September 18th Meeting Notes

Green Collar Jobs Roundtable

Workshop Group II: Training

Date: September 18, 2008

Time: 9:00 AM-12:00 PM

Location: Murphy Institute at 25 W. 43rd Street, New York, NY

In Attendance:

Training Working Group Leader: Rebecca Lurie, CWE

Bertha Aiken, Teamsters Local 237, Assistant Director
James Barry, 32BJ Thomas Shortman Program, Program Development
Michael Bobker, CUNY Building Performance Lab, Director
Sean Brennan, Mason Tenders Training Fund, Training Director
Chris Collins, Solar One, Executive Director
Debby D’Amico, Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies, CUNY, Senior Program Developer
Suri Duitch, CUNY, University Director of Adult Continuing Education
Tim Ford, New York City Employment & Training Coalition, Executive Director
Megan Houston, Full Spectrum of NY, Intern/Analyst Grad. Student with Pratt Institute
Jill Kubit, Cornell Global Labor Institute, Assistant Director
Maureen LaMar, NYCOSH, Assistant Director
Robert Lewis, CWE, Curriculum Developer
Rebecca Rabison, Association for Energy Affordability, Program Associate
Glenda Self, Project HIRE at Bronx Community College, Project Director
Jose Sierra, D.C. 37, Blue Collar Division Director
Howard Styles, Local 94, Training Director
Jessica Suarez, NEW, Program Assistant
Luis Torres, Center for Sustainable Energy, Associate Director for Community and Public Affairs
Ruben Torres, Local 237 I.B.T., Secretary-Treasurer
Michael Yee, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3, Treasurer

Note Taker: Donald Graff, CWE, Intern

1. Introductions

2. Facilitator’s Introduction:

Rebecca Lurie, Consortium for Worker Education, stressed that what is currently considered “work” is rapidly changing and climate change is creating an urgency to collaborate and work together. Rebecca noticed how this Group Discussion on Training brings together a diversity of interests that share a common goal: Finding Opportunities to Get Green Collar Jobs Education and moving people up in the Green Collar Jobs workforce.

3. Goals to Accomplish:

A. Clarify the Process: Future meetings will be both in person and via e-mail (internet).
1. Internet
Robert Lewis, CWE, Curriculum Developer, can work on a website that will link members of this Working Group online. It could show what everyone in the group is working on. Megan Houston suggested that it could include diagrams. Rebecca suggested that organizing the inventory, questions and other areas is key. James Barry suggested that the sections could be broken down by job titles. Megan suggested that the group could determine the key players for each of the job titles. It was agreed by the attendees that inventorying this training online would be beneficial.

B. Begin to identify critical information and questions for outline we are here to create: we should brainstorm to determine what important points we need to deliver to 2009 Candidates for NYC Offices.
1. We are not writing the plan itself, the city is.
a. We are providing them with guidance.
C. 1.What do we report back today?:
What is the critical and vital background information that candidates need.
2. What is the most important contribution we want to make?


4. How Do People Get Their Job Training (i.e. How Do They Access It)?
a. There are multiple points of entry, all of which should be mapped out in terms of determining where the gaps are and what can be reinforced:
1. Learn in High School and then get a job.
2. Bad experiences in public school leads to attaining skills education in
nonprofit sector (i.e. community based workforce development)
3. Incumbent worker training
4. College
b. It was suggested that we walk through a specific job to explore what we need to know regarding training.
1. Jose Sierra, D.C. 37, Blue Collar Division Director, walked us through a job title in the Urban Forestry sector:

Sector: Urban Forestry
Title: Tree climber/pruner
Job Period: year round
Skills requirement/qualifications: chain saw, knots/ropes, climbing, drivers license, literacy, mandatory physical (including drug testing)
Not required: college education
Wage: roughly $40,000 / year
Points of Entry: PD (Parks Dept.) Training
Career Pathway: City Park Workers
Advancement: Tree Inspector  Arborist  Utilities  Supervisor  Director

a. We discovered the things we would want to ask of every job title – (see underlines above)

5. Outline Development:
a. Rebecca suggested the following as possible Outline Areas, but reiterated the importance that it follows along with the other Urban Agenda Working Groups:
• Sector
• Job Titles
• Certification
• Qualifications
• How is training paid for?
• Job Descriptions
• How do they access?
• What are the gaps?
• Where is the demand?

b. Mike Bobker saw the outline as a “product” of a large matrix (i.e. big table) instead of just a list of job titles:

Sector Job Title  Skills Requirement

c. Retrofitting: Michael Yee felt that this is a good topic. For example you can look at a specific retrofitting job that is part of an identified job sector.
1. BPI: Training for retrofitting jobs like Building Retrofit Technician, Energy Auditor, Building Analyst, etc.

6. What Additional Information Will They Need and Where Will They Get It?
A. Bad Jobs: Determine if they are dead-end jobs or only temporary.
1. develop a rating system for the quality of the jobs. The group agreed that rating or labeling jobs may make sense.
a. a rating system that is like the LEED system with bronze, silver, gold, and platinum.

7. Conclusions

A. Points of Entry: Rebecca Rabison suggested we focus on the different points of entry and their scope.

B. Finance: Michael Yee and Jill Kubit focused on the funding. Michael felt that we should look at how this could be financed and should view ourselves as a collective force to advocate the bringing of funds to where they are needed.

8. Next Steps
A. Use internet to link members of this Training Working Group online.
B. Create different sub-groups by sector.
C. Create a template or matrix for job exploration that each sub-group is working
with.
D. Invite in other experts.
E. Establish clearer direction
F. Have the first subcommittee meeting venues set up 1. sub-groups could meet at different locations.
G. Reach out to schools.
1. Rebecca suggested that the group should invite Michael Mulgrew, from UFT and DOE, to come in.

Welcome to the Training Working Group

After our initial meeting at the large Roundtable we have been in hiatus, awaiting our charge from working group #1. While waiting an intern at CWE is doing research on existing programs, trying to learn several things about what already exists. We are exploring certifications, job outcomes, program funding sources, etc. We will post a draft of this worksheet soon. We will use this research and the findings of the "current landscape" group when we begin our work in mid-November.

We will be in touch soon!
Rebecca