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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > August > 11 > Entry
Editorial: AFL-CIO wins, but workers lose
The decision by the Strickland administration to give the AFL-CIO’s United Labor Agency $2 million to help laid-off workers is a farce.
There’s an election around the corner — the governor’s — and the money is a gift to an organization that Gov. Ted Strickland wants revved up on his behalf.
The losers are laid-off workers who could have been helped if this money went instead for direct help — paying, say, for their re-training or college tuition.
The portion of the grant that’s being spent in Montgomery County is especially questionable, given that the area already has a well-oiled (though imperfect) program to get laid-off workers back on their feet.
The AFL-CIO just got a second contract for $1.2 million — up from the $800,000 that had been spent statewide in the previous 18 months — to train and pay union members to encourage laid-off individuals to get help.
The case for the union’s involvement is that laid-off workers are more likely to act on advice from their peers than from, say, company human resources staff or government workers who go to job sites where people have been let go.
But keep in mind that the union representatives aren’t doing anything specialized. They don’t have access to databases about job openings; they’re not teaching people how to write resumes; they can’t tell workers how much, if any, job retraining money they’re eligible for.
Rather, they’re emphasizing the need to visit the local job and family services department for help.
If you were laid off and had a family to feed, you might not want to go to your local welfare department or job center; you might be embarrassed or intimidated at that prospect. But sometimes there just aren’t a lot of choices.
Why AFL-CIO affiliates need to be paid to provide this sort of encouragement is hard to see.
Montgomery County has tried mightily to help workers who’ve lost their jobs. It has the one-stop job center, where there’s help on everything from resume writing to job searches to applying for food stamps and tuition assistance.
Since 2005, officials even have had a separate office in Moraine aimed mostly at auto workers.
Now, using federal Workforce Investment Act dollars that the state is giving to the AFL-CIO — some $140,000 — a third office is being created at the IUE CWA Local 755 at 1675 Woodman Ave.
In a state where unemployment has topped 11 percent, there’s no doubt that laid-off workers need help. The question is how to do that cost-effectively while getting the most return for the money.
This $2 million effort is political back-scratching masquerading as altruism. Federal job re-training efforts have faced heavy criticism. The complaint generally is that the programs cost a lot for a little. This is just the sort of effort that sparks ridicule and complaints.
That, in the end, hurts deserving people who want to help themselves.
Permalink | Comments (12) | Post your comment | Categories: Auto industry, Editorials, Ellen Belcher, Montgomery County, Ohio politics
Comments
By howard
August 12, 2009 12:58 AM | Link to this
ole ellen sounds like an anti union person to me. shame on you ellen
By Harvey
August 12, 2009 8:01 AM | Link to this
Wow, I’m surprised that the Dayton Daily Democrat would publish an editorial critical of unions. Did Hell freeze over today?
By bobby
August 12, 2009 11:46 AM | Link to this
If you are repulsed by this blatant political patronage, wait until Lee Fisher is in the Senate.
By Steve
August 12, 2009 11:52 AM | Link to this
Why is the State of Ohio opening another office at the union hall with $140,000 of WIA funds when the Transition Center in Moraine appears to be underutilized? Looks like some political ploy is going on with tax payer money.
By ironmyke
August 12, 2009 12:26 PM | Link to this
Sounds like Ohio taxpayers lose too.
By Rob
August 12, 2009 1:37 PM | Link to this
No shock here…the only shock came with this editorial even being published. But seriously folks, do you really expect anyone to be held accountable? Of course not, this is just a democrat thing and you won’t see much mention of it again. Now, if Taft had pulled this stunt…
By Frank
August 14, 2009 8:59 AM | Link to this
I wonder if any one who has read this editorial, bothered to seek any other information sources to learn more about the incident. It appears that commenters just absorb the opinion, as fact, and use it to justify there bias, one way or another. Is OBJECTIVity now an obsolete word in our world?
By A new leaf for DDN?
August 14, 2009 9:20 AM | Link to this
Has DDN turned a new leaf? This is exactly the type of reporting that should be going on every day. The larger question now is: Why is this locked away in the opinion section rather than front page? Wake up DDN. Real reporting of the news, like this, would turn me into a paying daily reader.
By Frank
August 14, 2009 10:56 AM | Link to this
“A new leaf for DDN“‘s comment is exactly in line with the point I am trying to make. ‘Speand some time seeking out objective information sources, if you want to understand an issue!’ The answer to ‘leaf’s‘“larger question” is, the Opinion is not on front the front page, because it IS an opinion, NOT A FACT! What “leaf” appears to be saying is hw wants the DDN filling its pages with opinions “leaf” agrees with, not objective information. Sad!
By A new leaf for DDN?
August 18, 2009 10:46 AM | Link to this
“Frank,” instigative journalism has been sacrificed on the alter of instant news. It seems that DDN and others are only trying to tell their diminishing readership what happened, but not why. This opinion piece begins to scratch on why Ohio tax payer money is being wasted. This is a good first step.
By howrad
August 20, 2009 2:18 PM | Link to this
The AFL-CIO is a labor “carpetbagger” organization. I reallyonly cares about the organization, not members. Two years ago the AFL-CIO was in a race with the SEIU enroll illegal immigrants. It’s all about the monthly dues.
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November 25, 2009 3:25 AM | Link to this
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