Equal opportunity in economic recovery By Julianne Malveaux NNPA Columnist http://www.michigancitizen.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=76&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=6813&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1070&hn=michigancitizen&he=.com
With news that the economy is hemorrhaging jobs, President-elect Obama has stepped up to do the right thing. On the heels of the worst unemployment report that we’ve seen in more than a decade, a report that indicated that unemployment is 6.7 percent, African American unemployment is 11.2 percent, and more than half a million jobs were lost in the past month, the President-elect has announced that he will implement a massive road-building plan, with more than five thousand projects being implemented among the 50 states, to the tune of more than $64 billion. Such a plan was expected, as infrastructure repair was part of the Obama campaign platform. Still, it is reassuring to have the plan announced at this juncture, after learning how big a hit American workers are taking because of the recession. It is important to understand the magnitude of the first Friday jobs announcement. We have not lost half a million jobs in just one month in more than 30 years. While Congress has been battling about a bailout for the financial services and auto industries, workers have been fighting for their economic lives. The infrastructure rebuilding plan that Barack Obama has announced is one of the few indications that workers are part of the government’s response to our economic woes. Governors and others have applauded the plan to repair decaying buildings and roads. We have not done anything this massive since President Dwight Eisenhower created the federal highway system in the 1950s, and it shows. There is one challenge with the effort to jump start the economy with infrastructure repair. These buildings require trade jobs that are most likely to go to men, in general, and to white men in particular. Indeed, the building trades have been notorious for their reluctance to welcome women and people of color to their ranks. And there are entire contracting associations that have sued the federal government so that they did not have to comply with affirmative action laws. If contracts go to those who oppose equal employment opportunity, it is likely that those who most need help in this economy will find themselves jobless. The need for a rapid recovery cannot overshadow the need for equal employment opportunity, and for equal access to infrastructure employment. This can’t be a Katrina-type repair effort where the quick and dirty approach locks out small minority contractors. With $64 billion on the table, there ought to be enough to go around for those minority contractors who may need to subcontract with a large contractor. An administration that has called for hope and change must make sure that our recovery is a fairer one that usual, one that changes the equation of “last hired, first fired.” This message has been scanned for malware by SurfControl plc. www.surfcontrol.com _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
