[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 59 (Tuesday, May 12, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E817-E819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PART 3: JOBS WITH JUSTICE--FIRST NATIONAL WORKERS' RIGHTS BOARD HEARING

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 12, 1998

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, Jobs With Justice convened its ``First 
National Workers' Rights Board Hearing on Welfare/Workfare Issues'' in 
Chicago in 1997. This hearing featured a number of community, labor and 
political leaders. I include their remarks for the Congressional 
Record.
  Part 3 of this statement includes: Laurie Barretto of Catholic 
Charities; Ilana Berger of People Organized to Win Employment Rights 
(POWER); Wardell Yotaghan of the Coalition to Protect Public Housing; 
and Peggy Haack, a Child Care Provider from Madison, Wisconsin.

                  Laurie Barretto, Catholic Charities

       My name is Laurie Barretto and I am the Director of 
     Governmental Relations at Catholic Charities of the 
     Archdiocese of Chicago. I also chair the Catholic Charities 
     USA Social Policy Committee for our national membership 
     organization.
       As a political junkie, I have advocated for and against 
     numerous pieces of enabling legislation followed by 
     implementing rules and regulations followed by government 
     designed and funded initiatives. Some have had enormous 
     positive impact on the way people are cared for and assisted; 
     some, like Workfare, have been gravely flawed with far 
     reaching and unintended consequences.
       At Catholic Charities agencies here and across the country 
     we participate in initiatives that are consistent with our 
     mission and when we believe we have the skills and capacity 
     to produce successful outcomes for the people we serve.
       Therefore in October, 1992 when Illinois dismantled the 
     General Assistance Program we struggled to determine the best 
     course. Frankly we had been suspect of such programs. We were 
     concerned about unfair treatment, a lack of safety standards, 
     discrimination, and churning of people with low skills and 
     lower self-esteem.
       However, it became apparent that participating in the 
     Earnfare Program was consistent with our mission, rooted in 
     Catholic Social Teaching. In addition to the dignity of each 
     individual human being, Catholic Social Teaching talks about 
     the dignity of work. Society is urged to encourage and reward 
     work, to recognize that people have a right to be productive, 
     to earn fair wages, to labor in decent conditions.
       Because of our tradition of service, we also know something 
     about work with the poor, and we believed that we could 
     address our justice concerns while making a difference in 
     peoples' lives.
       It is now five years later and we continue to operate our 
     Earnfare contract.
       And we have learned much. And we have accomplished much.
       But now social service agencies and our faith-based 
     communities across the country are seeing and serving people 
     impacted by the overhaul of the welfare system that provided 
     for poor families with children. People who are working come 
     to us because they can't afford to buy food for the whole 
     month; families are living in homeless shelters because their 
     paychecks can't stretch to cover rent.
       And so we have urged our colleague agencies to join us and 
     provide meaningful work opportunities to people struggling to 
     transition from welfare to work. We have urged them to 
     provide written job descriptions, with appropriate job 
     titles; we issue employee identification badges, include them 
     in employee orientations and training. We insure that safety 
     measures are in place to protect people in their work 
     assignments. We have encouraged supervisors to establish 
     mutually agreed upon performance expectations.
       Because many participants will lack basic job skills, we 
     urge that as employers we must be prepared to provide 
     extensive mentoring and support.
       And because many are overcoming enormous barriers to 
     employment--substance abuse, domestic violence, limited 
     skills and education--supportive social services must be 
     available.
       We know that, done well, the people whose lives we touch in 
     Workfare Programs are better off for the experience. Because 
     of our participation in Workfare and our relationship with 
     businesses throughout the metropolitan area we have the 
     capacity to move people into the workforce. Workfare 
     Participants have begun to build a resume and job references. 
     They have begun to see, and perhaps believe, that they can be 
     successful.

