Students and staff protest closure of Westover Job Corps
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – Hundreds of students and staff are protesting for their future after it was announced that a Chicopee facility is closing its doors.
The Labor Department has ordered Job Corps centers nationwide to pause all operations, but students and staff say this center has become their second chance at life. Job Corps is a program under the Labor Department that offers free education and vocational training to people ages 16 to 24.
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A majority of participants come from low-income or homeless backgrounds. According to the National Job Corps Association, the graduation rate for students is 60%. They said previously, the Labor Department released a transparency report falsely claiming it was 38%.
Currently, Job Corps students are being hired in several industries, like medical and automobile, and furthering their current careers. However, the U.S. Department of Labor claims the centers are 'no longer achieving their intended outcomes.'
'Before I came here, I was in the street getting into illegal activity, I was depressed,' said Alejandro Rodriguez, a student at Westover Job Corps. 'When I found out about Job Corps, it was a way out from everything. I never had staff or a group of people who told me, 'We believe in you, we're going to see you do better.''
The center in Chicopee has more than 350 students and 170 staff members. There are currently around 120 Job Corps centers nationwide, and 99 of them are run by the Labor Department. The others are under the Agriculture Department and won't be impacted.
Those impacted are being asked to pause all operations by the end of the month. Union representatives are now fighting to save the center for both staff and students.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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