Making sure workers succeed in new jobs
New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams delivers her State of the City address
City Council Invests in Industrial Jobs and Worker Training
An eviction notice. Childcare that falls through. A Metrocard that runs out of money before your paycheck comes in. Working New Yorkers face a host of challenges to completing in-depth industry training programs or succeeding in a new job.
Every year, the Consortium for Worker Education and our partners train thousands of New Yorkers for new professions and place them into career jobs. The aspiring workers have the will and our teachers have the expertise, but one more ingredient is usually needed for the job training and placement programs to succeed. Wrap-around services, including childcare, housing, and transportation assistance can make the difference for workers to be able to focus on their training and settle into their careers.
In her 2023 State of the City speech, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams committed to fight for secure and dedicated funding to create a training and apprenticeship support program that will provide these services to workers.
“There is also far more the City can do to expand access to good-paying jobs with low barriers to entry that offer New Yorkers opportunities to advance,” Speaker Adams said in her speech. “The industrial sector offers mid-to-high wage jobs that often do not require a college degree. People of color make up 80 percent of this workforce, making the industrial sector a leading pathway to equitable economic mobility. Let’s double down on connecting workforce development and apprenticeships to these investments that strengthen working families and communities of color.”
Sometimes, getting training and securing a better job can inadvertently upend other services that working families depend on. Starting an apprenticeship, for instance, could increase a parent’s income beyond the eligibility requirements for their subsidized childcare program, leaving them to scramble for alternate caregivers just as they should be focusing on their new job. New policy solutions are needed to support workers through these transitions so their and the public’s investments in their career can pay off.
“As a workforce development organization, the Consortium for Worker Education knows how difficult it can be to find a path to quality employment without support for basic needs like transportation, eldercare and childcare,” says John K. McDermott, Director for Strategic Partnership of the Consortium for Worker Education. “The CWE and our union and community partners are deeply grateful that Speaker Adams and the City Council will be supporting aspirational workers in the FY24 budget through the creation of training and apprenticeship support programs that can provide these critical, ‘wrap around’ support systems for people proactively engaged in career development. CWE looks forward to working with the Speaker and the Council on their continued support and advocacy for workers and their families.”
A highlight of Speaker Adams’ speech was its focus on supporting industrial jobs. These careers often do not require a college degree and when the employer is unionized, workers can count on job security and a range of benefits including family health care, dental, optical, pension, financial education, and tuition support for post-secondary education. These are the keys to upward economic mobility.
The CWE and our partners have been supporting New York’s incumbent industrial workforce for decades, while training new workers to join these good-paying fields. CWE’s NY ATLAS program has connected young workers to apprenticeships in the unionized transportation industry. CWE is working with government, labor, and business partners to take NY ATLAS' framework citywide with New York City Pathways to Industrial and Construction Careers.
CWE’s network of community-based partners receive funding through the City Council’s Jobs to Build On and Worker Service Centers programs to provide training for many industrial professions. One example is Brooklyn Workforce Innovations’ Red Hook on the Road program, which provides Commercial Drivers License (Class B) training to workers and places them into bus driver and trucking jobs.
“The current moment calls for innovative approaches to connecting low income and jobless New Yorkers to new careers – we have to broaden our aperture and invest in both training and supportive services like childcare and transportation if we are going to build a more equitable and inclusive economy,” says Aaron Shiffman, Executive Director of Brooklyn Workforce Innovations and a CWE board member. “We applaud the Speaker’s proposals to initiate funding that removes barriers for people in training and apprenticeship programs, and to bridge the gap between residents of homeless shelters and City jobs.”
New York lags the rest of the country in recovering from the pandemic-induced recession. The City Council’s continued support will be necessary for New York’s workers to build skills and succeed in their careers.