Living the Workfare Runaround

Mineola, New York

New York's Work Experience Program is intended to give unemployed people the training they need to get back to work.

But when Hadie Hartgrove got her WEP position with the Nassau County government last September, she already had plenty of experience. In fact, she had held the job four years earlier until the county laid her off during a period of budget cuts.

It's the same job -- the same work, the same location, the same colleagues -- but it doesn't have the same benefits: no vacation, no sick leave, no pension, no union. On top of all that, the pay is lower.

Life has been difficult for Hartgrove since 1992 when she was let go from her position as a part-time custodian in the Nassau County Social Services Building.

"I went through hell going to different places trying to find work," recalls the former member of the Civil Service Employees Association/AFSCME Local 1000.

When her unemployment compensation ran out a year later she had to turn to public assistance to support herself and the 3-year-old cousin she is raising.

But last September, the WEP program sent her back to her old job with the Nassau County government. Her supervisor respects Hartgrove's abilities and has her cover the phones in his absence. She acts as a troubleshooter, sending co-workers out to handle problems as they are called in. "I know the building pretty well," she says.

It's a strange fit. Hartgrove doesn't need work experience. She had years of that. What she needs is a real job with real benefits.

She keeps up her job search in addition to the 80-hour-a-monthjob. "You look in the papers and ask friends about jobs. You put the applications in -- and no response," Hartgrove explains. The Long Island area has a very tight job market.

"I like working in the schools. I like working in security. I like this job. But I'd like to have this job funded again -- have it be a regular job."