobs through foreign competition. However, it covers only those workers who "produce articles," not service workers. The training provisions of TAA are seriously underfunded.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That AFSCME strongly opposes any legislation that will eliminate the Employment Service and create a worker training block grant; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME strongly opposes any legislation that will transfer funds from programs such as unemployment insurance and vocational rehabilitation, which themselves are under-funded, to pay for the costs of WIA one-stop operations; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME urges Congress to establish separate funding authority for one-stop operations; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME strongly opposes any WIA legislation that would roll back longstanding civil rights protections; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:

That AFSCME calls on the Congress to require that government funded activities be performed domestically; to expand the TAA to include service workers, including public sector workers; and to create a Worker Retraining Trust Fund, financed by fees paid by employers who transfer jobs abroad, that would provide retraining to workers covered by the TAA.

SUBMITTED BY:

Bill Fendel, President and Delegate
Kathy Hanratty, Secretary
AFSCME Council 24
Wisconsin