LINCOLN HEIGHTS : Labor Secretary Visits Skills Center

U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich visited the East Los Angeles Skills Center recently to see for himself how job training can help displaced workers find new careers.

“We’re here trying to find the kind of job training that actually works,” Reich told students in a computer class. “This center is one of the most successful.”

As he moved from class to class, Reich promoted the welfare-reform and health-care plans proposed by the Clinton Administration. He also told students he was interested in increasing the number of training programs to help former auto and space-industry workers who have lost their jobs in California.

“One idea that people keep coming up with is the need for better information on what skills are needed (in the work force),” Reich said. “The worst thing is to be trained for a job that doesn’t exist.”

Students told him that a lack of affordable child care is one of the greatest impediments to enrolling in a training program. One woman said she waited 2 1/2 years for good child care before she could enter the school’s training programs in an effort to get off welfare.

Another student said he has been put on job waiting lists with the state, county and city and was one of 300 applicants for a part-time job that he did not get. “That’s the staggering reality,” he said.

The center moved to its location at 3921 Selig Place two years ago after 25 years on Monterey Pass Road. Of about 3,500 adults enrolled in its programs, about 1,200 graduates from the 1992-93 school year were employed after they left the school, said Assistant Principal Roger Miller.

The school offers programs in office assistance, medical office assistance, auto mechanics, mobile electronics, telephone and cable-TV installation, basic drafting, machinery and basic electronics.

The center also enrolls about 500 high school students who have dropped out of other schools and are earning their diplomas through the Alternative Education Work Center Program.

Reich encouraged the students to continue their efforts at training for jobs that pay well. “The most important ingredient in getting a good job is the ambition. All of you deserve a lot of credit for what you’re doing right now,” he said.