AFL-CIO Emphasizes Education for a 21st Century Workforce

by Mike Hall, Aug 6, 2008

Yesterday, we told you about the new national high-skills education and training initiative the AFL-CIO Executive Council called for in a policy statement approved at the council’s summer meeting in Chicago. Here’s a closer look.

The AFT and the Machinists (IAM) spearheaded the development of the education and training blueprint that brings together local, state and national policy priorities and responsibilities to provide training and education to equip U.S. workers for 21st Century jobs. Says AFT President Randi Weingarten, a newly elected Executive Council member:

Whether on the job or preparing for work, Americans deserve the education, training and support that equips them with the skills they need to compete in the global marketplace and for the jobs of today and tomorrow. What is at stake is nothing less than the prosperous and safe future of our country.

Earlier this year, the IAM launched “America’s Edge: Our Skills, Our Kids” to promote new high-skill technical and vocational training. IAM President Thomas Buffenbarger describes the Executive Council statement as “laying out a public policy blueprint for training the next generation of skilled workers in the United States.”

Across the nation, blue- and white-collar families are searching for alternative pathways to the middle class for their children. We have taken the first step. Now we must convince America’s political leaders to join us in this endeavor.

Highlights of the statement, “Learning, Working, Investing and Succeeding in America,” include:

• Commit the nation to providing all Americans with access to a post-secondary education that carries them as far as their ambitions and capabilities take them. This includes further education, including an associate’s degree, a bachelor’s or graduate degree, a vocational credential or industry certification.
• Help finance this effort by expanding funding for the Pell Grant program and making it more accessible to working adults and dislocated workers, and promoting quality, registered, joint apprenticeship programs.
• Encourage skill development and education in high-need sectors such as infrastructure, defense, green technologies, aerospace, renewable energy, education and health care through state and federal financial aid programs.
• Support new high-tech education and training institutes in each state to help set the standard of 21st century excellence and innovation in workforce development.
• Launch a national campaign to inform parents, young people and new job seekers about the availability of vocational, technical and apprenticeship training and education opportunities.
• Assist employers and unions in developing subsidized, on-site positions for learning representatives who can help employees with career counseling and access to training needs.

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