co-sponsored by the Workforce Taskforce of
The New Economy Information Service & The Albert Shanker Institute
and the National Association of Workforce Boards

Monday, July 11, 2005
Philadelphia Convention Center

This forum with leaders from government, business, labor and policy experts explored a new model for workforce development that addresses some of the challenges faced by labor-management partnerships in an era of globalization. (See participant list.) The program centered on the work of the Task Force on Workforce Development, a project sponsored by The Albert Shanker Institute and the New Economy Information Service, who sponsored this discussion together with the National Association of Workforce Boards.

The discussion centered on the Task Force's recent report "Learning Partnerships: Strengthening American Jobs in the Global Economy" that calls for far-reaching changes in the way the U.S. manages its workforce skills and training efforts. The key recommendation of establishing labor-management "learning partnerships" stems from a study of Britain's increasingly successful campaign to increase the training and skills development of its workforce.

The Task Force warned that the skills base of the U.S. workforce will continue to erode without concerted efforts to train and retrain employees. Pressures from global competition, technological change, the pending retirement of the baby boomers create constant imbalances in the supply and demand for skills that our current workforce system is addressing inadequately. Local partnerships are key to helping communities, employers and employees confront these pressures.

The forum was held at the Philadelphia Convention Center just prior to the start of the annual Workforce Innovations 2005 Conference sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration and co-sponsored by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). This annual three-day conference explored Intergration, Transformation and Innovation within the world of workforce investment.

Pennsylvania has the 16th largest economy in the world with 45 percemt of U.S. manufacturers who have been hard hit by the steady loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs. which makes it a perfect venue for a discussion of our ideas.

Discussion leaders included the following distinguished members of the Task Force: Paul Almeida, President of the AFL-CIO's Department of Professional Employees; Gregory Junemann, President of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers; Saul Rubinstein, Associate Professor of Rutgers University's Labor Program; and Stephanie Powers, Chief Executive Office of the National Association of Workforce Boards. Dr. Lynn A. Karoly, Senior Economist, Rand Corporation, made the keynote presentation based on her recent book, The 21st Century at Work: Forces Shaping the Future Workforce and Workplace in the United States (co-authored with Constantijn W.A. Paris).