By Julie Bisbee, Business Writer,
The Oklahoman
May 12, 2006
Reprinted with permission
Officials at Metro Technology Centers are hoping to get a cash infusion from
the Legislature to help train laid-off General Motors Corp. employees for good-paying
jobs.
The funds also would help Metro Tech expand its popular aviation maintenance
technician program. The school needs about $907,000 to turn hangar space into
classrooms and labs and hire instructors.
The program places about 95 percent of its graduates at Tinker Air Force Base.
Students who aren’t in classes could wait as long as 18 months to begin
training.
About 100 students on the waiting list worked at General Motors or its suppliers
before the plant was idled, said Pete Lee, director of Metro Tech’s aviation
career campus.
Lee has been appealing to state leaders for the money since January. As the
session wanes, he worries lawmakers may overlook his request that could help
cut the state’s un- employment payments next year.
“It’s cheaper to train them, if they will help us,” Lee said. “The
jobs are there.”
The last General Motors vehicle rolled off the Oklahoma City assembly line
in February. The plant’s closure rippled through the state’s manufacturing
industry causing the shut down of several suppliers including Johnson Controls
Inc., which made seats for the sport utility vehicles assembled in Oklahoma
City.
GM’s 2,200 hourly workers will receive full pay and benefits until their
union contract expires in September 2007 as part of the company’s Jobs
Bank program.
Former GM employee Paul West beat the rush to sign up for aviation maintenance
technician training at Metro Tech. He signed up within days of the announcement
the GM plant would close.
“I’m hoping to get a job at Tinker,” said
West, 49. “As far as a lucrative job, aviation seems to be the
way to go.”
West spent 28 years working for GM in Ohio and Oklahoma. He will finish his
Metro Tech training in September 2007.
West and a handful of other GM employees are among the oldest students at Metro
Tech. He soon will be taking classes with his son, Jeff, who graduates from
high school this month.
Lee wants to get the former GM workers through the 18-month program and ready
for employment before they have to file for unemployment benefits.
“I want to try to help these people,” Lee said. “We can do
this. We’re good at training people and getting results — good-paying
jobs.”
If Metro Tech receives the nearly $1 million to expand its training facilities,
it would be less than what the state would pay unemployed workers. The state
could end up paying about $1.3 million in unemployment benefits in 2007, when
benefits for GM workers end, Lee said.
Students who graduate from the aviation technician training program earn an
average salary of $27,820 in their first year of work. They are certified by
the Federal Aviation Administration and in demand as the state sees its aerospace
industry grow.
“This isn’t just a Tinker problem,” said Victor Bird, director
of the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission. “It’s a larger problem. We
can’t grow the industry without the needed labor.”
Lawmakers still are hashing out a budget for the next
year as the session dwindles, said Rep. Richard Morrissette, D-Oklahoma
City. More displaced GM workers live in Morrissette’s district
than any other state legislative boundary. Metro Tech’s budget
request is being considered, he said.
“The aerospace industry is looking for qualified workers, and if that means
they’re going to hire former GM workers, then I’ll help any way I
can,” Morrissette said. “The budget process has been going on since
January and everything is still up in the air. Now is as good a time as any to
make a request.”
Copyright 2006, The Oklahoma Publishing
Company
