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Bay Area’s Black workers face crisis of low-wage jobs
New UC Berkeley study shows 64% of young Black workers work but stay poor
Berkeley – A University of California, Berkeley, study of San Francisco Bay Area Black workers between 1970 and 2000 shows a significant percentage of Black workers holding low-wage jobs, a situation that is increasingly acute for young Black men.
“In the popular media, the unemployment crisis is captured by scenes of approximately 11,000 applicants – largely Black and Latino – lining up for 400 vacancies at an Oakland Wal-Mart,” said labor policy specialist Steven Pitts, who conducted the study with city planner Steve Wertheim for UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education.
But his research shows a crisis not just of unemployment but also a crisis of low-wage jobs for Black workers ages 18 to 65 in the nine-county Bay Area. “Too many African-Americans work at jobs that do not provide wages and benefits to properly raise a family,” Pitts said.
He said the results could have significant policy impacts in terms of job training efforts by community-based organizations, labor unions, policy advocates and public officials.
Among his findings:
l In 1970, 25.7 percent of all the region’s Black workers held low-wage jobs, and in 2000 the percentage grew to 27.8 percent of all Blacks with jobs.
l In 1970, 37.4 percent of all low-wage Black workers held full-time jobs, and in 2000 some 49.2 percent of all low-wage Black workers worked full time.
l It is increasingly difficult for young Black workers, men and women, to get a good start in terms of wages, as the percentage of them holding low-wage jobs grew from 40.2 in 1970 to 63.6 percent in 2000.
l Between 1970 and 2000 the percentage of Black men in low-wage jobs increased from 14.9 percent to 27 percent.
Low-wage jobs are defined in 2000 as those paying $11.50 an hour, enough for a full-time worker to make about $23,000 a year, or approximately two-thirds of the Bay Area’s median income that year.
This same threshold was applied to determine the number of Blacks working low-wage jobs in 1970.
Asked if the Bay Area employment scene for Black workers is likely to differ dramatically from other American urban areas, Pitts said that isn’t clear, but the center hopes to investigate further.
The report is part of an ongoing project examining how Blacks have fared in the Bay Area labor market. Future research will look at changes in the industrial and occupational distribution of Black workers for explanations of the Black labor situation.
The report can be found online at http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/publications/index.shtml. Steven Pitts can be reached at spitts1 [at] berkeley.edu or (510) 643-6815.
http://www.sfbayview.com/091405/lowwage091405.shtml
“In the popular media, the unemployment crisis is captured by scenes of approximately 11,000 applicants – largely Black and Latino – lining up for 400 vacancies at an Oakland Wal-Mart,” said labor policy specialist Steven Pitts, who conducted the study with city planner Steve Wertheim for UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education.
But his research shows a crisis not just of unemployment but also a crisis of low-wage jobs for Black workers ages 18 to 65 in the nine-county Bay Area. “Too many African-Americans work at jobs that do not provide wages and benefits to properly raise a family,” Pitts said.
He said the results could have significant policy impacts in terms of job training efforts by community-based organizations, labor unions, policy advocates and public officials.
Among his findings:
l In 1970, 25.7 percent of all the region’s Black workers held low-wage jobs, and in 2000 the percentage grew to 27.8 percent of all Blacks with jobs.
l In 1970, 37.4 percent of all low-wage Black workers held full-time jobs, and in 2000 some 49.2 percent of all low-wage Black workers worked full time.
l It is increasingly difficult for young Black workers, men and women, to get a good start in terms of wages, as the percentage of them holding low-wage jobs grew from 40.2 in 1970 to 63.6 percent in 2000.
l Between 1970 and 2000 the percentage of Black men in low-wage jobs increased from 14.9 percent to 27 percent.
Low-wage jobs are defined in 2000 as those paying $11.50 an hour, enough for a full-time worker to make about $23,000 a year, or approximately two-thirds of the Bay Area’s median income that year.
This same threshold was applied to determine the number of Blacks working low-wage jobs in 1970.
Asked if the Bay Area employment scene for Black workers is likely to differ dramatically from other American urban areas, Pitts said that isn’t clear, but the center hopes to investigate further.
The report is part of an ongoing project examining how Blacks have fared in the Bay Area labor market. Future research will look at changes in the industrial and occupational distribution of Black workers for explanations of the Black labor situation.
The report can be found online at http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/publications/index.shtml. Steven Pitts can be reached at spitts1 [at] berkeley.edu or (510) 643-6815.
http://www.sfbayview.com/091405/lowwage091405.shtml
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See the black people lined up in the thousands looking for a job. Try and imagine how many more couldn't make the drive or walk there.
Now compare that to the millions of foriegn nationals employed here under less then legal/credible circumstances. Drive to any construction site....how many black people do you see working there? But you do hear many, non english speaking, latin workers blaring mexican radios and driving vehicles emblazoned with mexican flags
Go to any motel and look at who is employed there....see many black people? Or do you see minions of foreign tongue speaking "immigrants"?
That scene you referred to at the Walmart is just the tip of the 'berg coming our way. The best way to visualize it is to show a picture of a medium sized construction project with all imported illegal laborers with a caption that reads:
These are your jobs.....
