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Aid for California Workers in Wildfires

October 30th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

On October 25, 2007, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a $50 million grant to benefit workers affected by the wildfires in California. The funds include benefits for unemployed workers, as well as business owners and other self-employed people who are without jobs due to the disaster.

An initial release of $16.7 million will create as many as 3,125 temporary jobs to aid in efforts underway in response to the wildfires burning across much of Southern California.

“The Southern California fires have caused catastrophic damage, and it is critical that the state receives assistance immediately,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “This $50 million National Emergency Grant will fund over 3,000 temporary jobs for workers to aid in cleanup and recovery as well as provide humanitarian assistance to Californians who have suffered in this ongoing disaster.”

The grant is awarded to the California Employment Development Department. It will provide much-needed relief in the areas affected by the wildfires, including the following counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura.

This action is quick, even by U.S. Department of Labor standards. Only the day before, on October 24, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared these counties as eligible for FEMA’s Public Assistance Program.

The U.S. Department of Labor funds will be used to create temporary employment on projects related to the cleanup, repair, renovation and reconstruction of public structures, facilities and lands within wildfire-afflicted communities.

Monies under these grants will be used for projects that provide food, clothing, shelter and other types of humanitarian assistance for disaster victims.

This latest award is just the most recent in a series of labor grants this year…although most are for more mundane situations than the wildfires.

For example, workers for a Technology firm in Boise, Idaho, who were laid off will receive training for new work thanks to a grant of more than $2 million. The funds are from the U.S. Department of Labor. The more than 400 workers were laid off by Micron Technology. Of the total $2,010,277 grant, $847,538 was immediately released by the DOL.

Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao said the grant provides the workers in Idaho with “skills training, career counseling and other employment services to help them find and succeed in new jobs.”

Missouri workers were laid off after the O’Sullivan Industries plant in Lamar, Missouri closed, and a grant of $1 million was released.

In Illinois, 20 counties in the southern part of that state received a grant through SI WORKS, a program meant to improve opportunities for workers and to boost economic development.

Two grants totaling more than $1.94 million were earmarked for help to workers in Missouri and Massachusetts. The grants are designed to supply help finding jobs for workers who are laid off when plants close. Meanwhile, the DOL has determined that the workers can also receive other help under the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, or TAA.

Workers in parts of Minnesota that were hit by flash floods will receive temporary jobs and benefits thanks to a $3 million grant.

National Emergency Grants (NEG) are awarded at the discretion of the Labor secretary. They are meant to be temporary help, expanding state and local job assistance services when what are called “significant dislocation events” occur. Layoffs, plant closings, and other problems may cause a need that goes beyond what state and local agencies can provide. When that happens, states may make an application for an NEG. But a state cannot qualify unless discretionary funds are bundled into the state’s resources.

The DOL earlier this year made a grant a grant of more than $1.2 million to help nearly 250 workers who were laid off. All of the workers were with the corporate offices of Brooks Eckerd in Warwick, Rhode Island, and lost their jobs when Rite Aid Acquired Brooks Eckerd.