DSpace@MIT

This national joint training initiative, funded at 14 cents per payroll hour worked, represents a key institutional innovation. Negotiated under Article 20 of the contract, this program has evolved over its first decade of experience. It expands life long learning to nearly all hourly workers. Major components of the program include: Layoff and Redeployment assistance, The Health and Safety Institute; Career and Personal Development; Classroom Training; Personal Enrichment, and High Performance Work Organization (HPWO). After a decade, the joint programs have reached between 40 and 50% of bargaining unit employees. Lean initiatives at Boeing are largely separate from the National Joint Training programs. The joint training programs have attractive design features and a steady stream of funds - so perhaps they should be more tightly linked. The program is jointly governed and staffed and thereby provides shared ownership from management, the union and the workforce. Its full potential will only be realized, however, when line managers see it as a core resource.