And then show a picture of the wal mart with thousands of applicants in line, and the caption:
These are your jobs on illegal immigration.....
Now compare that to the millions of foriegn nationals employed here under less then legal/credible circumstances. Drive to any construction site....how many black people do you see working there? But you do hear many, non english speaking, latin workers blaring mexican radios and driving vehicles emblazoned with mexican flags
Go to any motel and look at who is employed there....see many black people? Or do you see minions of foreign tongue speaking "immigrants"?
That scene you referred to at the Walmart is just the tip of the 'berg coming our way. The best way to visualize it is to show a picture of a medium sized construction project with all imported illegal laborers with a caption that reads:
These are your jobs.....
And then show a picture of the wal mart with thousands of applicants in line, and the caption:
These are your jobs on illegal immigration.....
Seems like the democrats have taken over imc. Now we all need to get corporate jobs so we can pay rent and put gas in our cars, pay for insurance and pay for our food..
Forget about the possiblities of rent free housing, community garden shared food, bicycle commuting, etc..
That's not realistic enough for the modern USA! We all need cars, by golly!
How secure is our future based on US currency and the job market?
Yes, African-americans or "black" people were discriminated against since the founding of the USA. That situation obviously isn't changing, one reason that Africans don't have jobs in the US is because so many are in prison working for below minimum wage and above 40 hours a week with no overtime. Why employ people when the prison system has already reintroduced slavery?
The European-americans or "white" people that reside in rural regions are "employed" as prison guards. The CDC's economic rescue package given to Crescent City after their 1920's tsunami was the construction of Pelican Bay State Prison. Ditto that for all the new desert prisons constructed recently. The CDC promises jobs for all down and out rural residents in the new prison megaplex.
"Your poor rural "white" asses can prevent their poor urban "black" asses from escaping the state's prison! Segregate the prison population based on race and ethnicity and encourage gang violence, that way the poor prisoners will be so preoccupied fighting the "other" race that they won't even think about an insurrection, eh warden?"
Keeping the prisoners busy with below minimum wage jobs, the border fence and the long trek home being the only difference from the maquiladora sweatshops in Mexico..
Destroy the prison system and restore the community for all people. Jobs and industrial factory labor can be replaced by community gardens. The IWW is the only union that i would support, and their concept of jobs is based on mutual co-operation, not wage slavery..
http://www.iww.org/
Forget about the possiblities of rent free housing, community garden shared food, bicycle commuting, etc..
That's not realistic enough for the modern USA! We all need cars, by golly!
How secure is our future based on US currency and the job market?
Yes, African-americans or "black" people were discriminated against since the founding of the USA. That situation obviously isn't changing, one reason that Africans don't have jobs in the US is because so many are in prison working for below minimum wage and above 40 hours a week with no overtime. Why employ people when the prison system has already reintroduced slavery?
The European-americans or "white" people that reside in rural regions are "employed" as prison guards. The CDC's economic rescue package given to Crescent City after their 1920's tsunami was the construction of Pelican Bay State Prison. Ditto that for all the new desert prisons constructed recently. The CDC promises jobs for all down and out rural residents in the new prison megaplex.
"Your poor rural "white" asses can prevent their poor urban "black" asses from escaping the state's prison! Segregate the prison population based on race and ethnicity and encourage gang violence, that way the poor prisoners will be so preoccupied fighting the "other" race that they won't even think about an insurrection, eh warden?"
Keeping the prisoners busy with below minimum wage jobs, the border fence and the long trek home being the only difference from the maquiladora sweatshops in Mexico..
Destroy the prison system and restore the community for all people. Jobs and industrial factory labor can be replaced by community gardens. The IWW is the only union that i would support, and their concept of jobs is based on mutual co-operation, not wage slavery..
http://www.iww.org/
Really, you do need to get out more. Rural whites all work in the prison system? Hmm. Blacks can't get jobs? Hmm. Since the employment rate for blacks is 90%, I guess I have no idea what all of those people are doing all day. You know the truth - if you want a decent job, you have to be able to read. You need experience. You don't start off at $30 an hour because of some "living wage" hogwash. You earn experience and you stick with it until it gets better. If you have a 9th grade education and can't speak understandable English, it's hard to get a job that pays well. Study. Stay in school. Be respectful of your employer (no, he doesn't owe you anything but a paycheck). Show up on time. Dress correctly. This is not rocket science, folks. (any charges of "racism" from you will cause you to go to the back of the line. No crutches allowed).
Nobody listens to your cowardly grarbage. You won't stay and back up your blabbering commentary, and you run from facts. You are dismissed again.
As much as you hate it, I have free speech in this country. If you don't like what I say, you are free to ignore it. I suppose when "revolutionaries" like you take power, you will silence me. Until then...fuck off.
Hey steve, why don't you point us to a right-wing e-forum that allows radicals to post as often as you post here.
Always getting run off by real facts because they can't engage in any substantive, coherent debate. Steve is the epitome of cowardice and ignorance.
I agree with you. We need to dismantle the prison system. We can start by killing all the prisoners. Either that or arrest all black babies now. Either idea will cut back on crime and save lots of money for social programs. We could feed the homeless and poor...with sausages made from the inmates! Great Idea!
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