How lifers make a living in Congress—Bernie Sanders

Some of my regular readers are old enough to remember the Jimmy Carter years; he was ousted by Ronald Reagan because people were so upset by the economy. It was a terrible recession, and I didn't have a job in my regular field, library science, but found one being alert to gossip in my aerobic class.

Through my aerobics instructor, Corey, I got a temporary government contract job through JTPA (formerly CETA)  This is where the federal government takes your tax money, filters it through all the DC bureaucrats, then sends it to the states which employ a lot of people to fill out the forms to get it, where it is filtered through the state (Ohio) bureaucracy, then smaller programs are developed, where it is further spread out among local agencies and non-profits.

I worked for STEPS, Senior Training and Employment Program. Senior workers (over 50) had been hit particularly hard by that recession, so our little group of 5 or 6 went around the state putting on workshops and developing publications. It was a dream job for me, and I was employed. I even was able to write speeches for the head of the Bureau of Employment.

That's what most of these employment programs do--they employ the people who work in them. I don't know if a single person over 50 ever found a job due to our efforts, but probably thousands of government workers, either civil service, or grant temporary like me, or Area Agency on Aging employees, or the many training centers set up for teaching and skill development (private), the landlords who rented the space, or the small caterers who provided the lunches we served at the workshops managed to get through that recession. Plus, I met great people (state employees are fantastic) and had a good time--learned so much about how government works and why so many people sat alone in offices with nothing to do while we temporary workers were very busy.

This is a tiny picture of what Bernie and others in Congress have been doing for a living for their entire lives. They live well, but not much changes for the people who really need help.

Skills you need to find a job

One of my temp jobs I had in 1976 (see below) was with JTPA (successor to CETA)--Ohio Senior Training and Employment Program (STEPS). I worked with a wonderful group of women in an efficiently run state agency. I wrote publications, planned workshops, travelled throughout the state, and wrote speeches for the head of another government agency. I learned so much on that job, not the least of which was job hunting skills (because I had to write about them and teach them in workshops not because I used them). However, I got the job in aerobics class overhearing my instructor talking about it--and that's how most jobs are found, "networking." Still, there are other important points I learned, and have updated to account for new technology.

1) If you're unemployed, your job is to find a job. Spend 40 hours a week researching, interviewing, networking, updating skills, writing thank you notes, and knocking on doors. If you do internet social networking about job hunting, be careful what you say. Never, never bad mouth your previous employer or boss.

2) Dress appropriately for the interview (this might take some research if you are 18-25). If you love that big hair look from the 80s, you might want to reconsider what it says about you. Cut the gray pony tail if you're a guy.

3) Develop a fabulous resume, brief is best. Use a professional or have someone proof it for you. Anything you have on the internet may speak louder than your resume, so better check that out. Read requirements carefully! Some companies don't want paper; some don't want attachments.

4) All jobs need good oral and written communication skills. If you've been text messaging for 4 years, you might need a brush up on how to spell "you" and "are."

5) Eye contact, body language, posture, good grammar--they say more about you than you know. Video tape yourself--watch for all those unneccesary uhs, now, hmmm, etc. It's a form of stuttering and doesn't make a good impression. Just don't put anything on YouTube.

6) If they take you to lunch (this is customary at the university), it's not because you look hungry. Your table manners will be observed. How you behave in a social setting will be important to your colleagues.

7) Do I need to remind you to be on time? No excuse will be accepted--they've heard them all--babysitter didn't show, mother in law is ill, snow plow covered the drive, etc. etc.

8) Also, do your homework on the company! At least know what they produce, service, loan or build.

9) Be prepared for really dumb or tricky questions. Maybe they can't ask your age, but they can chit chat about other things that will trip you up if you're lying.

10) One last thing--although they can't ask about your kids, they can spot baby spit up on your clothes.

I won't even go into drug testing, but there are now companies that won't hire smokers, and they test for it. If you need to worry, you're probably not right for the job anyway.

Let’s not confuse summer jobs programs with “recovery”

"President Barack Obama promised green jobs to be funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and those federal stimulus dollars are the focus of a new program in Beloit that's putting young people to work and saving energy." Story from Beloit, Wisconsin.

There is nothing new in the world of politics and jobs programs. I’m sure we had them even before FDR raised them to their glory in the WPA. Perhaps it’s a family legend, but I remember stories of the “Tennessee migration" to Ogle County, Illinois, aided by my great-grandfather, Grandad Ballard, who got his friends and relatives jobs on the road crews for the county in the early 20th century.

