SUN VALLEY : U.S. Labor Secretary Warns of Job Crisis

The United States is at risk of developing into a two-tiered society in which only a small, well-educated minority holds good jobs, warned U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich during a meeting Tuesday in Sun Valley.

“We cannot live in a society . . . in which one big portion of the population is going on a downward escalator while the other small portion that has received an education is going on an up escalator,” Reich said. “That great divide is going to fragment our nation.”

Reich’s remarks came at a meeting of business people, educators and students at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s computer center. He learned about work-study programs in Los Angeles and how they give high school students work experience that will help them find jobs after graduation. The DWP site was chosen for the meeting because it is involved in a youth-employment program that hires students from John H. Francis Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley.

Reich also planned to meet with labor leaders and make an appearance on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno during his Los Angeles visit Tuesday.

The labor secretary noted that today President Clinton will be signing into law the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, a bill that will fund more programs like those in Los Angeles.

The Shell Oil Co. built a $2-million institute to house its youth-employment program in February, 1993, to “give something back to the community” after the Los Angeles riots, community relations manager Robert A. Russ told Reich. The Shell Youth Service Academy places students in jobs with small businesses and gives merchants incentives to join the program by paying for workers’ compensation insurance, payroll taxes and 50% of students’ wages.

“Let me play devil’s advocate for a second--what’s in it for Shell?” Reich asked.

“In the long run, we hope the students and parents (who are involved with the program) will become our customers,” Russ responded.

Students who attended the meeting said they felt that Reich listened attentively to what business owners, program coordinators and students had to say.

“It seemed like he really cared,” said Norman Ysaguirre, 17, a student at Dorsey High School in Los Angeles who is working as a cashier at a Shell service station. “He wanted to know what the problems were and how to fix them.”