VP Joe Biden Stresses Job Training During Oakland Visit

Vice President Joe Biden stressed the importance of workforce development and investing in job training programs at a PG&E service center in Oakland today.

Biden said PG&E’s “PowerPathway” program, which helps workers develop skills for entry-level positions in the utility industry, “is one of the premier programs in the country” and should be copied by other companies so people can be better trained for job opportunities.

Speaking to an audience of about 100 people that included workers, trainees and dignitaries such as Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Biden said, “This is exactly what companies should be doing everywhere.”

Tony Earley, PG&E’s president and chief executive, said 600 people have graduated from PowerPathway since the program began in 2008, including 300 veterans, and 80 percent of them have been hired by PG&E or other utility
companies.

Earley said the program is a collaboration between local colleges, non-profits, and unions and gives participants targeted skills for specific positions at PG&E and also helps them with interviewing and resume-building skills.

Biden said job training programs such as PowerPathway are important because “there’s a looming worker shortage in the utility industry,” as it’s projected that 15 percent of current employees will retire in the next five years.

The vice president said he’s glad that veterans comprise a significant percentage of the participants in PG&E’s program, saying veterans have developed important skills, such as leadership, during their service and
have much to offer to employers.

“This is the best trained, most qualified group of warriors America has ever produced,” Biden said.

He also praised PG&E for its recent commitment to fill 75 percent of its management positions from within, a move he said will incentivize workers and increase productivity.

Biden told workers and trainees, “This is a real genuine opportunity.”

The vice president said he and President Barack Obama will host an “upskilling summit” at the White House later this month to call on businesses across the country to train employees for senior level positions.

Biden said the summit is part of the Obama administration’s effort to create more high-paying middle class jobs.

Standing next to Tom Dalzell, the business manager for Local 1245 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Biden thanked the union for standing by him during his entire political career.

“There’s a great correlation between the decline of organized labor and the decline of the middle class,” Biden said, “The middle class is dwindling and we have to grow it again.”

Before his remarks, Biden met with 15 students in the PowerPathway program.

Biden flew into San Francisco on Thursday for a political fundraiser.

According to a pool report filed by reporters traveling with the vice president, after Biden left Oakland at about 12:30 p.m. he and his motorcade drove across the Bay Bridge and he had lunch at The Melt restaurant at the Embarcadero Center.

According to the report, he ordered a classic grilled cheese sandwich with a side dish of tomato soup and his tab was $9.91.

Biden is scheduled to spend tonight in San Francisco but doesn’t have any more public events scheduled.

--Bay City News; Photo Patch Archive