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Gore Summit: CWA Center Stage with 21st century Skills for 21st century Jobs
Vice President Al Gore singled out three CWA programs as examples of "best practices" in lifelong learning and preparedness for the jobs of tomorrow, as more than 300 leaders from business, education, government and labor joined him in Washington, D.C. last month to discuss how American workers can acquire the skills they need for jobs of the future.
Some 20,000 Americans also participated via satellite TV hookups from town hall meetings, in the Vice President's Summit: 21st Century Skills for 21st Century Jobs.
"America's competitiveness and the prosperity of our people in a changing economy depend increasingly on high-skill, high-wage jobs," Gore said. "Realizing our potential will require investing in education and learning for all of our people throughout their lifetimes."
The Vice President cited the three programs - Alliance for Employee Growth and Development (CWA, IBEW, AT&T and Lucent Technologies), Pathways to the Future (CWA and U S West), and Military-to-Work (CWA and U.S. Department of Labor) - among 19 successful partnerships aimed at raising the skill level of the current workforce and providing adults with opportunities to continue to learn.
The Vice President also acknowledged the leadership of CWA President Morton Bahr, who as chair of the Commission for a Nation of Life-long Learners, invited Gore to address that body's convocation in Washington a year ago, at which time Gore announced plans for the summit.
Gore's wife Tipper, Labor Secretary Alexis Herman, Commerce Secretary William Daley, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Steelworkers President George Becker, Bahr and other international labor leaders served as discussion leaders, panelists or spokespersons throughout the one-day summit, held Jan. 12 at George Washington University.
'Knowing Means Growing'
In introducing a panel that included Bahr, along with Ameritech CEO Richard Notebaert, Herman stressed that, "In today's knowledge-based, skill-intensive economy, one thing is clear: knowing means growing. We have to make sure that no worker in this country becomes what I call 'jobsolete,' that everyone has the tools they need to manage change."
Bahr and Notebaert explained how the industry has changed over the past decade as telecommunications firms laid off tens of thousands of workers, expanded into wireless and other new industries, and now, across the board, face a shortage of skilled workers.
Bahr pointed to CWA's efforts to ensure that its members can update their skills and prepare for new and better jobs through its collectively bargained labor-management programs such as the Alliance, Pathways and Next Step (CWA, IBEW and Bell Atlantic), which on Jan. 12 graduated its first class with an Associate Degree in applied science with a focus on telecommunications.
But the real heroes of the Summit were the workers who told how they furthered their careers by taking advantage of the programs cited by the Vice President.
Military-to-Work
From East Coast to West, around the world - quite an odyssey for a 22-year-old. It was a four-year journey for Joshua Cain, who joined the Navy in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y., served aboard an aircraft carrier stationed in Japan, then went to work for U S West after stepping ashore near Seattle, Wash. He was the first veteran to be hired, in September 1998, through CWA's Millitary-to-Work program.
"When I was near the end of my enlistment, I started sending my resume to a variety of sources and posting it on Web sites," said Cain.
He connected with Military-to-Work, funded by the Labor Department's Veterans' Employment and Training Service, through VETS' Transition Assistance Program. Internet access is provided at TAP centers on bases around the world. He e-mailed Steve Hill, CWA employment center and apprenticeship administrator, with hopes of working for Lucent Technologies.
"I was impressed," said Hill. Knowing that U S West was hiring, he forwarded Cain's resume there, as well. "I knew Josh had the kind of training that companies would give their eye teeth for." U S West hired him as an outside technician and offered him further on-the-job training.
Now a member of CWA Local 7800, Cain speaks highly of mentors in downtown Seattle. "The guys I'm working with now are more senior, and have taken me under their wings."
He loves what he's doing, but he's also got his sights set on further education and plans to attend the University of Washington.
"I'll try and use U S West's Pathways program with my G.I. Bill to pay for college," Cain says.
More than 200 soon-to-be released military personnel have contacted CWA's Military-to-Work program since it went on the World Wide Web in August 1998. Applicants register and take an aptitude test on-line. CWA forwards names and resumes of those qualified to participating telecommunications and information technology employers including AT&T, Lucent Technologies, Bell Atlantic, SBC, and U S West.
Those who need to acquire additional skills are referred to appropriate training such as one of CWA's apprenticeship programs or Cisco Academy certification programs
Alliance
Jeanne Williams of CWA Local 2252 in Richmond, Va. has worked 26 years for AT&T, first as a long distance operator and then, until five months ago, as an administrative clerk. Using the Alliance for Employee Growth and Development and AT&T-provided tuition funding, she completed her Bachelor of Business Administration degree at Averett College in 1997 and is now working toward an MBA.
