WORKFAIRNESS
39 W. 14th St. #206, NY, NY 10011,
Ph: (212)633-6646, FAX: 633 2889

Contact: Vanessa Lewis, William Mason
(212)633-6646
For Immediate Release           

WISCONSIN WELFARE-TO-WORK PROGRAM BRINGS POVERTY,
NOT JOBS -- Thousands Pushed Off Rolls

A new study shows that Wisconsin's "welfare-to-work" program succeeds
only in pushing people off welfare -- not in getting them jobs.

The findings come as NYC workfare workers and unions prepare a press
conference for the February arrival of Jason Turner, Wisconsin's
"workfare czar," whom Mayor Giuliani recently appointed to head the
city's welfare agency. Set for Monday, February 2, Noon, at 250 Church
Street, the press conference is called by Workfairness, an
organization of workfare workers and supporters, currently working on
AFSCME D.C. 37's workfare workers' union drive.   

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee report studied 25, 125 single
parents on welfare in Milwaukee County between December 1995 and March
1997. Among other things, it shows that:

Only 1 out of 6 families who left welfare by September 1996 earned
more than poverty-level wages by the year's end. By March 1997, that
figure had dropped to 1 out of 12.

More than a third of those families showed no earnings whatsoever by
the end of 1996. The study doesn't track what became of these
families.

65% of single parents who entered the labor force in 1996 were no
longer employed by March 1997. Measured from the spring of 1996, the
figure is 75%.

"It's not enough to say that Wisconsin's stated goal of moving people
from `welfare to work' is a stunning failure," said William Mason,
workfare worker and co-founder of Workfairness. "The fact is that
`welfare-to-work' is a lie -- both in Wisconsin and New York. The
intention is solely to drive people off welfare to keep wages down and
bust unions. Giuliani wants Turner to help him continue this plan in
New York."   

"But we're ready for him. On February 2, workfare workers will meet
Turner with this message: Tell your boss, Giuliani, that he should use
New York's $300 million surplus to create living-wage, union jobs!

For copies of the uwm study, contact Workfairness at (212)633-6646

Who is Jason Turner?

National Peoples Campaign
npcny@peoplescampaign.org
phone: (212) 633-6646
fax: (212) 633-2889