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LCN Labor Issues April, 200304-01-03 | News



Labor and Education Budgets Benefit Construction Training Programs

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WASHINGTON – The Departments of Labor and Education this month proposed budgets that would provide funding for occupational training. The Labor budget requests $6.19 billion for training and employment programs, and the Education budget includes $1 billion for technical education programs, including a new performance-based program. ABC supports performance-based training.

The DOL Employment and Training Administration?EUR??,,????'???s (ETA) Fiscal Year 2004 budget request, released Feb. 3, proposed a budget of $11 billion that included $6.19 billion for training and employment programs. Among ETA?EUR??,,????'???s legislative priorities is the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act, focusing on strengthening one-stop career centers and improving performance accountability.

The Department of Education announced a request for $1 billion for secondary and technical education programs. Proposing to replace the Carl Perkins Act grant programs that are currently allocated based on population, the department?EUR??,,????'???s new program would focus on performance-based, high-quality technical education at the community college level and coordinated with high-school training. States would be required to identify technical programs linked to high-wage, high-skill careers that can be developed through technical courses, degrees and registered apprenticeship programs.

According to Department of Education Assistant Secretary Carol D?EUR??,,????'???Amico, ?EUR??,,????'??The new program would support and extend the achievements and accountability goals of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act by requiring states and school districts to focus more intensively on improving student outcomes.?EUR??,,????'??

?EUR??,,????'??ABC looks forward to working with the Department of Education and Congress to assure ABC chapters?EUR??,,????'??? training and apprenticeship programs are recognized under a new program as models for providing paths to technical careers,?EUR??,,????'?? said Anita Drummond, ABC director of legal and regulatory affairs. ?EUR??,,????'??A performance-based system that requires student completion and job placement is viable if it is executed by states and regulated by the federal government without discrimination among providers. The devil is in the details, and ABC wants to assure that vocational funding meets the needs of students and the construction industry.?EUR??,,????'??



OSHA Steps Up Enforcement of Safety Regs

WASHINGTON – In comments during a February 13 meeting of the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health, OSHA Administrator John Henshaw said his agency would focus primarily on enforcement in 2003, particularly in the construction industry.

?EUR??,,????'??We will be strengthening our enforcement efforts,?EUR??,,????'?? Henshaw said, as reported Feb. 19 by the Bureau of National Affairs. ?EUR??,,????'??We will be improving our targeting of construction. Our intent is to go to those workplaces that need enforcement as an incentive to drive performance with respect to a safe workplace.?EUR??,,????'??

Henshaw said the agency will seek to target the ?EUR??,,????'??recalcitrant employers,?EUR??,,????'?? those companies that need enforcement as an incentive to drive safety performance. ?EUR??,,????'??We do not want to be part of a cycle where we continue to issue fines, they pay the penalty, and work continues and hazards continue,?EUR??,,????'?? Henshaw said. ?EUR??,,????'??We have to get out of that cycle.?EUR??,,????'??

Just how those employers will be targeted remains a key question, says ABC Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs Anita Drummond. ?EUR??,,????'??ABC members are vested in workplace safety, and agency enforcement is obviously a part of the process. However, OSHA has not yet explained what factors and formula will be used to target enforcement in the construction industry. Construction citations have risen, and OSHA is obviously under pressure to respond.?EUR??,,????'?? She added, ?EUR??,,????'??We don?EUR??,,????'???t want to see OSHA return to a punishment-only approach to safety. Compliance assistance and cooperation are the best ways to prevent serious injuries and illnesses. ABC?EUR??,,????'???s Safety Training and Evaluation Process (STEP) program and Construction Leaders Agreement for Safety partnership with OSHA are excellent examples of how the cooperative process works to keep employees safe and healthy.?EUR??,,????'??


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