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Job Group Asks State for Construction Opportunities
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Business New Haven
4/19/1999
By: BNH
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Community representatives and members of Good Jobs!, Connecticut's partnership for strong communities, recently joined with the Carpenters Union to ask legislators to support their efforts to increase good construction job opportunities for urban residents. The 50 representatives from Bridgeport, Hartford, southeastern Connecticut and Waterbury converged on the State Capitol, asking the legislature and Gov. John G. Rowland to include language in omnibus training legislation that earmarks a minimum of $150,000 of existing training funds to a combination of pre-apprenticeship training and job development.
Claiming southeastern Connecticut is on the precipice of a $2 billion construction boom, the group believes local hiring agreements are needed. “Construction is the fastest growing source of new jobs, and they're good jobs,” says Carolyn Burton, president of Blue Hills Civic Association in Hartford, a Goods Jobs! member group. “Helping our residents get a shot at this work will help the whole state by addressing poverty.”
The omnibus training legislation includes “a minimum of $150,000 of existing funds is earmarked for each of the five targeted cities/regions [Hartford, New Haven/Hamden, Waterbury, Bridgeport/Norwalk, Norwich/New London area] to pay for pre-apprenticeship training and job-development activities targeted at Transitional Assistance To Needy Families (TANF) recipients and the working poor. Up to $40,000 of the $150,000 per city is to be used for job-development activities to establish local hire agreements and other linkages to ensure placement opportunities. These funds may be available through local workforce development boards or the Department of Labor. This will be open to and benefit all groups including large, small and minority contractors, building trade unions, residents and communities.”
Letters signed by 33 legislators (among them State Sen. Toni Harp and State Rep. Cameron Staples) were sent to the legislature's Labor Committee and to Rowland. The legislators argued that “It is time that we put our construction dollars to use in building middle-class incomes in our communities.” The Labor Committee has approved the wording and the budget will be voted on in June, the group hopes, with no wording changes. - P.S.
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