Policy Proposals to Make Sure that Diverse Oakland Residents

Are Able to Obtain Diverse Oakland Jobs

September 2015
Presented by Representatives of OaklandWORKS at the Post Salon
BACKGROUND
Oakland faces two serious economic problems: 19% of its population
lives in poverty and large numbers of people are being forced from the city by a
combination of lack of affordable housing and lack of adequate income.
Oakland residents remain unemployed at high levels, in spite of the fact
that the Oakland economy is growing. In East Oakland the unemployment rate is
27%. In West Oakland, Black unemployment is 29%. Nationally, the gap in
median family wealth is 13 to 1 between whites and African-Americans; 10 to 1
between whites and Latinos.
In particular areas of employment disparities are enormous. In the
Oakland schools, for example, 41% of the students and only 13% of the teachers
are Latino. In construction, 28% of the population is African-American but only
5% of the journey hours on city-funded construction projects go to AfricanAmericans. In many of the new high-end restaurants, it is hard to find evidence
of a single African-American employee. The lack of Latinos and AfricanAmericans in high tech is well known.
Solutions: a) Strong City local hire policy; funding for implementation and
tracking; staff that is willing and eager to implement the policies; b) Direct action
(for example, picketing) where there is clearly racially biased hiring. c)
Publicizing both bad and good employment practices d) An Opportunity
Challenge supported by City and community organizations to encourage
ethnically representative hiring in every industry e) Use of federal jobs funding for
direct service; not city bureaucracy

PROPOSALS
We propose that the City Council adopt and community based
organizations promote both enforceable policies and voluntary campaigns with
the goal of decreasing the disparity in Oakland between whites and non-whites
with regard to employment and income.
Specifically we propose:
1) That the Local Hire policies adopted but never implemented by City
Council be carried out on all construction projects with any city support and that
adequate funds for tracking be required.
2) That all staff and supervisors in Economic Development; Planning;
and Contract Compliance should be ethnically representative of the citys
population and be trained and required to implement policies that will produce
racial fairness, Local Hire, and other equity policies.
3) That reporting requirements on hiring become part of business
responses to RFP/RFQs issued by the City. Those who have contracted in
Oakland previously would need to show over 50% local hire, as well as hiring
from re-entry and disadvantaged zip codes. Those who demonstrate a history
of appropriate hiring practices in other cities (for example, hiring that is
representative of the ethnic composition of the cities in which they have worked)
would get points on their application. Reporting of employment by ethnicity and
facilitation of equitable employment through such measures as bringing
apprentice programs to Oakland should be expected as conditions for Project
Labor Agreements.
4) That the expectation be created that the Local Hire and other equity
policies be the standard for all projects in the city, whether or not they receive city
support, with this expectation to be facilitated by observation, reporting, and
direct action carried out by residents and local media.
5) That federal workforce monies be used for direct services to job
seekers; the funds used by the city for to administer the systems bureaucracy
should be greatly reduced (currently 32% of the total WIA funds received by the
City) and should comply with federal regulations regarding appropriate allocation
of resources to supporting direct services to those in need of such services. City
budget priorities must include subsidy for the Citys administrative costs or the
City should turn this function over to a competent non-profit entity for more cost
efficiency and increased services to the public.
6) That organizations also support the several Oakland efforts at
recruiting and employing teachers who are ethnically representative of the
languages and ethnicities of Oakland students.

7) That a challenge program be created to encourage all employers in

every industry, government and service enterprise to voluntarily hire in relative
proportion to the ethnic composition of the city with incentives to include publicity
and awards.
ACTION PROPOSAL
Community based and political organizations discuss and adopt
these policy proposals and request that they be adopted by the City Council and
relevant social, ethnic and political organizations