Testimony

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Annette Bernhardt, Lisa Kresgeand Kung Feng

Response to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Request for Information on Automated Worker Surveillance and Management

Our goal in this comment is to highlight evidence indicating the prevalence of automated workplace surveillance and management technologies, impact on workers resulting from employers’ use of these systems, and principles and policy models for worker technology rights and protections.

Nari Rhee

Testimony: Gaps in Retirement Savings Based on Race, Ethnicity and Gender

Testimony of Nari Rhee before the U.S. DOL ERISA Advisory Council Hearing. The US private sector employer-sponsored retirement system leaves out many workers, disproportionately impacting Blacks and Latinos. While some states have forged their own path to try to close this coverage gap, these efforts are limited in scope by ERISA preemption. Federal policy action is necessary so that all workers are covered by a plan that effectively prepares them for a financially secure retirement.

Ken Jacobsand Sarah Thomason

Comments on Rule Proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Prohibiting Homecare Workers from Making Paycheck Deductions for Union Dues

The ability of homecare workers to choose to join a union and have dues deducted from their pay has led to important improvements in an industry historically marked by low wages and high worker turnover. The proposed rule would not only harm workers, it would have a deleterious effect on care quality and undermine the objective of home and community based services of providing seniors and people with disabilities a viable alternative to institutional settings.

Carol Zabin

Comments on the California Public Utilities Commission’s 2013-2014 Evaluation, Measurement &Verification Plan

The research roadmap makes significant progress in beginning to address the workforce issues that were highlighted in the Needs Assessment and that are essential for consideration of alternative approaches to workforce issues, including but not limited to training strategies. However, we urge the Energy Division and the IOUs to develop a comprehensive research agenda on jobs and workforce issues.

Carol Zabinand Jessie HF Hammerling

October 26, 2012, Comments on California Energy Commission’s First Triennial Investment Plan for the Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) Program

Although not all of the suggestions from our comments submitted on October 2nd were integrated into the EPIC Final Staff Report, we were pleased
to see that some of our recommendations were taken into account in the revisions. We have a few minor suggestions for additions or revisions to the Report.

Carol Zabinand Jessie HF Hammerling

October 2, 2012, Comments on California Energy Commission’s First Triennial Investment Plan for the Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) Program

We applaud the effort that went into the draft plan and appreciate EPIC’s attention to ours and others’ comments on workforce. We appreciate the CEC’s attention to this area and their acknowledgement of the importance of workforce planning In driving commercial scale deployment of energy efficiency and clean energy investments. We present comments that we believe could strengthen EPIC’s efforts in the area of workforce education and training, which detail oral comments we made at the Sept 27 workshop.

Carol Zabinand Jessie HF Hammerling

August 17, 2012, Comments on California Energy Commission’s First Triennial Investment Plan for the Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) Program

The Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) is designed to address innovation, emerging technologies and the growth of markets for clean energy. We believe that workforce issues are a critical component of this and we would like to encourage a strong emphasis on labor market analysis and workforce planning and innovation in the EPIC program.

Carol Zabin

Comments on California Energy Commission’s Proposal for Certification of Acceptance Testing Field Technicians for Lighting Controls and HVAC Systems (Docket No. 10-BSTD-01)

While the UC Berkeley Don Vial Center for Employment in the Green Economy is pleased to see that the CEC draft language shows recognition of the importance of certification as a means of testing the skills, knowledge and ability (KSAs) to show competency for a particular job like acceptance testing, the approach to choosing which certifications ensure competency is inadequate.