[[Page E818]]

       At Catholic Charities we look upon this endeavor seriously 
     because they are better able to find and perform and keep a 
     real job in the open marketplace.
       Earlier I referred to the guiding principles of Catholic 
     Social Training; in addition we believe in a preferential 
     option for the poor and standing in solidarity with the poor. 
     I mention these because even if we create an environment 
     where people leaving welfare can participate in meaningful 
     work in a dignified manner, we are not done.
       Catholic Charities USA has conducted a parish impact survey 
     to determine the impact of welfare reform on the parish. Some 
     early anecdotal responses;
       St. Mary's Cathedral in Austin Texas: ``We are receiving 
     calls from all over Austin from people needing food. Most of 
     these are working but can't feed their families on what they 
     earn. Also many have lost food Stamps or have been refused 
     for them for having a car.''
       The Oahu, Hawaii Social Ministry reported that because the 
     state cut welfare benefits by 20%, many are unable to pay 
     rent or utilities. ``Because we can not provide for the level 
     of need some people . . . have taken up residence in caves in 
     the mountains.''
       In the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ there has been an increase 
     in the demand for food 20% accompanied by a decrease in food 
     donations.
       In Beaumont TX 560 children are on a waiting list for child 
     care so their parents can work.
       Catholic Charities of Youngstown OH reported that they 
     received 177 more requests for housing in the second quarter 
     of this year than they did in the first quarter.
       And here in Chicago we are working with a family--mother, 
     father, and twin boys. The father cannot find work. Their 
     credit is lousy so apartment hunting is difficult. They have 
     exhausted their resources and their friends so this family is 
     living in one of our shelters.
       In closing I would say the panel title is fitting--``First 
     let me work . . . And just as important, Let me live in 
     dignity and with justice.''


