A new report explored ways to reconnect residents of the Appalachian region to employment opportunities.

The report dug into the many barriers to employment Appalachian adults face and identified ways to build career pathways for workers.

Stephen Herzenberg, executive director of the Keystone Research Center and the report's co-author, said it provides some new data on people ages 25 to 54 in the four-state region, including Pennsylvania. He argued the report makes the case for the Keystone State to implement a new national program which would create subsidized employment to boost income and improve quality of life for Appalachian adults.

"By our estimates, a couple hundred thousand folks are disconnected from the workforce," Herzenberg reported. "We need to create a mechanism by which to get them jobs that allow them to support their family, create opportunities for them to move into better jobs over time."

Herzenberg noted the report from the Ohio River Valley Institute highlighted the critical need for more jobs in coal country, where employment has been lost in fossil-fuel extraction, manufacturing and steel.

Herzenberg emphasized it is important for the Keystone State and coal-country Appalachia to target a portion of hiring for government-funded climate and infrastructure projects to long-term unemployed workers, and to women and people of color. He stressed they have often been left out of good jobs on construction and infrastructure work.

"What we can do is use the already existing Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, use the subsidies for infrastructure and clean energy, and sustainable manufacturing," Herzenberg suggested. "Use that money to make sure that disconnected folks get a fraction of those jobs."

The report found the labor force participation rate for prime-age men has been declining, especially in coal-country Appalachia. Herzenberg reported nationally, 17 out of every 100 prime-age men are not working, and the unemployment results vary for the four Appalachian states.

"In Appalachian Kentucky, twice as big a share of prime-age men are not employed, 34 out of every 100," Herzenberg noted. "In West Virginia, the number is 27, in Appalachian Ohio it's 23, and in Pennsylvania, it's 19."

Herzenberg pointed out if prime-age people in the Appalachian parts of the four states were employed at the same rate as the nation, an estimated 206,000 more people would be working, earning more than $6.4 billion more in wages annually.

More than a year after City of Richmond workers filed to vote on a union contract, they are celebrating its implementation.

The contract provides workers with an established grievance process, updated health and safety guidelines, and labor management committees to help improve different departments. Workers described the moment as everything they have waited for.

Felicia Boney, management analyst associate in the Department of Social Services for the City of Richmond, said it sends a message to other cities about the efficacy of treating workers fairly.

"The economy has changed," Boney pointed out. "People are looking for better employment, better benefits. It will improve retention of the employees and if employers are treating their employees like they should, it would benefit them."

Cities like Alexandria, Portsmouth, and Newport News are all in different stages of the unionization process. A 2021 poll showed 68% of Virginians favored letting public employees unionize.

Boney noted there was plenty of give and take from the city and workers, making it quite a process to reach this point but with things in place, she emphasized the city is eager to start working with the Joint Labor Management Committee.

Another reason for the contract's implementation is making the city more competitive in hiring. The hope is to attract people to jobs in understaffed departments. She stressed workers are eager to see what lies ahead in a new chapter of Richmond's history.

"We love our jobs, we really do," Boney added. "We just want to be able to be better at doing what we're doing, and I think this gives us an opportunity to do just that. We want to make Richmond great again and I think this is one of the tracks we can take to do that."

Before the contract and unionization, one in 12 of the city's full-time employees could not support themselves on their salary. The city also saw high turnover rates across agencies. In all, it cost the city more than $6.5 million per year.


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Supporters of a new state-sponsored retirement savings program in Maine are celebrating a significant milestone.

More than six months after the launch of the Maine Retirement Investment Trust, or MERIT, enrolled employees have saved more than $1 million.

Alf Anderson, associate director for advocacy and outreach at AARP Maine, said the program was created to help the roughly 200,000 private sector workers without access to a retirement plan at their job.

"You know, one of the most important things for people as they plan for retirement," said Anderson, "is having that financial security to be able to do the things they want to do when they do get to that point in their lives. And so, that milestone was really exciting for us to see."

Anderson said businesses with at least five employees can register with MERIT to help set up savings for workers, who would otherwise seek out an independent financial planner.

More than 1,500 employers have already signed on.

Surveys show more than half of Americans are concerned they won't be able to achieve financial security in retirement.

At least 25 states introduced legislation last year to establish new, state-backed retirement plans.

Anderson said the successful rollout in Maine reveals the urgency people feel about planning for the future due to the high costs of food and housing.

"Do I cut back on my medications?" said Anderson. "Do I not eat a certain number of meals today? Like, it's really frightening to see some of the decisions people have to make."

Anderson said the pandemic didn't help - with even more Mainers facing depleted savings accounts and having only Social Security to fall back on when they reach retirement age.

State officials say MERIT could help Mainers for generations to come, and help reduce reliance on public assistance programs.

Members of the Service Employees' International Union start this week in the Portland area with new contracts for their work.

SEIU Local 49 members work as security officers and janitorial staff for some of the biggest employers in the Pacific Northwest.

The Portland team bargained for about a month and gained wage increases, additional paid leave, and health and safety improvements.

Renato Quintero, an SEIU member and a janitor at Intel, said they had to work hard to make these changes, but he thinks the effort was worthwhile.

"Those things are really useful for our work and for our family," said Quintero, "being able to have more money, and also time to enjoy our family life."

The new contracts will affect nearly two thousand workers in the Portland metro area. The union expects the wage increases to add $9 million to the local economy.

In addition to pay, union leaders say the new contracts come with a sense of recognition. They note people in these professions worked through the pandemic, and their jobs were considered essential.

Michael Lindsey, a union member and security officer with GardaWorld Security Services, said he sees these contracts as a step into the future.

"This is a new era for unions, especially coming out of the pandemic," said Lindsey, "and I'm excited to see what the next few years hold for us."

Lindsey predicted the new contracts will allow employees to focus on their jobs more. He said he also expects a decrease in staff turnover, which will result in an increase in staff experience.