Page images
PDF
EPUB

consortia operations have subcontracted the administrative tasks to third party subcontractors, it is expected that the ultimate control of the program's activities would be in the hands of the prime contractors.

There have been some instances where the "interlocking directorate" as you mention in your letter have occurred. In response to these questionable activities as well as the program failure of some subcontractors to act responsibly, the Regional Offices are compiling lists of less successful subcontractors, and have declined to enter into contracts with companies utilizing the services of these firms.

40-963 O 70 pt. 4 20

Senator NELSON. The question I would like to ask is, there have been a number of programs that have been called to my attention, of high quality such as Raytheon. Did you look at Raytheon's testimony?

Mr. WEBER. I looked at a summary of it, sir.

Senator NELSON. Their trainees, I gathered from their testimony, met all the standards for coming under the program. They had an educational level, that is, formal education, of third grade through high school. Well, I was quite impressed by the testimony, which made the point that it required, they thought, a very intensive orientation counseling program, and that when they started out with the same type of employee they had a 30-percent rate of retention, and that now, as they have developed their counseling, they have a 90percent retention, if my memory is correct, and that after the first 2 weeks they have less than a 1-percent dropout.

I visited here in the District, the IBM program, which I thought was quite impressive.

I realize in each of those programs success is going to turn on the kind of leadership and quality of the people they have in it, and they obviously had some very high quality people in the Raytheon program and the IBM program.

I wonder whether there would be any value to trying to spread this expertise around the country, that is, try somehow to induce the employers to send personnel to observe the program.

I suggested to the Raytheon representative that maybe a handbook of what they do, showing how they do it, and their successes, might be valuable.

Have you given consideration to that!

Mr. WERER. We do it to some extent already, Senator, but not to the extent that I think is warranted by the spillover effects of these sucessful experiences

As the Secretary indicated in the testimony, he has directed the staff of the Manpower Administration to give wider dissemination of information on those cases that have worked and why they were

We Se de sme of that through our systematic process of wings in various metros and we can and

will do much more of that. The problem is that the Rethan's and the IBM's and the A. O. ***g, seal cated armanies with specialized staff and vare down to the smaller employer, whose scale

welers deglog de to the lack of managerial

[ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Senator NELSON. I note that, from my understanding, anyway, that you are attempting to expand into some of the smaller companies more broadly, and you do have consortium arrangements and there are some very experienced and sophisticated contractors in the educational field.

I am just wondering if then it would not be of considerable value to try to put some substantial emphasis both to the subcontractor, the contractor the consortium arrangement and the employers who have a financial capacity, if not the experience, in order to try to build into their programs the demos that have been so successful in a number of programs around the country, including these.

I would think, as an employer, that anybody would be impressed by raising their retention there from 30 percent to 90 percent, using exactly the same profile of trainee.

Mr. WEBER. I agree. Certainly it is true, Senator.

Senator NELSON. I don't have any more questions.
Thank you very much for coming.

(Whereupon, at 1:05 p.m., the subcommittee adjourned, subject to call of the Chair.)

MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING

LEGISLATION, 1970

THURSDAY, MAY 14, 1970

U.S. SENATE,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT, MANPOWER, AND POVERTY
OF THE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND PUBLIC WELFARE,

Washington, D.C.

The subcommittee met at 10:15 a.m., pursuant to notice, in room 4232, New Senate Office Building, Senator Gaylord Nelson (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Senator Gaylord M. Nelson.

Staff member present: Robert O. Harris, staff director.

Senator NELSON. Our first witness this morning will be Mrs. Betty Miller, who is appearing on behalf of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.

Jerry Wurf, president, was unable to be here this morning.

Mrs. Miller, your prepared statement will be printed in full in the record. You may present it however you desire.

STATEMENT OF BETTY MILLER, ON BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO

Mrs. MILLER, Mr. Chairman, and members of the subcommittee, our union is comprised of 460,000 public employees, of whom about two-thirds are employed in blue-collar, low-level jobs, and it is on behalf of these workers

Senator NELSON. Would you mind pulling the microphone over and speaking directly into it, please?

Mrs. MILLER. Surely.

Many of whom can be classified as hard core unemployed, because they are undereducated and underemployed, that we favor a meaningful public service career program.

Since 1962, Manpower Training has been an increasingly important factor in the fight against poverty in the United States. More recently this policy has been augmented with special proposals for training the hard-core unemployed for public service employment. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, data for 1966 shows that 6.8 million persons, worked 50 to 52 weeks that year, but earned less than $3,000. The poverty level was $3,250.

These are the working poor, the hard core employed. Much more than half of them are working women who are heads of families.

Our union is in favor of a public service employment policy, if such a policy is accompanied by the creation of more jobs and

« PreviousContinue »