But the Alliance program that's most affected her bottom line is the 100-hour course she took in computers, electrical work and electronics, that enabled her to become a communications technician.
Williams, whose children are grown, set out on the comm tech trail "to make myself more of a resource for AT&T," and "because there's more job security in that position." In her previous job titles she survived several downsizings and five transfers within the Richmond area.
Each weekly four-hour class consisted of two-hours of company time and two-hours of her own time. She and two friends enrolled together and supported each other for the duration.
"It's well worth the effort," said Williams. "I'm just thankful that we have a union that bargains something of this magnitude for its people."
The Alliance, a joint training trust, was collectively bargained by CWA and the IBEW with AT&T in 1986. Using technology, the Alliance supports individual efforts to develop career and personal growth and to enhance employability through continuous learning experiences.
More than 200 joint labor-management Alliance local committees help identify educational needs, coordinate training and build enrollment. The Alliance provides "Life/Work Planning" to assess an employee's aptitude and professional objectives. Programs are delivered through a network of training providers, private vendors, colleges and universities.
Pathways
"My son now thinks it's pretty neat that I have a tool belt," says Kathy Crawley, a former U S West business office order specialist who four years ago set her sights on a new and better paying occupational career.
After 20 years with U S West, Crawley responded to a mailing from CWA Local 7011 in Albuquerque, N.M. It informed her of the opportunity to take courses offered through Pathways to the Future's' Network Education and Training (NEAT) program that would prepare her for one of five U S West careers including: customer service specialist, central office technician, network technician or customer data tech.
Over the next four years she took courses in basic telephony from Greeley Community College in Greeley, Colo., through a distance learning arrangement involving computer hookup and e-mail. She took an AC/DC electrical course from the Technical Vocational Institute in Albuquerque, and a lab class from the University of Phoenix, in Albuquerque. All books and tuition were paid for by Pathways.
"I wanted a job that was challenging," says Crawley who finished the NEAT program in December 1998.
Her 16-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son are both impressed with Mom. But more important, says Crawley, "I'm a lot happier in my job. I look forward to going to work. I feel really good that I can do this."
The NEAT program is one of a range of lifelong learning opportunities available to both occupational and management employees of U S West through Pathways, which is governed by a nonprofit corporation composed of representatives of CWA and U S West.
Pathways provides for training in skills not expected or required in the employee's current job, encouraging participants' desire to continue to learn. Workers can further their education by enrolling in two or four-year undergraduate degree programs as well as vocational training, certificate programs and personal development courses. Participants gain increased job satisfaction and job security by acquiring a wider range of skills, and the company gains more flexible, better-trained workers.
Some 20,000 Americans also participated via satellite TV hookups from town hall meetings, in the Vice President's Summit: 21st Century Skills for 21st Century Jobs.
"America's competitiveness and the prosperity of our people in a changing economy depend increasingly on high-skill, high-wage jobs," Gore said. "Realizing our potential will require investing in education and learning for all of our people throughout their lifetimes."
The Vice President cited the three programs - Alliance for Employee Growth and Development (CWA, IBEW, AT&T and Lucent Technologies), Pathways to the Future (CWA and U S West), and Military-to-Work (CWA and U.S. Department of Labor) - among 19 successful partnerships aimed at raising the skill level of the current workforce and providing adults with opportunities to continue to learn.
The Vice President also acknowledged the leadership of CWA President Morton Bahr, who as chair of the Commission for a Nation of Life-long Learners, invited Gore to address that body's convocation in Washington a year ago, at which time Gore announced plans for the summit.
Gore's wife Tipper, Labor Secretary Alexis Herman, Commerce Secretary William Daley, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Steelworkers President George Becker, Bahr and other international labor leaders served as discussion leaders, panelists or spokespersons throughout the one-day summit, held Jan. 12 at George Washington University.
'Knowing Means Growing'
In introducing a panel that included Bahr, along with Ameritech CEO Richard Notebaert, Herman stressed that, "In today's knowledge-based, skill-intensive economy, one thing is clear: knowing means growing. We have to make sure that no worker in this country becomes what I call 'jobsolete,' that everyone has the tools they need to manage change."
Bahr and Notebaert explained how the industry has changed over the past decade as telecommunications firms laid off tens of thousands of workers, expanded into wireless and other new industries, and now, across the board, face a shortage of skilled workers.
Bahr pointed to CWA's efforts to ensure that its members can update their skills and prepare for new and better jobs through its collectively bargained labor-management programs such as the Alliance, Pathways and Next Step (CWA, IBEW and Bell Atlantic), which on Jan. 12 graduated its first class with an Associate Degree in applied science with a focus on telecommunications.
But the real heroes of the Summit were the workers who told how they furthered their careers by taking advantage of the programs cited by the Vice President.
