ESL, ASAP: JVS offers English classes to displaced Chinese garment workers

Twenty Chinese women sit elbow-to-elbow in a classroom at Jewish Vocational Service, running their lines in a mock job interview.

"Hello," they declaim in accented unison. "I have an interview at 1:45."

As they practice, the din rises to the level of a swinging cocktail party.

It is the cacophony of hope.

The women are all displaced garment workers whose jobs disappeared thanks to offshoring and other economic realities.

To help them navigate today's job market, JVS in San Francisco launched an intensive program that gives these women, and others like them, something they never had before: the English language.

Says JVS Executive Director Abby Snay, "the majority of displaced workers in the Bay Area are limited-English speakers. In a service-focused economy, to work successfully, you have to speak English."

Though JVS has always offered classes in English, the new program was born in the wake of an economic earthquake two years ago. Levi Strauss, the S.F.-based garment manufacturer, decided to close its Valencia Street factory. That move pink-slipped 180 workers, some of whom had been with the jeans-maker for decades.

It could have been worse. It could have been some other company.

"Levi Strauss is a very benevolent employer," notes Snay. "When we heard about the closing, we contacted them to see how we could help. That began innovative and successful partnership."

Inna Pavlova, JVS employment programs director, and Jim Torrens, director of training, helped design the program. "We took the model we created for Soviet refugees," says Pavlova, a Soviet immigrant herself. "Then we applied it to the Cantonese-speaking population."

"The Department of Labor gave us a certain time frame to get them job-ready," adds Torrens. "We had a year."

They did have help. Because NAFTA covers plant closures, workers were eligible for extended training benefits. Funders like the Levi Strauss Foundation and Bank of America donated funds to get the program going. That permitted the workers to sign up for a full year of ESL and job training.

The program is rigorous: eight hours a day, five days a week for eight months, all English all the time. Then months of training to get students ready for work, mostly in the hotel and custodial trades.

The course allots some fun time, too. In the first go-round, students went on a field trip to Macy's in Union Square. The store's human resource executives gave them the grand tour and a taste of the kinds of jobs they might eventually seek.

The first group of trainees completed the program last year. Hundreds turned out for the graduation ceremony, including executives from Levi Strauss.

That was then. Now, a new group of students is seven months into their program.

Lifei Liang worked as a seamstress in Sausalito, but her plant closed down. Until the JVS course, she spoke no English. Now, she's brave enough to sit for an interview.

Says the Canton native, "I am very happy. I enjoy my education at JVS. It's hard, but they teach me very much and are patient. I hope for a new job."

For Snay, this is the reward. As a fringe benefit, people like Liang get to know something about the Jewish people.

"For many, this has been their only contact with Jews," she says. "What better way to promote good community relations?"

Though their old jobs were unchallenging, the women did earn decent salaries and benefits. Transitioning to low-wage jobs in the hotel and janitorial fields may augur financial stress for some of them.

But Shiu Chun Leung doesn't seem worried. A long-time employee at CP Shades, she was abruptly told she no longer had a job. Until the course she, too, spoke no English. Now, she's chattering away.

"JVS very helpful to get a job," she says, beaming. "I like America. American life is good."