“New Haven Works” Pipeline to connect unemployed residents to jobs advances

Good jobs make for strong communities. And New Haven is rising!  After years of door-knocking, leadership training, and organizing around an agenda that puts the needs of our communities front and center, we’re finally turning the tide in New Haven.  Support for a comprehensive local Jobs Pipeline program has reached a critical mass. The city’s Board of Aldermen unanimously adopted a legislative agenda reflecting key issues outlined in CCNE’s recent report, A Renaissance For All Of Us: Building an Inclusive Prosperity for New Haven. The “Jobs Pipeline” is at the heart of this work.

What do we want? Good Jobs! During CCNE’s December 3, 2011 City-Wide Community Leaders meeting, a jobs funnel or “pipeline” that connects New Haven residents to good jobs was identified as a top priority among the 300 participants.Thank you everyone for sharing feedback and pushing to make our collective vision for a grassroots transformation of New Haven a reality!

What will it take? For a jobs pipeline to succeed at addressing the problems of unemployment, underemployment and violence in New Haven it must do more than provide training and support services. It must also connect people to actual jobs -good, sustainable jobs. This will take a vocal, organized community.  We’ve reached a turning point in our city’s history and we’re excited to report that the work we’ve done together to win the BIG changes our communities need is paying off! We have the vision, we have solutions and we’re fighting to make inclusive prosperity for all a reality. . .starting this year.

Progress towards the creation of a Jobs Pipeline:

In the streets: On April 25th, 2,000 people came together for the “Let’s get to work” march & rally in support of the Jobs Pipeline, youth opportunities, and good contracts for workers at Yale University and other area companies. Read more on that here.

In our workplaces: In June our labor allies in UNITE HERE Local 34 & Local 35 won an outstanding contract with Yale University. The contract includes Jobs Pipeline provisions that will connect out-of-work New Haveners to sustainable jobs at the University. This historic accomplishment not only opens Yale jobs to local residents, but also paves the way toward expanding the Pipeline to other employers beyond Yale.

In the halls of government: In January 2012 the Board of Aldermen unanimously adopted a legislative agenda that includes the jobs pipeline. They then established a working group – made up of community leaders, employers, city officials, foundations and other key stakeholders – to develop a pipeline that meets the needs of residents, employers, and taxpayers while helping to address New Haven’s most pressing problems. At a packed April Public Hearing community leaders described the Jobs Pipeline as a public safety and crime-reduction strategy.

In September the Board voted unanimously on the working group’s plan to create a comprehensive jobs pipeline program (“New Haven Works”). One key point of the plan is coordinating existing initiatives, rather than duplicating services.

In early December “New Haven Works” officially incorporated, hired an interim chief, established by-laws, and set up a physical main office location. These unglamorous but essential steps mark significant progress toward the realization of our vision of inclusive prosperity for New Haven.