Now that the VA is going to build a new hospital in Aurora at the medical campus that used to be the Fitzsimons Army Medical Post, we need to make sure the construction employs those with a special interest in it. I mean veterans and working men and women. During these terrible economic times, there are many veterans who could use new skills to be ready to work.
Our hospital must be built by veterans in unions where they can learn the skills they need to keep them employed for the rest of their lives. Apprenticeship programs teach and train women and men to not only do the job, such as electrician, but to do it well and safely. These programs are the best way to learn about modern techniques and materials.
Another good reason for employing skilled labor and veterans is very simple. Veterans have the desire to work after their military careers. I remember talking to a friend of mine who was unemployed after discharge in 1970. He told me about being drafted and while in basic training he was told the skills he learned in the military would transfer to civilian skills and help him get a good job after his discharge. He expressed it this way "How many companies want to hire a point man on a rifle squad?"
Right now we are in very tough economic times. Jobs are scarce for many working people. It can be even more difficult for a veteran. We must make the construction of the VA Hospital in Aurora a starting point for veterans reentering the workplace. Give these GI’s training and a job, help them avoid unemployment after discharge. Give them an education and a trade to help them have work for life.
To make this hospital the best built hospital for veterans is by changing the rules to allow union only Project Labor Agreements specifying the hiring of veterans. This will ensure that veterans will be in the apprentice training they need and not on the streets unemployed. We need to get the veterans into the apprentice programs and then working on the new VA hospital which many of them and other veterans will be using in the future.
Contacting your Senators and Representatives in Congress is important to make the necessary rule changes.
Cross posted at Pam Bennett for Aurora, SquareState