James asked that his real name not be used, but his story isn't unusual
in Silicon Valley. After working at several computer-chip factories, the
30-year-old was laid off. A temp agency found him a stockroom job. He
not only earned less money, but his job left him without health insurance.
That's why James went to work nights and weekends as a waiter. He wanted
to get a college degree so he can return to chip manufacturing, but he
had no time to attend classes at San Jose State University. That's where
the community college system could make a difference.
To ensure that workers like James not only contribute to the growth of
the New Economy, but also share in its success, we need a new approach
to job training and career development. But achieving that demands something
else, too: a mechanism to guarantee that the skills and responsibilities
workers gain are reflected in their paychecks.
Last year California's 108 community colleges launched the Initiative
for Developing California's New Workforce, also called the Career Ladders
Initiative. This effort, backed by Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, doesn't
create another bureaucracy. Instead, it presents the state's community
colleges, the world's largest post-secondary education system, with a
new mission: collaborating with employers, entrepreneurs, and others to
prepare workers not only for a specific job, but for a sequence of
jobs. For example, rather than simply train a worker for a custodial job
at a hotel, this sectoral approach might offer a long-term training regimen
leading eventually to a more substantive position in a hotel sales department.
By redefining training as an ongoing process to help workers climb the
rungs of their own career ladder, the California initiative represents
a radical departure from traditional efforts. Instead of James gaining
skills to perform a job that may no longer exist in five years, he would
be engaged in a lifelong learning continuum. By working with employers
to anticipate their future needs, community colleges can provide the training
to help James keep pace with them.
As promising as this more holistic approach is, good training can only
provide access -- it doesn't assure outcomes. A good case in point is the
child-care industry. The National Association for the Education of Young
Children estimates that as many as 40 percent of child-care teachers in
center-based programs have at least a two-year child development degree.
Yet their average salary is $16,000 a year, and they usually don't have
health benefits. In many communities, that's less than what groundskeepers
earn.
The disconnect between workers' skills and their wages also offers a
new role for one of America's oldest institutions: unions. By using collective
bargaining to craft career ladders with employers, unions can help workers
receive needed training and assure that their wages increase as their
skills and responsibilities expand.
In Philadelphia, a joint program called the District 1199C Training and
Upgrading Fund is backed by area hospitals and the hospital workers' union.
The program has helped welfare recipients gain nurse-aide certification,
licensed practical nurse training, and even high school equivalency diplomas.
To date, 60 major health-care providers have hired graduates of the program.
Just as significantly, through collective bargaining the union is able
to work with employers to set wages. In this sense, a career-ladders initiative
coupled with joint labor-management training programs may be the most
effective mechanism both to train workers and help them into well-paid
jobs. The problem is that there aren't enough programs like the one in
Philadelphia -- and there won't be unless unions organize more workplaces.
Over the last year, more than 5,000 workers in Silicon Valley have won
their right to union representation. Many of these workers now have contracts
that offer career development programs. The South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council
has also adapted union hiring halls and apprenticeship programs to the
needs of the New Economy by creating a high-tech temp service. The labor
council's Working Partnerships Staffing Services offers employers temp
workers with state-of-the-art training in fields from word processing
to accounting. By dedicating what would have been profits to their salaries
and benefits, the workers are now the best compensated temps in Silicon
Valley. Unions and neighborhood groups also joined together to ease the
burden on working parents by making Santa Clara County the first county
in the United States to offer universal health care for children. Now,
together with San Jose's Mayor Ron Gonzales, we're working to expand the
supply of affordable housing for working families.
Democrats need to talk not only about creating jobs, but also about building
careers. We can begin by recognizing that for millions of Americans like
James, community colleges and unions can become portals to success in
the New Economy.
