It’s Labor Day weekend, and today’s mayoral forum on jobs puts the local employment front and center. What will the next mayor do to create jobs, and stimulate the local economy? Is there a plan to position Oakland for economic success – hint, will it be all wrapped up in a new stadium or a Bart airport extension? And will this success reach everyone?Sponsoring organizations include business and social justice organizations:
Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA),
The Oakland Black Caucus,
Oakland Private Industry Council,
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights,
East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy,
Oakland African American Chamber and
OaklandSeen are all signed on and ready to talk about Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!
Kate O’Hara of East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy sent over the recent jobs stats and it ain’t pretty.
- Unemployment in Oakland is at an astounding 17.7% – nearly double the state rate. Joblessness is even higher in communities of color and flatland neighborhoods in Oakland.
- At the same time, the predominance of low-paying jobs increased the number working families living in poverty, especially in communities of color. In the East Bay, Latinos and African Americans earn 70-85 cents on the dollar earned by workers overall. This is because many African Americans and Latinos are over-represented in traditionally lower-paying service occupations.
- And low-wage service occupations in the East Bay are growing, but don’t pay enough to meet a family’s basic needs (which is approx $40,000 a year for two-wage earners to support two kids). Most low-wage occupations, like food service and landscaping, only pay 75 cents of each dollar in costs to provide for a family of four in the East Bay.
From Oakland Rising:
According to research done by forum co-sponsor EBASE, Oakland’s unemployment rate is above 17%. That means more than 35,000 Oaklanders are out of work and unable to provide for their families. Like you, we are all concerned about the future of Oakland and we know that JOB’s are a critical part of the solution. Our new mayor will play a major part in leading the effort so we want to know: WHAT ABOUT JOBS?
Tonight, at 7pm at BeeBe Memorial, Mayoral Candidates (including Don Perata, Jean Quan, Rebecca Kaplan, Don Macleay, Greg Harland, Joe Tuman and others) will share their plans to support job creation, small business growth and bring new industry to the Town.
We have also taken your advice and changed the format! Candidates will answer fewer questions and will be given more time to share their vision and plans. We will also take more questions for the AUDIENCE….so show up early to get a card!
