Rep, Obama official tout new job law

LYNN – When President Barack Obama signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act into law on July 22, there was very little fanfare, but U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez and U.S. Rep. John Tierney talked up its virtues Wednesday at the North Shore Latino Business Association.”This is a big deal, what just happened,” said Perez.The workforce act is designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training and support services as well as match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy. And there was plenty of praise for it among the roughly 75 people gathered, including state Sen. Thomas McGee, City Councilors Brendan Crighton, who is also running for state representative, and Buzzy Barton and School Committee member Maria Carrasco – but there were also concerns.Union organizer Steve Falvey told Perez he is worried about wage theft among contractors, particularly federal contractors, because their names and addresses are often redacted from contracts. Wage theft is a problem with low-wage immigrant workers, whether those workers are in the United States legally or illegally. He said it’s difficult to build a wage case when they can’t find the contractor.Nestor Grollon said he is concerned that Latinos are facing wage discrimination.He said he learned that a man he trained several years ago is making more money than he is, and he worries it is the reason many Latinos need to work two and three jobs just to support their families.Perez said, “We don’t know what we don’t know.” He encouraged anyone who believes they are facing discrimination or being cheated in any way to make it known to his office or the person’s local representatives.Perez said the economic conversation today is focused largely on what it means to be in the middle class “because no one who works full-time should live in poverty,” he said.North Shore Community College President Pat Gentile said she is worried about the possible loss of an important federal grant program that is in its last cycle.Perez said the key to that is philanthropy and bringing community colleges together to share best practices.Many also echoed Joe Bevilacqua, president of the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce and Workforce Investment Board, when he praised Perez and Tierney for their work on the act. He said he believes the various investment boards finally have the tools to put everyone to work.Perez said the old model of “train and pray,” where they would train people then pray they could find a job to match, is gone.”Everything we do now has to be demand-driven,” he said.The workforce act embraces that philosophy, Perez added.”We’re not going to train widget makers if no one is hiring them,” he said.He and Tierney both urged businesses to work together and to be persistent in fighting for what they need.”We need to build a movement around this,” Perez said. “This shouldn’t be a red or a blue issue, it should be a red, white and blue issue.”