In honor of its Centennial in 2013, DOL, in partnership with the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, is developing a list of Books that Shaped Work in America. To get started, we’ve asked members of the DOL family, as well as many other esteemed individuals, for suggestions.
http://www.dol.gov/100/books-shaped-work/
EPI’s Heidi Shierholz recently published an insightful report about the state of young workers in the US economy. Despite the recent gains in the economy, young workers are still having a tough time finding meaningful employment that fully utilizes their skills and backgrounds and pays them amicably in terms of wages and benefits. This will have an impact on their potential future earnings for at least 10 years of their lifetime:EPI: Class of 2013
“GAME OVER” Successful Career Transformation When the Dream Job Ends, A panel discussion featuring former professional baseball & football players and business executives.
Tuesday March 5 at 4:30PM
Roosevelt House, 47-49 East 65th Street
There are three themes/questions we will be exploring during the session, as follows, with the third theme being the intended take-away from the session:
*Greatest challenges faced after loss of job/end of sports career
*Ways in which loss influenced both personal and professional identities
*Can we find common strategies that were used by the participants to regain aspects of their identities that they lost with loss of job/end of sports career
Free to the public but space is limited
Reserve you seat at GAMEOVER@HUNTER.CUNY.EDU
Co-Sponsored by the Hunter College School of Arts & Sciences and Corporate Counseling Associates, Inc.
Crain’s NY reported last week that Amtrak recently proposed a $151 billion project to bring high-speed rail to the Northeast corridor. This project will give much needed relief to the commuters along the I-95 route. It is also expected to boost economic development to the region including economically under-performing cities such as Philadelphia and Baltimore. Amtrak’s proposal will be debated in the coming months.
http://www.rpa.org/2012/07/a-rail-network-for-the-21st-century.html
Good day everyone. Just wanted to alert you all to the following event that I think will be very insightful:
“Greek Unions, Greek Elections, and the European Fiscal Crisis” with George Mavrikos, General Secretary of the World Federation of Trade Unions, member of the Greek Parliament, and former General Secretary of the Greek General Confederation of Labor. The forum will be held on Monday, July 23, from 8:30 to 10:30 am at the Murphy Institute, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd Street 18th Floor, New York (between 5th and 6th Avenue.
This forum will present an opportunity to hear first-hand about he challenges confronting Greek workers and their families, and about labor’s regional efforts to resist imposed austerity measures as the solution to a world-wide financial crisis with its roots in the financialization of the global markets.
Please join us for this important and timely discussion. RSVP by Thursday July 19th to Eloiza Morales at 212-642-2029 or eloiza.morales@mail.cuny.edu
CUNY students and alumni who are interested in public service may want to consider applying for the following Paid Fellowship through the Parternship for Public Service.
The Public Service Fellows Program at the Partnership for Public Service is an opportunity for undergraduate students, graduate students and recent graduates to participate directly in transforming the way government works while developing valuable professional skills.
At the Partnership, fellows are integral to the day-to-day operations, programs and activities of our organization. We value the contributions of fellows and work to provide relevant and useful experiences in return. That’s why fellows are assigned substantive and meaningful work to support our wide variety of programs, events, and projects to help revitalize the federal government by focusing on the people working in it. Fellows’ duties vary across the Partnership’s internal teams, but often include event planning and execution, conducting research, writing and preparing correspondence, and conducting outreach to external partners, such as government agencies and colleges and universities.
True to the Partnership’s emphasis on people, the fellows program incorporates opportunities for professional and personal growth through workshops and trainings specifically geared toward students and young professionals. We also strive to ensure a quality experience in terms of work and personal relationships throughout the fellowship term. Fellows also receive the following stipends:
We seek extraordinary undergraduate students, graduate students and recent graduates with:
There is no single academic major or background we prefer over another—if you share our passion and are committed to developing your skills while gaining valuable experience, we want to hear from you!
The application for the Fall 2012 term closes on July 13. Apply today!
The public sector workforce provides essential services for our communities and country. Yet despite the value of this important sector, workers in this field face constant scrutiny from politicians and many in the public. I believe it is important for us to realize the relevance of this shift in spending. Certainly it is important for public managers to maintain a balanced budget. However, we cannot continue to drawback on public services that are critical to business, public welfare, and the nation.
The following NY Times article highlights the current state of the public sector across the nation. I welcome comments. We at CUNY cannot afford to stand idle as the public sector is gutted.
The following recent NY Times article highlights the tragic state our job market is in and how tough it has become for American workers to find work that meets their basic needs. Certainly this is due to the recent economic crisis, however, I believe this has been a longtime trend of diminished opportunities that I don’t believe will go away. I’m not sure what the answer is to help solve this crisis, but I believe it will take drastic measures to turn our job market around so that it will continue to sustain the livelihood of our people. I don’t have much else to say, the article I think speaks for itself. I certainly welcome comments.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/us/many-american-workers-are-underemployed-and-underpaid.html?_r=1&hp
CUNY has recently published its report “Jobs for New York’s Future”. In it is outlined details about industry and job trends within 5 core areas the Chancellor sees as important for CUNY and NYC: Finance/Insurance, Media, Healthcare, Higher Education, and Information Technology.
I think this is an essential read. Based on employer interviews, it informs on areas that students entering the workforce need to strengthen, particularly “T-shaped” skills (the ability to have both strong technical as well as apply knowledge from fields outside their discipline), communication, and global competency. There are also suggestions on how CUNY can strengthen its role within these sectors, particularly industry partnerships, inclusion of project manage skills in curricula, and career counseling.
I found the piece to be informative in terms of providing an insight into NYC industry sector trends. I also believe that this document will inform CUNY leadership and may be used as a basis to back up reasoning for its policies. This report is mentioned in the CUNY Master Plan 2012-2012.
http://www.cuny.edu/employment/Jobs-Task-Force.pdf
A recent blog post from the Economic Policy Institute shows an interesting connection between union density and the share of income. According to their research, in the United States as membership in unions expanded after the New Deal policies of the 1930’s, the share of the income going to the top 10% of earners decreased. And since the 1970’s as union membership has declined, the share of income going to the top 10% has grown.
These figures are not surprising. And to me, this underlines the importance of concerted action and public policy that is targeted to supporting the working class.
http://www.epi.org/publication/unions-decline-inequality-rises/
