Wednesday, March 17, 2004 | 10:57 a.m.
While proponents call the U.S. Department of Labor's National Hispanic Worker Initiative a win-win deal for workers and employers, some local Democrats say the plan announced in North Las Vegas on Tuesday may be an election-year move by the Bush administration to court Hispanic voters.
Labor Secretary Elaine Chao visited Nevada Partners Inc. in North Las Vegas on Tuesday to unveil the new initiative and to present the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, known locally as the Culinary Union, with a $1.9 million grant.
The grant will allow the union to assist Hispanic workers in finding jobs in the hospitality industry. The grant will also allow the union to provide job training and language skills to Hispanic workers.
"These programs recognize that language skills are so critical for advancing in the workforce. This grant is part of a $10 million Labor Department program. This initiative will help Hispanic Americans find good jobs that we all want for all workers," Chao said during her visit.
In Las Vegas, the union will work in a partnership with more than 24 Las Vegas hospitality industry employers through the Culinary Training Academy and Nevada Partners Inc.
The Culinary Training Academy is a joint management-labor training trust, while Nevada Partners is a nonprofit organization working in collaboration with the Culinary Training Academy to provide job training and job placement assistance to the community.
Jon Summers, a spokesman for the Nevada State Democratic Party, said although HERE, Nevada Partners and the Culinary Training Academy are deserving of the funding, he questioned the timing of the initiative.
"This administration has not done one thing for the Hispanic community in the three years he's (President George Bush) been in office," he said. "Now he's realized he needs the Hispanic vote to win this election. I'm thrilled to see Nevada Partners get this money, both of them do great work. It is a good example of unions and management working together, but the motives are questionable," Summers said.
Neither of Nevada's Democratic congressional leaders, Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Shelley Berkley, attended the press conference. David Cherry, a spokesman for Berkley, said his office didn't receive any written or verbal invitation to the event. Reid's office couldn't confirm if he had been invited to attend.
Republican Sen. John Ensign praised the initiative.
"I thank Secretary Chao for shining a national spotlight on the Culinary Training Academy and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE) International Union. The Hispanic population in Las Vegas is growing at an incredibly rapid pace, and the Culinary Training Academy, HERE, and Nevada Partners have worked successfully to train workers and fill positions in the hospitality industry," Ensign said.
The grant will allow HERE, parent of the Culinary Union Local 226, to assist more than 2,000 Hispanic new citizens and immigrant workers in Las Vegas and another 45 incumbent workers in Atlantic City. Further, on-site training in occupational English will be offered to 450 incumbent workers at 10 area hotels in Las Vegas.
Tom Snyder, a spokesman for HERE, said the reason why more people in Las Vegas will receive assistance through the grant is because Las Vegas has a larger employer base and because the Culinary Training Academy is larger and more established than its counterpart in Atlantic City.
The Hispanic Worker Initiative is part of an effort at the Labor Department to link the nation's workforce system to available jobs in growing industries. Other growing industries include health care, service and construction.
"The goal is to train workers for jobs that exist instead of just working them through the system," Chao said.
In the past, HERE has been supportive of the rights of immigrant workers. In September HERE led a coalition of union and civil rights groups on the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride across the country to highlight the plight of immigrant workers in America.
John Wilhelm, president of HERE, said the union was grateful for the funding and said the Culinary Training Academy is a good example of labor and management working together.
However, the union has been critical of the Bush administration's plan to allow undocumented workers to work legally. In a Jan. 12 statement on the union's website, the union spoke out against Bush's immigration proposal to allow undocumented workers to work legally for a three-year period.
Wilhelm declined comment on that statement Tuesday.
"We're happy to have the secretary here. This is not a day for politics," Wilhelm said.
Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn, who also spoke during a press conference to announce the grant, said politics did not come into play. He said over the past year, the state has recieved $153 million from the Labor Department for employment programs.
"We got the money because of the success of our programs. I don't think it has anything to do with the political process," Guinn said after the press conference.
Guinn is an honorary co-chairman of Bush's Nevada re-election effort.
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