In the 1980s I worked on a contract program funded by the JTPA (Job Training Partnership Act, which replaced a public works jobs program, CETA, 1974-1982) and the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services (or was that Unemployment? Labor?). I was a Democrat; my boss was a Republican and also my aerobics instructor; her boss was a Republican; his boss was a Democrat at the cabinet level; her boss was Governor Gilligan, a Democrat and the father of former Kansas Governor Sebilius, now head of HHS of the Obama administration. I believe the President at that time was a Republican named Reagan. The problem with all these federal jobs programs is that either they train for jobs that aren't there, or they are the actual jobs with nowhere to go. Either way, the poor usually stay poor with the government's help. This Wisconsin ARRA program is a jobs program, almost guaranteed to go nowhere. I think 5 young adults are "energy advocates." They are teaching people to do what our mothers taught us back in the 1950s.

"Members of a team of five from the Beloit area are called Energy Advocates. They are all between 18 and 24 years old, and their job is teaching others to save energy and money.

"(We remind people to) turn off their appliances when they're not using them. You're still pulling energy in just because they're plugged in," said Sharome Crawford.

Crawford uses devices like kilowatt readers, energy efficient light bulbs, low-flow shower heads and sink aerators to help residents cut costs.

"You're going to have the full capacity of water, and it's going to keep your bills low," he said, displaying the low-flow sink aerator.

The Department of Workforce Development program gives these young workers training for future careers."

In what? Nanny state community organizing? Well, some do get to the top that way.

I learned so much in that 6 mo. JTPA job--about how hard some lower level, career government employees work, and how others who do nothing were appointed because of connections and donations to the party (either). My job specifically was in a training program to get seniors (over 55) re-employed and re-trained because the recession during the Carter years was not unlike today's but with both high inflation and high unemployment. We worked through the Private Industry Councils (PIC) and the Area Agencies for Aging. Even though I was a novice at government largesse and wealth transfer, even I could see that dollars were taken from the taxpayer, filtered through a variety of huge departments in Washington like Labor, then partially returned to the states, and then to various levels within the state, and counties, each agency and official (and contract worker like me) getting a cut along the way.

2782 Minimum Wage

I still remember his face and it's been at least 15 years. I would leave the Veterinary Medicine Library about 1 p.m. and drive to a near-by Wendy's and get a cup of coffee, or maybe even French fries. There I observed a new employee who appeared to be part of a work program. He was overweight, sweaty, and didn't look too bright. Two men brought him to work and sat in a booth for about 30 minutes watching him while he mopped floors. They didn't appear to be the sharpest knives in the drawer either, so I assumed they were either relatives, or state employees in a work release or welfare-to-work program--maybe JTPA functionaries--or possibly they were with an organization like Salvation Army or Good Will who received government money for job training. (In 1991 Ohio alone had 51 programs through JTPA with a budget of $981 million.)

In a few months I noticed he moved up to cleaning windows and doors, and then the rest rooms. Still the "trainers" sat and watched with their clipboards. Then he began bussing and cleaning tables, clumsy and slow, but adequate. And the other guys watched. Then I saw him in the kitchen grill area fixing orders, and the watchers were gone. The cheery Wendy's shift manager was supervising him. Maybe a year later, I saw this same guy, neat and clean and proud of his uniform, smiling and taking orders at the counter, dealing with difficult customers, and making change. Then I saw him working the take-out window, which is really high pressure and requires a speed I wouldn't have imagined he could do.

When the road work on Olentangy was started, I stopped going to that Wendy's. But about a year later I dropped in there, and he was still there--and so was the cheery manager.

Having worked in a JTPA program myself in the 1980s (developing workshops and publications for unemployed older workers), I suspect this worker was paid much less than minimum wage with the tax payer making up the difference, so that Wendy's was actually receiving money to train and manage this worker. The two guys who watched him until he could get off the program and be hired on his own merits, probably counseled him, provided transportation, and worked out any snags with the restaurant manager.

But the fact remains, until he developed some work skills and a work ethic, he wasn't even worth the minimum. Through patience, assistance, and a government or private work program to bring the employee up to an acceptable level, one worker was probably saved from a life time of petty crime or homelessness.

There are many workers who are not at the current minimum wage, who are hired in with disappointing results. Employers are paying them $9 or $10 an hour and they can't even do the minimum expectations, like smiling, standing up straight, arriving on time, or finding work to do without being told and not talking on the cell phone or playing games on the computer. My son told me this week he was going to have to let an employee go ($10/hr)--had only done 2 things without being told in his first 90 days. "I can't wait for 3 months for the next 2 things," he said.

minimum wage, job training, work ethic