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ETA News Release: [05/06/2003]
Contact Name: Elissa Pruett
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676

Labor Grant Will Aid Minnesota’s Consolidated Freightways Workers

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao and President of International Brotherhood of Teamsters James P. Hoffa Announce up to $760,000 to Supplement Re-employment Programs

WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao was joined by James P. Hoffa, General President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters and Teamsters’ Secretary-Treasurer Thomas Keegel to announce a National Emergency Grant for the state of Minnesota totaling up to $760,000. The grant will be operated by the Minnesota Teamsters Service Bureau to aid over 190 Minnesota workers who have been dislocated from Consolidated Freightways. Of the total, $456,000 will be awarded immediately.

“President Hoffa and the Teamsters have long been supporters of worker training and I am delighted to work with him to help the workers of Minnesota better provide for themselves and their families,” Chao said. “I have seen firsthand the effort and heart President Hoffa puts into his work to improve the lives of his members. Creating jobs and helping dislocated workers find new work remain top priorities for this Administration, and President Bush and I know that the Teamsters will be effective partners in helping us get these Minnesota workers into high growth jobs.”

National Emergency Grants are part of the secretary’s discretionary fund. A grant is awarded after a state submits a request and the grant guidelines have been met. The grant project will deliver critical help to unemployed Minnesota citizens, underscoring one of the main goals of the President’s economic agenda.

The programs will supplement existing re-employment programs, providing skills assessment, peer counseling, job search and placement assistance, job development, individual and occupational skills training, on-the-job training and supportive services such as child care and transportation.

For more information on the Department of Labor’s unemployment and re-employment programs please go to www.dol.gov.

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