ACTION FOR EQUITY

Jobs Equity

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​Jobs Equity is central to removing structures of racial exclusion and creating new structures of inclusion. ​
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Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other working adults of color with credentials, transferable skills, and strong labor market attachment, are now tracked into low wage jobs and sectors.  The current system is the result of hundreds of years of exclusion structured into the labor market. 
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85,000 people in Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan and Hyde Park have some college or more education.  People who are working have transferable skills from their jobs—skills that can be transferred to a better jobs if the connections are made. But while a white Boston resident with a BA has a median wage of $70,678, a Black resident with a BA has a median wage of just $37,771 
(data from Boston).


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WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW

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Action for Equity/Jobs Action Network awarded $487,910 by the

​Massachusetts Office of Housing and Economic Development
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​Press Release
​The Jobs Action Network has received this funding to “provide access to quality jobs for BIPOC along Boston's Fairmount Corridor by gaining access to jobs traditionally held by non-people of color such as the tech industry, ….elevate coordinated community leadership to drive the pipeline and communicate that residents have education and skills that are transferable and strengthen the network of community organizations.”  Even the state realizes that without the voice of residents, and particularly BIPOC residents, we will never win the new on-ramps and employer hiring commitments we need.
​This is an intervention for Transformation.
 
We are creating new community access and modeling the programs we need in our communities:
  • Explorations of new jobs and sectors we don’t know about now
  • Spark Experiences--short trainings to see if we want to learn more or even have the skills now
  • New on-ramps for career changers who already have skills, experience and credentials, but were tracked into low wage parts of the industry, like hospitals
  • An Opportunities Catalog—coming soon.
  • A “2-side Bias” workshop, prepared with World Education, to open a discussion with jobs applicants and employers on how common racist incidents are and what help employers should provide to deal with them. EVERY Black person who has come to our information sessions can name experiences they have had. 

We are focused on the new life science jobs. Why?

There are 18 million sq. ft. of R&D/labs under development! Based on what developers say, we are expecting 45,000 new jobs!  Who will get those jobs if we do nothing?
With all the promises of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) hiring companies are making, what should they be doing to connect BIPOC and other residents to those jobs?
​Action for Equity/Jobs Action Network is reaching out to all stakeholders to develop a plan for access and on-ramps for BIPOC and residents. Read more 

Want some background?

Read our paper Truth and Reconciliation in the Labor Market and the Co-Creation of Opportunity 
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CAMPAIGNS, WINS, AND NEW MODELS WE ARE BUILDING ON 

Results are in--51% of jobs at Encore Casino go to POC

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Back in 2013, we said “if there is going to be a casino, we want there to be good jobs and we want our fair share!”  We have just finished Year 1 of a two year “proof of concept” pilot, testing interventions into the labor market that can connect under-employed residents, particularly residents of color, to good jobs.  Using the new Region A casino start-up as a huge hiring opportunity with good quality jobs, we thought it could kickstart the second year testing the model with other employers.
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Encore has just documented its initial 51% hiring of people of color!  At the midpoint of our 2-year test, we see enough positive proof of concept to drive forward into Year 2!
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Briefing Paper #3 Read our briefing paper on what worked
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​​Voices of residents, voices of leaders

What we are hearing…things are changing, but we have further to go

Each of these comments is a composite of similar comments we heard from many people.

From community residents…
  • When I got hired, they trained me on the job.  They don’t do that anymore.  They expect people to come in already knowing the work. How can anyone get in?
  • Hundreds of people, maybe a thousand or more, applied for the program.  But there are fewer than 20 spots.  It’s a good thing, but it can’t be the only way in.
  • I paid for an entry course to get me into a hospital job.  But the pay never went up.  A year later, I was still a temp contractor.  And I won’t tell you how many years it took me to pay off the $15,000!

From employers…
  • We’ve decided not to require a 4-year degree anymore.  But we still need people to understand the business and be able to work well in teams. 
  • There is a diversity goal for the hiring, but it isn’t publicized in job ads. ~ Researcher


​HOW WE BEGAN AND LEARNED

In 2012, we saw that Greater Boston's economy was coming back, but the benefits were not going to residents and in particular, not to residents of color.  Access to good jobs was a new issue for many community leaders.  As one leader said, "I work on housing and violence and transportation problems. I don't know what to do about the problems people have at work.  I don't even know who to go to."  
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We learned through our support for Fight for $15 and campaigns like for good jobs for SEIU 32BJ (then 615) and airport workers, that support for unions was critically important, but was not going to be enough.  We needed to invent new policy demands as well. 
​Briefing Paper #1 "Our Common Ground, One Dream (2012) laid the direction for our campaigns since then. 
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Briefing Paper #2 "A Fair Share for Boston's Residents" (2018) lays out the argument for new policies on job access.
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​​Action For Equity
367 Washington St.
Dorchester, MA 02124
  • HOME
  • Who We Are
    • Mission & Values
    • Members
    • Merger & History
    • Staff
  • Movement Building
    • Housing Justice
    • Jobs Equity
    • Transit Justice
    • Special Protection Zones
    • Development
    • EQUITY ISSUES
    • Community Information
  • Policy & Research
    • A4E Policy & Research
    • Related Policy & Research
  • IN THE NEWS
  • Events/Catalog
    • Events
    • Opportunities Catalog
  • Contact
    • CONTACT US
    • We Are Hiring
  • DONATE