A Lot to be Thankful For
CWE partners like Brooklyn Workforce Innovations support New York City workers on their path to achieving career dreams
This is the time of year to reflect on all that we have to be thankful for. It is also the time to give more thought to the struggles of our neighbors and take action in solidarity. At the Consortium for Worker Education, we are thankful for the dedication of our partners to support New York City workers and their career dreams.
Our city’s labor unions and community organizations do the unseen, unthanked work of meeting workers where they are at, helping them build skills and work through challenges to get and keep jobs, and then make sure their rights are protected at work.
This year, CWE and our partners in the Jobs to Build On network passed a historic milestone. Since its creation by the City Council over a decade ago, the program has placed over 30,000 workers into career jobs. One family at a time, Jobs to Build On has helped workers lift themselves out of poverty and set themselves on stable financial ground.
The need for this work will only grow in the New Year. CWE and our partners in the Jobs to Build On, Worker Service Centers, and Immigration Protection Group programs are always striving to reach new workers and address the city’s pressing workforce challenges at the neighborhood level.
CWE partners like Nontraditional Employment for Women, Construction Skills, and St. Nicks Alliance are opening pathways to building trades union jobs for historically-marginalized groups through pre-apprenticeship training or direct-entry programs.
Hakim Christie is now an apprentice in the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, DC 9, earning $40 per hour in salary and benefits after graduating from St. Nicks Alliance Building Maintenance training program.
That made a difference for Hakim Christie, who came to St. Nicks Alliance as an 18-year-old father looking for a career to support his young family. He put his passion for craftsmanship to work in St. Nicks Alliance Building Maintenance training program, where he received hands-on training and earned 10 certifications. He is now an apprentice in the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, DC 9, earning $40 per hour in salary and benefits and on his way to becoming a journeyman in the union.
“St. Nicks Alliance works with quality employers who offer sustainable wages and growth,” says Larry Rothchild, Senior Managing Director of Workforce Development at St. Nicks Alliance. “We want to put everyone on a path to economic stability. We make sure there are entry to career jobs at the end of the training program, by working with anchor employers who tell us what they need to hire.”
Tyler Ng was able to break into the growing tech industry with support from Henry Street Settlement, a key CWE partner
Per Scholas and Henry Street Settlement are training workers for the careers of today and tomorrow, so local residents will reap benefits from the growing tech industry.
For Tyler Ng, job training at Henry Street Settlement was a “life-changing opportunity.” He enrolled in the Building Automation Systems Training program which integrates the mechanics of heating, air conditioning, ventilation, and lighting with electricity and coding principles.
After completing the building systems automation training, Ng was hired by TEC Systems, which builds technology to control HVAC in large commercial buildings. His first paycheck from TEC Systems was a significant achievement, but this 21-year-old did not spend it on himself.
“I was raised by my grandmother,” says Ng, “so being able to take care of her and to support a household feels really good.”
Thanaa became a citizen with the help of the ANSOB Center and CWE's Immigration Protection Group
As immigrant workers face renewed fears in the coming years, they will need renewed support from our sanctuary city as well. CWE’s Immigration Protection Group and our partners have spent the last six years educating immigrants on their rights and we will continue that work in the coming months and years. We have also helped immigrants prepare for citizenship tests to protect their place in the country.
Thanaa probably wouldn’t be a citizen today if she hadn’t found the ANSOB Center, an Immigration Protection Group partner. When she entered the organization’s Astoria office, she was looking for free legal support on her citizenship application because she couldn’t afford a lawyer. What she found in the ANSOB Center was an organization that would support her along a difficult path to citizenship and make sure she never gave up.
“I knew that there was someone who spoke Arabic. I was comfortable coming here,” says Thanaa. That rapport would help Thanaa through what would become a difficult, but ultimately successful citizenship process.
“Now I am an American,” says Thanaa. “I love America in my heart. Americans are my family.”
These are just a few of the stories of the thousands of workers that CWE and our partners support every year. This holiday season, let’s recommit ourselves to supporting New York workers and the organizations they count on.