Council on Competitiveness Speaks in Support of President’s Commitment to Veteran Employment

The Council on Competitiveness looks forward to working with the President to implement the Veterans Jobs Corps initiative which builds on the Council’s recommendation to create a Veterans in Manufacturing Program that would help put veterans to work leveraging skills developed in the military.

In a statement earlier this morning, Council on Competitiveness Labor Vice-Chair William P. Hite, General President of the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, remarked: “Putting our veterans to work should be America’s top priority, and the UA and Council on Competitiveness supports President Obama’s initiative to find jobs for the men and women who served their country. The President should not stop there. He should also work with the private sector to train veterans for jobs in the high-skills, high-wage trades sector.”

Friday’s announcement is congruent with key recommendations put forth in the Council’s recent MAKE: An American Manufacturing Movement report, which call for the Administration to “create a Veterans in Manufacturing program” to develop “a public-private partnership through the Department of Defense to identify opportunities for newly returning and older veterans to skill up for the manufacturing workforce and allow the younger and older generations to cross train each other, where possible.” Existing programs like the United Association’s Veterans in Piping (VIP) program – a nationwide partnership that offers accelerated training for veterans for careers in the plumbing and pipefitting industry – should be expanded to create opportunities for all veterans.