Can Education and Training Save Low-wage Workers in the U.S.? Annette Bernhardt Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law Featured Speaker The 15th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, Aix-en-Provence, France, June 2003

Growing inequality in the U.S.

U.S. compared to OECD

The growing low-wage trap

Central question: In an era of increasing international flows of workers, capital, and goods, how do you design an education and training system that restores and expands opportunity? An especially big challenge for the U.S., which has weak labor, education, and training systems, and much less of a commitment to providing public goods

The inequality of employer-provided training

The inequality of education

Rediscovering training-for-work “ Contract training” by community colleges  Attempt to make training relevant to employers, and hopefully, open access to jobs  But usually no requirements on job quality, employee retention, or advancement opportunities  And colleges have no control over who gets training  At its worst, this strategy supports growing externalization of training by employers

Rediscovering career paths Building “career ladders”  Attempt to create structures that allow workers to escape low-wage trap  But most often done without regard to inherent structural constraints on upward mobility  In the low-wage industries that are often targeted by these programs, there are many more bad jobs than good ones

Regional training partnerships Partnerships of employers, unions, training institutions, the public sector, and community groups Solve industry problems that single firms can’t solve by themselves  Modernization, technology upgrading, global competitiveness  Training and retention of new workforce  Affordable health benefits  Flexibility and coordination of worker flows across firms Solutions improve both job quality and skills of workforce

The new intermediaries Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership Employers & Unions Community Based Organizations Workforce Development Funders Certified Training Providers

Limitations of the model Usually needs unions, and industries where quality products/services matter or where there are regulatory hooks Less viable for inherently low-road industries, such as retail, restaurants, building services, mass-market call centers, movie theaters, etc.

Upshot: Need two-pronged approach 1.Shut off the low road:  (Re)create the legal structures that set the ground rules for what employers can and cannot do – i.e. wage floors, right to organize, “pay or play” health insurance, displaced worker protections 2.Pave the high road:  At a regional/industry level, create intermediary institutions that simultaneously address issues of productivity and workforce training Education and training play an enabling role, but are ultimately not the key drivers