A California union wants to help workers find better jobs after the pandemic. Here's how

Businesses and initiatives across the country are looking to support employees, employers, and unions together. One example is the Ironworkers Apprenticeship Program, a paid training program that is open to anyone regardless of their skills or previous experience. At the end of the four-year program, participants are completely certified for the ironworking trade at no cost. In fact, program participants are able to earn money while they learn and set themselves up for union jobs that provide good salaries and benefits, while filling the growing number of ironworking jobs.

An organization in Tehran, Iran is helping women "looking for work to make handicrafts" by allowing them to use donated sewing machines as a means of becoming self-sufficient despite high rates of unemployment. When the coronavirus pandemic impacted the market, however, they shifted to making masks. Specific sales figures for the masks aren't available, but participants say they are grateful to be able to learn a new skill for free.

A program in Lawrence, MA has helped hundreds of families to enter the paid labor force by connecting with them via their children’s’ schools. Using a $700,000 grant, the program connects with parents when they register a child for school. Schools offer programs through resource centers that help them get the training and connections needed to find a job. Oftentimes the parents also get an actual job referral. A key component of the program is English language training as well as skills courses in healthcare, education, manufacturing, and other fields.

Paying Congressional interns gives lower income students a chance to engage with the legislative process. By bringing increased attention to the lack of paid internships on Capitol Hill, the nonprofit, Pay Our Interns, succeed in pressuring Congress to allocate funds for intern stipends. The funding makes opportunities on the Hill more accessible to those who cannot rely on family financial support to accept an unpaid internship.

In the rural landscape of Wisconsin dairy farming, a local nonprofit organization connects American farmers with their immigrant employees to build a bridge with language and comprehensive job training. While the immigrant workers face many hardships on their trek to America, language and cultural barriers can prove difficult once they settle; Puentes (Bridges) offers support for folks who struggle to adapt to American lifestyle and working conditions.

When jobs needed to be filled, AGS Automotive Systems and Michigan Staffing worked together to hire Iraqi refugees who had recently arrived in Michigan. The manufacturing industry is an ideal fit for refugees who can make money, put down roots, and learn new skills. Though learning English posed a barrier, AGS provided English language classes, and the refugees have been able to succeed in these new jobs.

Worker co-ops, a business model that many people are not aware of, are gaining momentum in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Cooperative Alliance (PACA) has helped push more education and funding around co-ops to come to the city. Specifically, 20/20 is a program that invited 20 groups interested in working as co-ops to learn together. The co-op model has the potential to help immigrants, women, and people of color who are traditionally underrepresented in business.

Albuquerque, New Mexico, has the second highest unemployment rate in the country. To solve this problem, the Healthy Neighborhoods Albuquerque, a city wide initiative was formed. Their strategy is to train, hire and buy locally.

ACCESS Development Services trains women to drive electric auto rickshaws, providing them with marketable skills that help them earn a living independently. The all-women Pink City Rickshaw Company employs the women to provide tours throughout the city and has since trained over 200 women.

The "Constructoras" training program in Salta, Argentina, combined with 10% gender quota laws for public works, has trained over 1,100 women in construction trades since 2022 and helped increase women's participation in the sector nationally from 4.1% to 7.1%, though progress faces significant challenges from political rollbacks and persistent workplace discrimination. Read this article in Spanish here: https://solu.news/aeh0