Online Forum Spotlights Strategies for Displaced Workers

by James Parks, Sep 30, 2008

Last year, some 18.5 million jobs were created, but another 16 million were lost. Millions of those workers’ jobs disappeared because of U.S. trade policies that encourage companies to move jobs offshore in search of low-wage workers. As a result, millions who had good jobs are being left to fend for themselves and must work two or more low-paying jobs just to make ends meet.

On Oct. 1-2, a panel of experts, including AFL-CIO Policy Director Thea Lee, will discuss online the strategies and support available to help these workers navigate their way to new jobs requiring new skills. Eighteen other educators, economists, activists, journalists and goverment officials will join Lee via e-mail discussion. The online forum, which is sponsored by the nonpartisan group NewTalk, begins at 9 a.m. EDT on Oct. 1 and runs until 6 p.m. Oct. 2. Click here for more information and to view the entire forum live. We’ll follow up here with excerpts from Lee’s e-mail exchanges.

The term “displaced” workers describes those who have been laid off or lost their jobs for economic reasons, while “unemployed” refers to workers who could have lost their jobs for any reason, including being fired or quitting.

Just how bad is the situation for displaced workers? Consider:

• Since 2000, corporations have shipped more than 525,000 white-collar jobs overseas, according to the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees. Some estimates say up to 14 million middle-class jobs could be exported out of America in the next 10 years.
• At the same time, 4 million manufacturing jobs have been lost since Bush took office, many of them because corporations have shipped them to countries such as China, a country that’s creating a booming manufacturing industry on the backs of its poorly paid workers.
• The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) recently released data showing there now are fewer jobs for jobless workers. In July, 8.8 million unemployed workers were actively seeking jobs in the United States—and finding only 3.4 million job openings. That means an average of 2.6 job seekers for every available job—an increase of more than 60 percent from just a year and a half ago, when there were just 1.6 job seekers for every job opening.
• The increasing trade deficit with China cost 2.3 million American jobs between 2001 and 2007, including 366,000 last year alone. An EPI study shows displaced workers lost an average of $8,146 last year, a total of $19.4 billion, as they moved to lower-paying jobs. Click here to read the report.

Lee says the best strategy to help displaced workers is to balance policies that provide workers with long-term training with income support that allows them to maintain a decent standard of living while they are getting training.

The one program that comes close to providing a good education and income for displaced workers is the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, Lee says. Congress should make improvements in the program to better serve those who lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

TAA is designed to assist workers who lose their jobs to unfair foreign competition, a problem exacerbated by Bush administration trade policies. In his latest budget, Bush proposed minimal TAA increases—and vowed to veto a House bill that makes improvements in the TAA program. The bill doubles the current TAA funding level from $220 million a year to $440 million. Over the years, many eligible workers have been denied TAA benefits because of funding shortfalls.

Some of the other experts who will discuss this vital issue with Lee include Princeton economics professor Henry Fraber, Andy Levin of the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth and Howard Rosen of the Trade Adjustment Assisstance Coalition.

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