Military-to-Work
From East Coast to West, around the world - quite an odyssey for a 22-year-old. It was a four-year journey for Joshua Cain, who joined the Navy in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y., served aboard an aircraft carrier stationed in Japan, then went to work for U S West after stepping ashore near Seattle, Wash. He was the first veteran to be hired, in September 1998, through CWA's Millitary-to-Work program.
"When I was near the end of my enlistment, I started sending my resume to a variety of sources and posting it on Web sites," said Cain.
He connected with Military-to-Work, funded by the Labor Department's Veterans' Employment and Training Service, through VETS' Transition Assistance Program. Internet access is provided at TAP centers on bases around the world. He e-mailed Steve Hill, CWA employment center and apprenticeship administrator, with hopes of working for Lucent Technologies.
"I was impressed," said Hill. Knowing that U S West was hiring, he forwarded Cain's resume there, as well. "I knew Josh had the kind of training that companies would give their eye teeth for." U S West hired him as an outside technician and offered him further on-the-job training.
Now a member of CWA Local 7800, Cain speaks highly of mentors in downtown Seattle. "The guys I'm working with now are more senior, and have taken me under their wings."
He loves what he's doing, but he's also got his sights set on further education and plans to attend the University of Washington.
"I'll try and use U S West's Pathways program with my G.I. Bill to pay for college," Cain says.
More than 200 soon-to-be released military personnel have contacted CWA's Military-to-Work program since it went on the World Wide Web in August 1998. Applicants register and take an aptitude test on-line. CWA forwards names and resumes of those qualified to participating telecommunications and information technology employers including AT&T, Lucent Technologies, Bell Atlantic, SBC, and U S West.
Those who need to acquire additional skills are referred to appropriate training such as one of CWA's apprenticeship programs or Cisco Academy certification programs
Alliance
Jeanne Williams of CWA Local 2252 in Richmond, Va. has worked 26 years for AT&T, first as a long distance operator and then, until five months ago, as an administrative clerk. Using the Alliance for Employee Growth and Development and AT&T-provided tuition funding, she completed her Bachelor of Business Administration degree at Averett College in 1997 and is now working toward an MBA.
But the Alliance program that's most affected her bottom line is the 100-hour course she took in computers, electrical work and electronics, that enabled her to become a communications technician.
Williams, whose children are grown, set out on the comm tech trail "to make myself more of a resource for AT&T," and "because there's more job security in that position." In her previous job titles she survived several downsizings and five transfers within the Richmond area.
Each weekly four-hour class consisted of two-hours of company time and two-hours of her own time. She and two friends enrolled together and supported each other for the duration.
"It's well worth the effort," said Williams. "I'm just thankful that we have a union that bargains something of this magnitude for its people."
The Alliance, a joint training trust, was collectively bargained by CWA and the IBEW with AT&T in 1986. Using technology, the Alliance supports individual efforts to develop career and personal growth and to enhance employability through continuous learning experiences.
More than 200 joint labor-management Alliance local committees help identify educational needs, coordinate training and build enrollment. The Alliance provides "Life/Work Planning" to assess an employee's aptitude and professional objectives. Programs are delivered through a network of training providers, private vendors, colleges and universities.
Pathways
"My son now thinks it's pretty neat that I have a tool belt," says Kathy Crawley, a former U S West business office order specialist who four years ago set her sights on a new and better paying occupational career.
After 20 years with U S West, Crawley responded to a mailing from CWA Local 7011 in Albuquerque, N.M. It informed her of the opportunity to take courses offered through Pathways to the Future's' Network Education and Training (NEAT) program that would prepare her for one of five U S West careers including: customer service specialist, central office technician, network technician or customer data tech.
Over the next four years she took courses in basic telephony from Greeley Community College in Greeley, Colo., through a distance learning arrangement involving computer hookup and e-mail. She took an AC/DC electrical course from the Technical Vocational Institute in Albuquerque, and a lab class from the University of Phoenix, in Albuquerque. All books and tuition were paid for by Pathways.
"I wanted a job that was challenging," says Crawley who finished the NEAT program in December 1998.
Her 16-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son are both impressed with Mom. But more important, says Crawley, "I'm a lot happier in my job. I look forward to going to work. I feel really good that I can do this."
The NEAT program is one of a range of lifelong learning opportunities available to both occupational and management employees of U S West through Pathways, which is governed by a nonprofit corporation composed of representatives of CWA and U S West.
Pathways provides for training in skills not expected or required in the employee's current job, encouraging participants' desire to continue to learn. Workers can further their education by enrolling in two or four-year undergraduate degree programs as well as vocational training, certificate programs and personal development courses. Participants gain increased job satisfaction and job security by acquiring a wider range of skills, and the company gains more flexible, better-trained workers.