1. PURPOSE.To encourage labor representatives on state and local Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) to attend the 2004 training conferences sponsored by the AFL-CIO Working for America Institute. The conferences will be held May 12-14 in San Diego, California, and May 19-21 in New York, New York.
2. BACKGROUND.Under a grant from the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), the Working for America Institute conducts a program to provide training and technical assistance to labor representatives who serve on state and local WIBs. The conferences are designed to help ensure that WIB labor representatives have the information they need to be more effective members of their Workforce Investment Boards.
The two training sessions will highlight opportunities for involvement and performance improvement in the publicly-funded workforce system that will likely result from the pending reauthorization of WIA. Training will focus on the key role that labor representatives can play in implementing the new legislation.
State and local WIBs have supported the attendance of labor representatives at past training sessions. The registration, travel, and lodging costs associated with attending these sessions are allowable expenses under the Workforce Investment Act.
3. Conference Details.The 2004 WIB Labor Representative Training Conferences will be held in partnership with two State Labor Federations that have active workforce investment programs. This will allow labor representative participants to benefit from a broad spectrum of content on labor-led initiatives and workforce programs. While it is assumed that labor representatives will attend the closest training, or work with their state labor federations and WIBs to decide which of the sessions to attend, they will be able to register for either session and be assured of receiving the same training content on the Workforce Investment Act.
The sessions are:
May 12 - 14, San Diego, California. This conference is sponsored in conjunction with the California Labor Federation's Workforce and Economic Development (WED) program's annual conference at the Holiday Inn on the Bay for the West Coast training conference.
May 19 - 21, New York City. The Institute is partnering with the New York State AFL-CIO Workforce Development Institute for the East Coast training conference at the Roosevelt Hotel.
Additional details, including the agenda and logistics of the conferences, will be provided to the WIB labor representatives on the Institute's database. It will also be posted on the Institute's Web site at www.workingforamerica.org.
4. Registration.To register for the 2004 WIB Labor Representative Training Conference, visit the Institute's Web site at www.workingforamerica.org.
5. Inquiries. For further information about the conference, email: info@workingforamerica.org or call the Institute regional coordinator for your state. Contact information for Institute regional coordinators can be found at http://www.workingforamerica.org/staff/directory.asp.