“They Made a Path for Us”
You are invited to a briefing about a new report commissioned by Community Change, analyzing IBEW Local 18's pre-craft trainee (UPCT) program that provides important lessons about how to successfully move low-wage workers into stable, high-paying public sector jobs.
In Los Angeles, the program has been hugely successful, with 83% of participants hired into a public sector job at a median hourly wage of $39.15 per hour. Seventy-seven percent of respondents were people of color, all previously unemployed or in low-wage jobs. A number of those hired were previously incarcerated.
The UPCT program is a cornerstone of the RePower LA coalition's efforts to help make clean energy and good jobs at the LA Department of Water and Power (DWP) accessible to all Angelenos while lowering their utility bills. The program is run by IBEW Local 18, one of the anchor partners of RePower LA, along with SCOPE and LAANE.
The report's findings have big implications. The Biden administration pivots to advancing an infrastructure plan that will seek to create jobs that can be accessible by low-wage workers and the unemployed, including the millions of Black, brown, and immigrant workers who were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The briefing will be held Thursday, April 22, 2021, from 10 am-11:30 am PT/1 pm-2:30 pm ET.