KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL ECONOMY:
SUPPORT FOR JOB TRAINING AND RETENTION
WHEREAS, high-skill, well paying jobs are the key to a successful
economy and society; and
WHEREAS, a skilled and well trained work force is necessary to
attracting and retaining such jobs; and
WHEREAS, even among those who complete high school, many American youth
are not prepared for work in a high-skill, technologically advanced economy;
and
WHEREAS, many modern industrialized countries in cooperation with
manufacturers and other employers subsidize and otherwise promote
apprenticeship programs that help train young people for jobs in a high-skill,
technologically advanced economy; and
WHEREAS, many cities have initiated programs that help train young
people to meet the job skills needed by employers, with dramatic results; and
WHEREAS, the United States needs to train its next generation of workers
to participate successfully in a 21st Century economy and needs to
retain high-skill, well paying jobs; and
WHEREAS, teen unemployment in the summer of 2003 was at its highest
level since 1948; and
WHEREAS, there are 700,000 fewer positions at U.S. companies and on
government payrolls today than there were in November 2001, when the recession
was declared to be over; and
WHEREAS, the exporting of jobs to other countries is being broadly felt
across industries, among all skill levels of workers and has negatively
impacted local economies across the country; and
WHEREAS, according to Forrester Research, outsourcing could result in
the loss of 3.3 million U.S. jobs by 2017; and
WHEREAS, several measures have been introduced in Congress aimed at
helping workers who lose their jobs to outsourcing,
NOW, THEREFORE ,BE IT RESOLVED, that the United States Conference of Mayors
calls for a major federal investment, including promulgation of new programs,
direct funding, tax credits for employers and other appropriate mechanisms to
create apprenticeship programs to train high-school age children and young
adults for high-skill, technologically advanced jobs; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the federal government should use tax
breaks and other incentives to keep high-skill, well paying manufacturing jobs
in the United States; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in any legislation that addresses
outsourcing, the United States Conference of Mayors calls on Congress to
include provisions to provide resources to local elected officials and their
Workforce Investment Boards for training and retraining workers.
©2004 U.S. Conference of Mayors 