Show We Should Eliminate Abuses In On-Job On Training Program Marquis Childs columnist whose articles appear from time timeto timeto to time on t this lis page T called attention to abuses of the governments government's the on training program for service e men The the on training program was waa set ct up to help veterans bridge budge the gap from army or navy service to employment in a good job at fair wages in civilian life Many of these returning veterans went into service straight from school Many others had just s 's started working careers and had not advanced to the point where they were skilled in a trade or occupation They were just youngsters of 18 19 and 20 Under normal circumstances circum circum- stances they would have worked several years gaining experience ence until they were able to hold down a regular job at good wages Then some time in their early twenties they would c. c expect to marry many settle down and raise a family family and and they would have havethe havethe havethe the job experience and the earning power necessary to o support ah a home Instead d of being able to follow this normal procedure they went vent into the into the service They w were re in three or four years and now come back to civilian life as adults They've grown up They are 22 23 or 24 Many of them married while in the service Many have children They cant can't go back and start over again where they left off They need need and and they are entitled to to-a to a good job and a good steady income But lacking experience experienc and skill they find it difficult to get a job at good wages So the government steps in with the the on-the-job training program to bridge the gap While the veteran is gaining skill and experience as a beginner the government supplements bi his hia low beginners beginner's begin begin- ner's ners wage with a subsistence allowance of 65 a month if the veteran is unmarried or 90 if he is married mamed Its It's a good program It gives the veteran the help in readjusting readjusting readjusting re re- re- re adjusting himself to civilian life which he deserves But unfortunately unfortunately unfortunately un un- un- un fortunately abuses have crept in to mar an otherwise sound program As Childs said some veterans and some employers have taken advantage of the the on-the-job training program for personal gain Some veterans have been granted the subsistence allowance on jobs which in fact are not beginners or learners jobs at all and which pay a full salary For instance Childs I cited the case of a young bank vice president with a salary of a year who returned to the same job he had before the war but got subsistence payments on the ground hp he was in training for a job as executive vice president On the other hand band some employers have taken advantage of the program to pay lower than normal wages for a job letting the government bring th the salary up to normal level el with its subsistence payments There are these abuses But Bu that doesn't mean the program is bad or that it should be abandoned The answer of course is to eliminate the abuses The program was not established to pay a bonus to veterans Nor was it established to make malte cheap labor available to employers It was established to help make up for the years jears these young joung men had lost in their country's service service to to bring them back into civilian life on about the economic level they would have been on had they not been called away That's sound Its It's right and fair We should eliminate eliminate nate any abuses in this the on-the-job training program but we should not disparage it nor abandon it It is a good program which if properly handled will be of great help in the readjustment readjustment readjust readjust- ment to civilian life of our returning service men 4 |