Washington 285M Secy.-Treas. Ed Williams, left, shows GCIU Pres. George Tedeschi state-of-the-art recessed computers for the new District of Columbia one-stop training center located in Local 285M's headquarters.

Washington, D.C., GCIU Local 285M's school is the site for the new A. Philip Randolph Worker Center/One-Stop Career Center to help displaced, unemployed and underemployed city residents train for and find self-supporting jobs.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the center on Labor Day weekend, Joslyn Williams, president of the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO, said the new training venture is "the first of its kind in the United States with a partnership between government and labor providing a one-stop career center."

AFL-CIO Pres. John J. Sweeney explained that last summer, the AFL-CIO Community Services Agency joined forces with the District of Columbia's Department of Employment Services (DOES), the AFL-CIO Working for America Institute, and area union locals to establish CareerPath to help some 1,500 workers who were displaced by the closing of inpatient services at D.C. General Hospital.

Then the horrific events of Sept. 11 displaced thousands more city workers as National Airport was temporarily closed and hotels, restaurants and related businesses suffered the economic aftermath. The D.C. government and unions expanded their partnership to help the newly unemployed with a temporary job center in AFL-CIO headquarters in downtown Washington.

Sweeney said that the AFL-CIO "considers these accomplishments as stepping stones to an even bigger program in the future" with the partnership between labor and government.

The new center in Washington 285M's school will provide training in basic computer use, math, learning skills, communication skills, interview skills, and preparation for career track training in the computer, nursing, and health care administrative fields that are projected to be growth areas. The non-technical computer career track includes desktop publishing, web design and web manager/administrator.

The center also offers skill assessment, individual counseling, career planning, GED preparation, and job placement assistance.

DOES Director Gregg Irish praised the efforts of Local 285M Pres. Harold Delchamp and Secy.-Treas. Edward F. Williams Sr. in helping to establish the "state-of-the-art" center. "These guys stepped up to the plate and did a lot of hard work. Without them, we wouldn't be here today," he said.

D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams said the "very unique, innovative one-stop job center really represents labor and government working together to offer real opportunities to our citizens. It is the first full-scale, comprehensive and concrete partnership in this city."

Other speakers at the grand opening included D.C. Council Chairman Linda Cropp and council members Adrian Fenty, Phil Mendelson, and David Catania.

Norman Hill, president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, said it is fitting that the employment center is named after Randolph, who organized black Pullman porters into the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and was a major leader in the long fight for civil rights.

"Randolph said many times that freedom's material foundation is a decent job.... It is in that spirit that this center is aptly named to help workers enter the economic mainstream of this area and the country," Hill said.