rights under the Civil Rights Act, explaining carefully - A copy of the Title VI compliance agreement, minority staffing plans and plans of service to minorities, along with statistics on past performance, must be available for public inspection at each Employment Service office. - - In major urban centers which do not yet have job banks, steps must be taken -- such as required multiple listings to prevent certain offices from becoming minority-only placement centers. In all offices, job applicants must be serviced and placed on a first in-first served basis. 4. The Rural Manpower Service is controlled by the nation's agricultural interests and is run as a separate, isolated division of the USTES, unresponsive to national policy directives. Most of its staff and resources are directed to the placement of migrant farm workers in short-term harvesting and processing jobs. In carrying out this role, the RMS routinely violates federal and state laws designed to protect migrant workers. The Department of Labor has failed to commit adequate resources or leadership to provide the manpower training services needed to prepare farm laborers for more stable jobs that would take them out of the cycle of seasonal dependency. Farm Labor placements should be discontinued or the farm service should be separated from the Department of Labor and funded by the growers. In addition, appropriations should be greatly increased and specifically earmarked for rural manpower programs. This is imperative if national welfare reform is passed and the DOL is expected to provide "employability development" services to rural residents as a pre-condition to their receipt of assistance. 5. The federally funded Interstate Conference of Employment Security Agencies (ICESA) is the only "outside group" that has taken an effective political interest in the operation of the Employment Service and its performance under the manpower programs. The ICESA was created to improve communication between the Department of Labor and its state-agency constituents but has turned into a powerful lobby to insulate the state agencies from DOL influence. It has seriously inhibited Labor Department efforts to make the Employment Service more responsive to the needs of the disadvantaged. The ICESA should be separated physically and fiscally from the Manpower Administration. In addition, the Department should take steps to insure public participation in major policy decisions on the operation of the Employment Service and the delivery of manpower services. This is particularly important if the responsibilities of the Employment Service are expanded under new manpower programs. Because the major beneficiaries of the manpower programs lack the lobbying skills and resources of the interest groups that normally bargain on Capitol Hill or in the Executive Offices, this places a special burden on the Department to come up with new forms of governance. The Department should also take steps to build local constituent groups, committed to monitoring and upgrading Employment Service operations. |