As Ready to Work Graduates Enter Job Market, COPS/Metro Pressures City to Ensure High Quality Jobs Await Them

[Photo Credit: Ronald Cortes, San Antonio Express News]


[Excerpt]

"...not enough San Antonians are landing jobs through the city sales-tax funded program, say leaders with the interfaith grassroots advocacy group. The city has failed to meet its goal that 80% of Ready to Work participants will find employment paying at least $15 an hour within six months of finishing their training.

“That’s unacceptable,” said Sister Jane Ann Slater, a COPS/Metro leader. “If they would use the process we know works, they can say, ‘We have these jobs on the table,’ and they would be hired immediately.”

The organization wants that process to be employer-driven to ensure that participants are trained for the specific jobs that San Antonio companies need to fill.

“If we know what jobs are being hired for, we can then tailor the training programs to meet those needs and not train for a thousand positions, but the most in-demand jobs,” said Josephine Lopez Paul, COPS/Metro’s lead organizer.

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