     
                                  ____
                          ILANA BERGER, POWER

       POWER, People Organized to Win Employment Rights, is a 
     project of San Francisco's General Assistance Rights union, 
     and is an organization of workfare workers who have come 
     together to fight the City's fifteen year-old workfare 
     program. In the City there are 2,500 workfare workers, with 
     an additional 11,000 men and women who will be required to do 
     some sort of work in exchange for their TANF and Food Stamps 
     benefits in the next two years.
       Here's a story to illustrate how workfare workers are 
     treated with no dignity or respect, and are subject to 
     conditions which endanger their health and safety. On 
     Wednesday, October 8 San Francisco workfare worker RG Goudy 
     came to the POWER office feeling dizzy, nauseous and groggy. 
     That day, at his workfare job cleaning buses at the Presidio 
     Muni Yard, he was told by his supervisor to remove graffiti 
     from the inside of buses using ``So-Safe'' Graffiti remover. 
     When the worker asked to see the Manufacturer's Material 
     Safety Data Sheet (MS-DS) as is his right under Cal-OSHA 
     regulations, the supervisor responded, ``I've read it you 
     don't need to.''
       So-Safe is a cleanser that contains highly toxic chemicals 
     and, according to the MS-DS, should only be used with 
     sufficient ventilation, or with an ``appropriate air-supplied 
     respirator (e.g. SCBA or airline with escape pack.)'' On May 
     15, 1997 Arlene Eisen, Acting Health and Safety Director at 
     Muni, sent a memo to all Muni supervisors stating that ``GA 
     workers should not be assigned the tasks of interior graffiti 
     removal.''
       When the worker reported that he felt sick, he was 
     ridiculed, but his supervisor eventually agreed to send him 
     home from work for the day. He came to the POWER office to 
     report the incident, and find out where to receive medical 
     treatment because his on-site supervisor had not provided him 
     with workers' compensation forms. I went with him to the 
     Presidio Yard to obtain workers' compensation forms to enable 
     him to go to SF General Hospital's Occupational Health 
     Office.
       The immediate response from the Assistant Superintendent at 
     the Muni yard when we asked for workers' compensation forms 
     was, ``Why? He's a GA worker.'' He continued to refuse to 
     fill out the forms even when we presented official City 
     documents detailing workfare workers' rights to workers' 
     compensation.
       For the next six hours, we went back and forth between Muni 
     administrative offices and the yard, being refused from 
     everyone from Emilio Cruz, director of Muni on down. We were 
     locked out of four ``private conversations'' in offices, 
     ignored, yelled at and ordered to leave. The worker, still 
     suffering from dizziness and nausea was denied treatment 
     for over six hours. He finally decided to go to the 
     hospital without the Workers' Compensation papers.
       The next day, the worker returned to the Presidio yard to 
     do his workfare, and was told by the superior that he was to 
     report to his caseworker to be reassigned to another 
     worksite. The Assistant Superintendent at Presidio Yard, 
     Larry Resnick, told the Department of Human Services (which 
     administers and coordinates the workfare program) that Mr. 
     Goudy was being fired for attending a protest at Muni 
     Administrative offices--on his day off. DHS refused to 
     intervene to demand that Muni allow the worker to return to 
     reinforce the GA regulation, stating that, ``this thing has 
     become too big, too messy, and the worker must go to a 
     different worksite--if he tries to return, he will be 
     discontinued.''
       This incident illustrates two major problems with workfare. 
     First, workfare workers do the exact same work as City 
     workers, but are not given the benefits or protections that 
     City workers receive because workfare workers are not 
     considered to be workers--officially they are ``volunteers.'' 
     Second, workfare workers are exposed to hazardous work 
     conditions every day on the job. Our members include men and 
     women who sweep the streets for the Department of Public 
     Works and are exposed to used hypodermic needles, human waste 
     and broken glass without any training or protective gear. 
     When it rains, workers often are not given rain gear or 
     boots. Workers have no access to restrooms during their 7-
     hour work day. Our members include men and women who clean 
     buses for Municipal Railways, who use toxic chemicals with no 
     training or protective gear. Because at many Muni yards 
     workfare workers are not allowed to use the restrooms that 
     other workers use, they have no access to water to wash their 
     hands, and no access to eye wash for chemical exposure. 
     Workers are often not allowed access to the areas where 
     health and safety information is posted. At San Francisco 
     General Hospital, workers handle linen soaked with human 
     blood and feces, without blood-borne pathogens trainings or 
     Hepatitis-B vaccines.
       Part of our work at POWER has been to win health and safety 
     protection for workfare workers: We have been organizing and 
     representing workers in workplace grievances as a union; we 
     have filed complaints with Cal-OSHA, establishing OSHA's 
     recognition of workfare workers as workers and setting an 
     historical precedent; we are demanding that the Department of 
     Human Services implement a systematic enforcement policy of 
     health and safety regulations for any agency employing 
     workfare workers; we have written a Pledge for Fair Work, 
     outlining a policy for non-profit and non-City agencies to 
     employ workfare workers in a manner that will be safe and 
     healthy; we are holding workers' rights trainings with 
     lawyers, representatives from Cal-OSHA, and rank-and-file 
     union members; we are fighting and continuously pushing the 
     envelope to win workfare workers the right to organize and 
     advocate on their own behalf; and finally, we understand that 
     workfare workers' rights will be abused while they are 
     considered volunteers, so we continue to fight for workfare 
     workers to be recognized as workers and for POWER to be 
     recognized as a legitimate union.
       The work to win protections for workfare workers is an 
     integral part of our campaign to win equal pay for equal 
     work, equal protection under the law, and equal access to 
     full time job opportunity for workfare workers. The health 
     and safety campaign has won us unprecedented recognition of 
     workfare workers as workers, has provided a forum for 
     introducing the campaign to other workfare workers and the 
     general public, and offers essential personal stories and 
     concrete examples of the abuses in the workfare program which 
     serve as a reference point for people to understand our 
     overall goals and vision.
       While POWER continues to fight the hazardous work 
     conditions faced by workfare workers each day on the job, we 
     understand that workfare workers' rights will be abused while 
     they are considered ``volunteers.'' Men and women who do 
     workfare are workers who deserve real jobs, real benefits, 
     respect and dignity. We reject the notion that poor people 
     have no rights, and we're working to let everyone in San 
     Francisco and the country know that slavery is dead and we're 
     not letting anybody bring it back!


     
                                  ____
                                              Coalition to Protect


                                               Public Housing,

                                    Chicago, IL, October 24, 1997.
     Testimony before The Board.
     Jobs with Justice Workers' Right's.
       Mr. Chairman, Panel Members and Ladies and Gentleman 
     Present: Good morning, I would like to start by saying in 
     this county we have a housing crisis, congressmen in this 
     country, is making and passing legislation that ill effect 
     low-income people. An example of that legislation, is that 
     the congress passed legislation to demolish 100,000 units of 
     public housing nationally and 18,000 units right here in 
     Chicago. That puzzle me since there is 6,000,000 homeless 
     people in this country and 80,000 right in Chicago.
       This new legislation will effect or make homeless 300,000 
     to 600,000 nationally and 34,000 to 50,000 here in Chicago.
       It seems to me that the politicians no longer work for the 
     health, interest, rights, and needs of the people, it seems 
     they only work for the rich and the powerful corporations.
       If this government is truly formed, of the people, and by 
     the people, for the people, then something is wrong, because 
     low-income people are really getting KICKED IN THE BUTT.
           Thank you,
                                                 Wardell Yotaghan.


