Help is available for people looking to escape low-wage, dead-end jobs as the nonprofit Merit America expands its training courses thanks to a huge new grant.
CrankStart, a San Francisco-based family foundation, plans to give away more than $15 million over the next few years.
Conor Demand Youman, co-founder and co-CEO of Merit America, said that since 2018, the company has trained 10,000 learners across the United States.
“At Merit America, we believe a low-wage job should be a starting point, not a life sentence,” explains Demand Youman. “With the right guidance and support, anyone, anywhere, should be able to earn a family-sustaining wage and a job they love, not just a job they have to show up to. That’s the American Dream.”
He noted that Merit America runs online courses in tech skills with flexible schedules and intensive career coaching and peer support to accommodate currently working learners. The programs average 25 hours per week for 20 weeks and cover topics such as data analytics, project management and cybersecurity.
A University of Virginia study found that the average salary of graduates from the program jumps from $26,000 to $50,000 a year just three months after graduating.
Demand Yauman said the program will cost up to $5,700 and participants will have five years to pay it back after graduating and landing a job that pays at least $40,000 a year.
“We designed this program to be fast, flexible and affordable,” emphasized Demand Yauman, “because we found that this was a major barrier for people working in low-wage jobs and wanting to move on to new work.”
Merit America estimates that the new partnership will enable the program to serve an additional 2,000 learners and generate approximately $200 million in increased wages. Anyone over the age of 18 can apply.
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This week marks the first week of contract negotiations for cleaners who clean buildings for major companies in the area.
The cleaners, represented by SEIU Local 49, work at facilities including Oregon Health & Science University Hospital and U.S. Bancorp Tower. Their current contracts end at the end of this month.
Because cleaners have been on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic, the union said it wants to ensure the essential quality of their work is recognised. Another focus is the rising cost of living.
Elena Jimenez, a cleaner at Adidas, said health insurance is beneficial but she hopes the new contract will bring costs down.
“They’re giving us a little bit less than what we’re paying now because the cost of living is so high right now,” Jimenez explained.
According to a 2021 report, Portland’s cost of living rose 22% between 2010 and 2020, with housing costs peaking at 30% higher than the national average. Last Friday, about 100 people gathered outside the Oregon Convention Center in Portland to show support for the sanitation workers.
Renato Quintero, vice president of property services for SEIU Local 49 executive committee and a janitor at Intel, wants companies that employ union members to understand that keeping them on the payroll benefits both workers and employers.
“Offering a good job with good benefits would be good for worker retention,” Quintero argued, “rather than spending all your resources looking for new talent who don’t want to stay there for the long term.”
For the first time, negotiations will be held simultaneously for cleaners and security guards at SEIU Local 49. Both contracts combined will affect roughly 2,000 workers.
Disclosure: SEIU Local 49 contributes to the Livable Wage/Working Families and Social Justice Journalism Fund. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, please click here.
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Transportation security officials in North Carolina and elsewhere are celebrating a new labor agreement that strengthens workers’ rights.
The seven-year contract, negotiated by the TSA Council of 100, a federation of American Government Employees, guarantees better benefits and stronger bargaining power on the job.
Mac Johnson, the council’s executive director, said the new agreement gives workers more protections than ever before.
“What was previously non-negotiable or limited was the time management process, while clock-in procedures were pretty much unilaterally determined by the agency,” Johnson explained. “Similarly, what was non-negotiable or limited was shift rotation.”
He noted that the contract improves leave conditions and protects against unfair disciplinary action. Rep. Alma Adams (D-N.C.) is co-sponsoring the TSA Workers’ Bill of Rights to protect the contract benefits under a future administration.
Johnson noted that the new contract, combined with recent wage increases, should lead to lower turnover and improved staffing levels amid a summer travel surge. Council 100 represents 45,000 TSA employees.
“I’m confident that our younger generation and future recruits at TSA can come into the agency and see it as a career, not just a job,” Johnson emphasized.
Johnson added that TSA employee retention has already improved since pay increases were implemented last summer: The agency’s turnover rate is now 11 percent, the lowest in its history.
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The Inflation Control Act has brought tangible improvements to the lives of Pennsylvanians.
Health insurance premiums are falling, monthly insulin costs are being capped, vaccinations are being offered for free and out-of-pocket costs are declining. More than 80,000 Pennsylvanians who are enrolled in Medicare Parts B and D now pay up to $35 a month for insulin.
Steven Rubin, a former intensive care unit nurse in Philadelphia, stressed the importance of affordable diabetes medications and praised the inflation control law for helping him save on insulin costs. He noted that while he previously paid high copays, he now has access to critical medications without sacrificing other necessities.
“When you go on Medicare, it ends up costing you more,” Rubin points out. “By the end of the year, I’d spent several thousand dollars on insulin: $35 a month for mealtime insulin. And I’m also paying $35 a month for long-acting insulin.”
Rubin emphasized the importance of bringing the Affordable Care Act to more Pennsylvanians, and stressed the need for continued Affordable Care support as Pennsylvania takes steps to expand health insurance coverage in the state.
Rubin said that for millions of Americans with diabetes, access to affordable medications and treatments is literally a matter of life and health, adding that he has personally witnessed the dire consequences when diabetics are unable to purchase insulin and other essential medicines due to high costs.
“Over the years, I’ve seen patients who had to skimp on their insulin doses and couldn’t pay their rent,” Rubin recalled. “At times, they couldn’t get their prescriptions filled at all because a bottle of insulin would cost hundreds of dollars out of pocket.”
Rubin added that it’s important for Pennsylvanians to work with state lawmakers to find the best solution to extend the $35 insulin copay to all insurance plans and help those without health insurance.
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