WHEREAS:
The 1996 federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) law requires that increasing percentages of welfare recipients participate in work activities for 20-30 hours per week; and
WHEREAS:
Education and training activities do not "count" towards meeting the TANF work requirements except under limited circumstances; and
WHEREAS:
TANF sets a maximum five year time limit for receipt of federal benefits and many states have implemented shorter time limits; and
WHEREAS:
The recent decline in TANF caseloads experienced throughout the country is primarily due to unusually strong economic conditions, including record low rates of unemployment; and
WHEREAS:
Even with a strong economy nationally, many urban and rural areas do not have enough entry-level jobs to employ the currently employed, the unemployed, and those transitioning off welfare. The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) released a survey in the fall of 1997 showing that 13 of 34 cities surveyed do not have enough low-skilled jobs to meet the welfare work requirements; and
WHEREAS:
New York, California, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, six of the largest states which together account for half of the national welfare caseload, will be especially deficient in jobs, with net new jobs projected to cover only 13% of the people leaving welfare; and
WHEREAS:
Flooding the low-wage labor market with people transitioning off welfare without creating a sufficient number of new jobs will result in an approximate 12% reduction in wages for the bottom one-third of the work force; and
WHEREAS:
TANF substantially weakened protections for the current work force from being displaced by welfare recipients transitioning into the labor market and failed to protect unfilled vacant positions from being converted into unpaid "workfare" slots; and
WHEREAS:
Some areas in the country, including New York City and Los Angeles, have experienced rapidly-expanding workfare programs which have resulted in fewer regular public sector jobs; and
WHEREAS:
TANF stripped out the labor protections for welfare recipients in welfare-to-work activities, including the right to receive the minimum wage, health and safety protections, worker’s compensation coverage, and the right to be free from employment discrimination; and
WHEREAS:
TANF and the federal Welfare-to-Work grants program allow federal funds to be used to subsidize new public sector jobs.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That Congress enact legislation to create public sector and nonprofit jobs at prevailing rates of pay and benefits for low-income and unemployed workers and that this legislation include strong anti-displacement language to protect existing workers from being laid off and existing jobs from being replaced; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That Congress amend the TANF block grant legislation to incorporate these job creation principles; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME support state policies which maximize the use of education and training opportunities for welfare recipients to meet TANF work requirements; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME encourage and support publicly-funded job creation efforts which use available funds to subsidize new, real jobs in the public sector and oppose welfare-to-work programs which place welfare recipients in unpaid workfare slots. Local labor unions must be fully consulted in the implementation of any job creation programs, with concurrence required on the creation of jobs in local bargaining units; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME work with other unions and advocates to ensure that all welfare recipients placed in workfare receive at least the equivalent of the minimum wage for their work and are covered by health and safety, worker’s compensation, and anti-discrimination laws; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
That AFSCME attempt to organize welfare recipients in our workplaces, whether they are in workfare slots or in subsidized wage-paying jobs.
SUBMITTED BY:
Michael D. Murphy, President and Delegate
Robert W. Lyons, Executive Director and Delegate
AFSCME Council 40
Wisconsin