Dear Friends,
Thank you for your advocacy over the past few weeks.
On March 24, the National Workforce Day of Action, the Workforce Solutions Group organized a meeting in Senator Scott Brown's office with his State Director, Jerry McDermott. Twelve representatives of the workforce development community, representing business, training participants, workforce boards, career centers, and community-based and philanthropic organizations spent over an hour discussing the devastating impact of eliminating workforce services and programs to our state's businesses and working people. In 2010, the MA workforce system served over 211,000 individuals and 12,000 businesses.
Boston Centerless, Backstaff Associates and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center spoke about the way the public workforce system helps them identify qualified employees, put together training programs, and ultimately grow and succeed, even in difficult economic times. We asked the Senator to stand up in support of workforce programs and oppose the cuts the public workforce system proposed in HR 1. Mr Mc.Dermott agreed to carry this message to Senator Brown when he met with him later that day.
What you can do today in under 5 minutes:
If you have 60 seconds: Tell the White House to Oppose Workforce Funding Cuts
Policymakers are negotiating a final Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011, and the White House is playing a key role in determining which programs face cuts. Make sure the White House knows that funding cuts to federal employment and training programs are unacceptable. The National Skills Coalition has put together this simple Action Alert to help you tell the White House to support workforce programs.
If you have 2 minutes: Add a call or email to Senator Scott Brown
At our meeting, Senator Brown's staff asked for more information on the performance and effectiveness of career centers and other parts of the workforce system in Massachusetts. Tell the Senator about the experiences and outcomes of your clients, participants and partners.
Washington, DC: 202-224-4543
Boston, MA: 617-565-3170
Email: http://scottbrown.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactme
If you have 4 minutes: Also call your Member of Congress
The White House and Democrats in Congress will propose a new FY11 budget any day--today's New York Times reports that Democrats are proposing $33 billion in reductions from current spending, which is just over half of the $61 billion House Republicans have proposed. With cuts at this level, workforce funding is extremely vulnerable. Ask your Member of Congress support funding for the public workforce investment system in the FY11 budget.
Click on these Fact Sheets for some useful talking points!
In 2010, the WIA system nationally helped over 4.3 million people get jobs and placed hundreds of thousands into education and training to prepare them for new careers. In MA, over 80,000 people were placed into jobs last year with the assistance of Workforce Investment Act funding.
Now is not the time to eliminate the nation's primary system for getting people back to work. Let's work together to make sure Congress listens.
Thank you for all you do.
Sincerely,
Sue Parsons
Director, Workforce Solutions Group
Loh-Sze Leung
Director, SkillWorks: Partners for a Productive Workforce
