Background
In 2018, labor unions and community organizations commissioned a study to learn the impact of public-sector union jobs on Black workers and the Black middle class in Los Angeles. The study concluded that unions stabilize Black communities with public sector union employment providing higher wages, more benefits, housing security, and job stability. Simply put, public sector jobs were the proven Black pathway from poverty into the middle class.
Soon after, a commitment was given by the office of the Mayor of Los Angeles to create an ambitious Civil and Human Rights initiative to place 1000 Black Angelenos in City of Los Angeles jobs through established programs such as Targeted Local Hire.
Consisting of the Mayor’s Office, Bureau of Contracts Administration, and the Personnel Department, and our coalition, a team was established to examine the impact of Targeted Local Hire on the Black community and make recommendations to meet the Mayor’s goal of placing 1000 Black Angelenos in city jobs by 2022.
After over a year of collaborating, we found that Targeted Local Hire is equitably hiring black workers, but at a snail’s pace with an average of 60 workers a year since its inception in 2016. It’s time to invest in our black communities and be intentional about our efforts to grow the middle class. Through appropriate funding, strategic planning, and credible oversight from our communities, we have the power, to create real change.