Jobless Workers Need Stronger Assistance Plans

by James Parks, Jun 6, 2007

The millions of workers displaced when their jobs move overseas need help now through retraining, reemployment assistance and income support. The successful unemployment insurance (UI) and Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) programs should be made stronger so they fulfill the promise to get jobless workers back on their feet.

Testifying before the Senate Finance Committee today, Jane McDonald-Pines, an AFL-CIO workforce issues specialist, said the TAA program is not providing workers all that it should, in part because the government’s TAA spending formula reflects past, not current, conditions in the economy. (Click here and here to read the testimony.)   

As a result, some states run out of money while others have unspent funds at the end of the fiscal year. That forces many states to ration training services to keep within the TAA budget and shortchanges workers. TAA also does not cover thousands of workers in the technology and service sector who find themselves jobless when their employers outsource their work overseas. 

In a letter to House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) backs up McDonald-Pines’ testimony, saying that while more than 13,000 New Yorkers have been certified for TAA since 2002, only $16 million (or $1,200 per worker) has been allocated for training.

In addition to providing better and more funding for TAA and expanding coverage to more workers, McDonald–Pines says Congress should:

• Improve access to TAA training by funding outreach, case management and support services through state UI and Employment Security (ES) agencies.
• Expand enrollment deadlines and support training that leads to good jobs.
• Establish links between TAA and new opportunities in energy technology.

When it comes to unemployment insurance, McDonald-Pines said Congress should restore eligibility for more workers. H.R. 2233, introduced by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) and supported by the AFL-CIO, would reform UI and provide as much as $7.4 billion over five years to encourage states to modernize their UI programs.

McDonald-Pines told the committee:

The problem is that there are not enough good jobs available, and there are not enough resources available to help workers find and qualify for the good jobs that are available. It follows that limited budgetary resources should be dedicated to helping workers find and qualify for good jobs with good benefits, and for making sure those jobs are available in the first place. They should not be diverted to induce workers to take bad jobs.

In her testimony, McDonald-Pines also said proposed so-called wage insurance plans not only would encourage skilled workers to accept low-paying jobs but also take jobs from lower-skilled workers and subsidize employers who pay low wages. 

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