     
                                  ____
                              Testimonial

       (By Peggy Haack, Child Care Provider, Madison, Wisconsin)

       I am a family child care provider, one of many providing 
     care and education for

[[Page E819]]

     young children on a shoestring budget. As a family child care 
     provider, I represent on one hand all the myths one has ever 
     heard about the job of caring for children--myths like these:
       Myth 1: Anyone can do this work because training and skills 
     are irrelevant.
       Myth 2: Our income doesn't support a family, so it's OK 
     that we only earn on average $9,528 a year after expenses, 
     working 50 hours a week.
       Myth 3: Our work is so ``cute,'' certainly not serious 
     business, so we don't need vacations, health insurance, 
     retirement plans and other benefits that some workers take 
     for granted.
       Myth 4: We are all just ``motherly types'' doing what we do 
     best.
       At the same time these outrageous myths are dished out, we 
     are being asked to be the bedrock of welfare reform by caring 
     for a few extra children so the mothers of America's poorest 
     children can enter the labor force. Plus we are being asked 
     to continue to be the cornerstone of a healthy U.S. economy 
     by providing care for America's currently working families. 
     And, we are asked to do all this on a shoestring, of course!
       Well, I am one grossly misunderstood, undervalued, hard-
     working, skillful, well-educated and angry family child care 
     professional who is saying NO. And there are thousands of 
     others like me. United with our colleagues in child care 
     centers, nursery schools, Head Start programs, and school-age 
     care programs, we wish to send this simple message to policy 
     makers at all levels of government: We need more money to do 
     this job, and you need us to do it right! We need more money 
     not only to meet an ever-increasing need for child care as a 
     result of welfare reform, but also to do it better!
       There is not a parent in the world--whether he or she is a 
     U.S. senator, the president of a corporation, a factory line 
     worker, or a welfare mom--who is able to give the best to 
     their job, any job, when they're worried about their kids and 
     the care they are receiving.
       We have tried to cope with this child care system where 
     availability and affordability for parents determine what the 
     system looks like . . . and it isn't working for us or for 
     the families we serve. We have created a system that is 
     mediocre at best, a system that exploits its work force by 
     paying meager wages, does not guarantee healthy development 
     for children, and cannot sustain a society in the long run. 
     It is time for us to focus on quality child care as our top 
     criteria for the provision of child care, because in the long 
     run it is the best investment in our future. Young children 
     do not define their own potential in life based on how much 
     or how little their family earns and how much they can pay 
     for child care . . . even though that is exactly what our 
     current public policies do. Welfare reform as it is now is 
     simply about trimming the federal deficit, not about 
     reforming a system and making this country one that dignifies 
     the worth of all people.
       And about welfare recipients doing family child care in 
     order to receive their benefits . . . I personally welcome 
     moms on welfare, as I welcome U.S. congressmen seeking a 
     career change, into my profession. I welcome anyone who 
     shares with me the gift of intimately relating to young 
     children and shares with me a knowledge and understanding of 
     their development. The gift I am referring to is the ability 
     to use your eyes, your touch, and your voice to soothe a 
     needy baby, even when you cannot discern the exact need; to 
     give up some of your big person power to a toddler struggling 
     to discover her own; to see past the anger of an impulsive 
     preschooler to discover the frustration, fear, desperation or 
     repentance that is surely there; to accord the school age 
     children the respect that their insights of life deserve . . 
     . Anyone who has that gift and is provided the opportunity 
     and is willing to be educated in the important aspects of 
     children's growth and tutored in skills that promote their 
     learning, while at the same time able to manage a small 
     business, please do join us. Family child care is a 
     wonderfully challenging place to be. Oh, but be prepared to 
     fight for your self-respect and for your economic survival, 
     because the policy makers of this country demand it of you!

     

                          ____________________