City Union May Kill Summer Kids
Proram
Valley
Patriot Staff
The City of Lawrence’s Summer Youth
Program is the newest target of the Local
Laborer’s Union and is in jeopardy
of being canceled due to a complaint
filed by Local 3 – Laborer’s
Union. The complaint is in protest
to the hiring of nearly two dozen public
school students to work for the city of
Lawrence.
Union officials say they do not want
these students to work for the city
and are demanding that the city
recall laid off employees (only laborer’s
union employees) before students
are allowed to begin their summer jobs.
In an exclusive interview, Lawrence
Personnel Director Frank Bonet said he
felt it was “a disgrace” for
any union to hold the city’s
students hostage in lieu of gaining on
their own “selfish demands.”
“I can’t understand why a labor
union would use children to gain an
advantage in their demands. This program
allows our city’s youth to gain
experience in the workforce, to learn the
responsibilities of having a job, to
learn how to compose job resumes and
create networking opportunities with city
professionals”.
Bonet continued, “Mayor Sullivan has
been and will continue to be a friend of
students and jobs and I don’t
believe that he will allow these unions
to put our children down. He never has
and never will.”
“For someone to think that the city
will buckle under threats of bogus
grievances and arbitrations better begin
to think about how they can assist this
city in its goals instead of taking
advantages of its children.”
Mayor Sullivan added, “The Workforce
Investment Board and Valleyworks
employees have worked hard, worked smart
and added many long hours to make sure
that our children have the opportunity
for the Summer Youth Work Program. It
offers Lawrence kids the opportunity to
gain work experience and develop skills
while connecting with City governments
and non-profit agencies.”
Students work with the city of Lawrence
in many capacities and in various city
departments, including; the Lawrence
Public Schools (with funds of the LPS),
the Police Department, the Fire
Department, non-profit agencies such as
the YMCA, YWCA, Boating Program, City
Hall and many more.
Mayor Sullivan said the Lawrence Police
and Fire Departments both support the
importance of showing their student
residents the worklife of city employees.
Sullivan says this includes engaging the
talents and interests of young people,
increasing their skills and competencies,
and providing positive adult role models.
“This kind of real life experience
introduces them to the workplace, passes
on valuable employment skills, and
provides them with a summer income.”
Bonet said the city unions are playing
politics with the lives and futures of
young people.
“This isn’t just a job
placement pro-gram, it has the core
elements of thriving youth-development
programming includ-ing: adult support and
guidance, engaging activities, and
contributions from youth. We assist them
in making a successful transition to
healthy adulthood and economic
independence.”
“The bottom line is,” Mayor
Sullivan concluded, “I am not going
to tell the kids of Lawrence that making
our unions happy is more important than
helping them start their work and life
experience here in the city”
Sullivan said.
The recent complaints from the Laborer’s
union came in response to an Eagle
Tribune article that revealed
Groundwork Lawrence’s interest in
hosting Lawrence Outdoor Youth Corps
(LOYC) summer job slots for youth aged
14-18 through the Summer Jobs
Program.
The LOYC youth workers would be dedicated
to keeping this summer’s newly
constructed two-way Essex Street corridor
looking clean, supplement the Essex
Street work with a rotation of staffing
support for Farmers Market, park
cleanups, and landscaping maintenance of
the Marston Street/Canal Street Gateway
area.
“This summer jobs program is an
important way to strengthen the character
of our community. The experience that
kids get in a program like this is
something they will carry with them the
rest of their lives. It’s very
disappointing to me that the union would
grieve this and try to take that
opportunity away from them,”
Sullivan concluded.
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