When Blue Robinson graduated with her bachelor’s in political science and African American studies, she was eager to enter the workforce and continue pursuing her goal of attending graduate school.
However, she soon realized that the jobs she qualified for weren’t what she expected.
“I was a young professional and my first paycheck was $60,” she said. “It was hard-earned, but I quickly learned that my family responsibilities were not going to get handled with $60, so I began to pick up second and third jobs.”
Robinson, a community organizer for the Inland Empire Black Women’s Collective, said she would braid hair and work late-night shifts at Taco Bell to make ends meet.
“If you can imagine that disparity: In the morning, I’m a media and racial equity director shaking hands with Senator [Steven] Bradford, and at night I’m taking orders at Taco Bell just to make ends meet,” she said.
Eventually, Robinson said she got a high-paying job that let her begin saving towards graduate school while managing medical and student loan debt.
“I made the mistake of asking my employer for a letter of recommendation and two months later, I was let go,” she said. “At the same time, my mother needed some help with making a mortgage … so I ate through my entire savings … just to keep myself and my mom afloat.”
Robinson was one of over 100 labor and racial equity activists attending a Tuesday morning rally at the state Capitol. The group called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a senate bill to ease the job crisis impacting disadvantaged communities of color.
“My fight is not over because there are thousands of other stories just like mine,” Robinson remarked. “There are thousands of qualified…, educated…, exceptional black workers being put out of work, but there is no infrastructure to keep us safe. SB 1340 will ensure the retention of black employees … and allow the community to investigate and address employment and wage violations that happen so often.”
According to the Economic Policy Institute, Black people have the highest California unemployment rate of 8.2% despite only making up 4% of the population. That’s roughly double the unemployment rate for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, which sits at 3.8%, and significantly higher than the Hispanic population, who had the second-highest unemployment rate in the state at 5.8%.
Senate Bill 1340, authored by State Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), would require equitable hiring compliance for the $180 billion in federal dollars coming to the state to fund green infrastructure projects over the next decade. Smallwood-Cuevas argued that the bill would establish local disadvantaged worker demographics across California and require state-funded contractors on large-scale infrastructure projects to prioritize hiring workers who “need the jobs the most.”
She noted that the bill focuses on green infrastructure projects because of the new industries created to address the state’s need to create a climate-resilient economy.
However, some contractor associations — led by the Associated General Contractors — have opposed this bill because of a requirement to track racial data they believe“goes far beyond standard industry practices.” Smallwood-Cuevas argued this data is important to ensure government funds help disadvantaged communities.
“It’s surprising to me because our contractors in places like [Los Angeles] County, Oakland, San Francisco and Sacramento … who work in this large-scale infrastructure space are already using some of these models,” Smallwood-Cuevas emphasized. “We’re saying let's scale this for the state.”
More specifically, the bill would require the state’s Civil Rights Department to establish and maintain a comprehensive database to track all infrastructure contracting and procurement activities by state agencies funded in whole or in part by certain federal laws, as specified.
“They said it was too cumbersome and I understand it may be cumbersome, but when you’re receiving billions of dollars from taxpayers, we’ve got to make sure that we have a process by which we can track and document who of our constituents are getting on these projects, if they’re fairly represented and if it’s helping us address our issue of poverty in the state,” Smallwood-Cuevas said. “Folks want to see a change in how the state is monitoring its dollars and that we are using accountability and transparency as we are spending these dollars.”
Furthermore, Smallwood-Cuevas said she helped create the construction careers policy to provide training and employment opportunities on Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority construction projects.
“When we started that process, there were 2% Black workers on every large-scale project in L.A. County, but the research showed us that 10% of Black workers had already been trained through state apprenticeship programs,” she remarked.
According to the Los Angeles Black Worker Center, that number has increased in recent years with Black people making up 4.9% of the construction workforce while still representing 10% of new construction apprentices.
“We will ensure that the state of California has a policy that sets aside jobs for disadvantaged communities, that ensures the formerly incarcerated, women, single parents, folks from chronically unemployed zip codes, high poverty zip codes, [those] at risk of homelessness. That they have a front seat to getting access to getting good jobs.”
She argued that this “anti-poverty approach” will give California the “tools to take poverty head on” and use state funds to “build a climate resilient future and to also pull our families out of poverty.”
Assembly member Liz Ortega (D-San Francisco) also attended the event to show support for the bill. She argued that the bill ensures taxpayer dollars go towards “good union jobs” and encouraged people to push elected officials to address income inequality.
“We can’t rely on promises that people are going to do the right thing,” she remarked. “We’ve seen what promises look like in the past. They wake up and do the right thing because people like you push them to make sure that income inequality is acknowledged and that we put an end to it.”
Assembly member Liz Ortega speaks in support of Senate Bill 1340 at the California state Capitol on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024.Gerardo Zavala/CapRadio
According to CalMatters, the ongoing costs of this bill are unknown but will likely be in the millions of dollars beginning next fiscal year.
Smallwood-Cuevas said the bill is in appropriations and is awaiting a second committee review.
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