Jobs for Progress: Minority Highway Contracting and S.E.R. Jobs for Progress Inc.
Host Alejandro Saenz interviews George Gomez, the program coordinator for the SER Minority Highway Contractors division. SER seeks to provide Mexicans with the skills needed to compete for various state and federal jobs. The GI Forum and LULAC organized SER in the mid-sixties in Houston, as an experimental project to train and develop Mexican workers to meet the manpower needs of the United States. The program, which has spread throughout the Southwest, provides various opportunities for workers to received special training and basic education.
At the time of the interview, SER had three main projects: developing Mexican American Chambers of Commerce, creating a job bank for paraprofessional minority employees, and helping minority contractors qualify to bid on highway projects. To do this, the organization works with several government agencies, including the Department of Commerce. The program recruits qualified applicants, assesses their skill or needs, provides training, and the follows up with them for at least a year. The job bank serves paraprofessionals who are looking for upward mobility in federal or state jobs. It prescreens individuals interested in certain jobs and then presents the employers with the most qualified applicants.
KEYWORDS
Adult Basic Education ProgramsAffirmative Action
American GI Forum
Austin
California
Carter Administration
CETA Act
Citizenship
Colorado
Dallas
Department of Labor
ESL
Federal Highway Administration
Houston
Job Bank
Job Training
Labor Markets
Los Angeles
LULAC
Manpower Delivery Vehicles
Mexican American Chamber of Commerce
Minority Businessmen
Minority contractors
New Mexico
Office of Minority Business and enterprise
Paraprofessional
Ricardo Zazueta
SER Jobs for Progress, Inc.
Service, Employment, Redevelopment
Southwestern States
Spanish as a Second Language
State department of transportation
State politics
TAMACC
Texas
Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Congress
Upward mobility
Urban Planning