JOBS TEAM

The ECCO Jobs team was an outgrowth of the success of the E-Team in meeting the needs of low-wage workers for good jobs that pay a living wage and the needs of employers on the North Shore for well trained workers. The major urban centers of the North Shore, Lynn and Salem, report unemployment numbers above the state average. In Salem it is 5.9% and Lynn 7.5%. Furthermore, a lack of living wage jobs forces families to seek multiple employment. As a result, family members spend less time together. Parental support is lacking for young people who are also working to contribute to the family’s economic survival. Many things are needed, but not least among them is a continuation of ECCO’s campaign to move hard working people into living wage jobs that are on offer, but continue unfilled.

The ECCO Jobs Team has recently been meeting with Mary Sarris of the North Shore Workforce Investment Board (WIB) to investigate developing a program like the E-Team PRIMO program for the allied health professions - specifically for preparing LPNs.

Recently, ECCO, in conjunction with the North Shore’s Workforce Investment Board, North Shore Community College, and Operation Bootstrap, has embarked on a new initiative to recruit and support the training of students for one of Massachusetts’ most important areas - health care. This effort is well timed. Although some courses are offered to propel people into the health care field, many slots in these classes remain unfilled. The reason for this is a gap in the prerequisite skills including English language skills, vocabulary, science, and mathematics. Health care employers are willing to fund the classes and make a commitment to hiring the students upon completion of the program were there enough participants to take the program.

What ECCO can do, as we have shown in machining, is organize training so that highly motivated people can get into these programs. We are good at bringing people up to required standards in math, technical reading, teamwork building, and other requirements of a specific profession. Utilizing the generosity of volunteers, churches, public facilities in the evenings and on weekends, and committed faculty who already have “day jobs,” we can provide this training at a modest cost relative to the outcomes.

We invite anyone who is interested to come to Jobs Team meetings. The Jobs Team meets monthly at the Church of St. Andrew in Marblehead. We invite anyone who is interested to come to Jobs Team meetings. The Jobs Team meets monthly at the Church of St. Andrew in Marblehead. For more information, please contact Tom Lemons.