Essential Stories: Understanding the Black Workers Crisis

As an employment placement coordinator for Riverside City College, Meriel Anderson-McDade is passionate about helping students through her role. The pandemic has put a strain on her ability to optimally function in her job with a lack of support from her employer. When working remotely during the height of the pandemic, Anderson-McDade states that she and her colleagues “were sent home with nothing,” leading her to question how much her employer values her. “I’ve been using my own computer and cell phone to connect with my students because they need me — they need us,” she said, adding that her union had to fight for her to eventually get the equipment she needed to perform her job adequately. “I still love my college and what I do. I just don’t like how I’ve been treated.”

Shekinah Pitts also shared her experiences with under-employment as an area manager for a food service company. “During the pandemic, I was furloughed - four months on, two months off. And then I was furloughed again for another four months,” said Pitts. “And [we] were forced to use our paid time off instead of being allowed to file for unemployment. So all my time that I had saved up, I had to use that first.” 

Meriel and Shekinah are just two voices out of millions of Black workers who faced employment challenges or were unaware and thus unprotected by Covid-worker protection laws. Today, many Black workers are still struggling to make ends meet. Many workers have echoed the prevalence of low wages and unfair and unsafe working conditions, not necessarily a labor shortage. What they shared revealed the impacts of a long history of anti-Black economic restructures whose adverse effects are disproportionately felt by Black workers, creating a Black jobs crisis. This long-standing crisis is characterized by disproportionate unemployment, underemployment, and systemic racism. We see the symptoms of the Black jobs crisis every day: bad jobs, forced migration, unsafe and discriminatory workplace practices, occupational displacement, and more.

Collecting Data on the Black Workers Crisis 

The Southern California Black Worker Hub for Regional Organizing advocates for the economic empowerment of Black workers by supporting various Black Worker Centers in Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, and San Diego. Specifically, the Southern California Black Worker Hub for Regional Organizing helps these centers fight for economic inclusion and opportunities for each region’s Black workers. By serving as a resource for all three worker centers, the Hub is advancing Black economic opportunity throughout the region, creating a more equitable Southern California.

Last year, the Center for the Advancement of Racial Equity at Work within the UCLA Labor Center, Southern California Black Worker Hub for Regional Organizing, and other anchor partners launched the Essential Stories research project to better understand the experiences and challenges of Black workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research project ran in tandem with the Essential Stories campaign, created to uplift the voices and experiences of Black workers in California led by the anchor partners. They aimed to ensure Black workers receive equitable and long-term COVID-19 recovery support, resources, and protections. The survey engaged nearly 40,000 Southern California Black workers, 2,000 of which completed it, sharing their work experiences, challenges, and demands for support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the critical points elevated from listening to Black workers’ concerns and demands from the Essential Stories report is that today regardless of working status, 57% of Black workers are looking for other job opportunities. This statistic indicates that workers are demanding better opportunities and quality jobs that offer benefits and worker protections.

How Funders Can Support Black Workers

The SoCal Black Worker Hub needs philanthropic support to elevate the voices and power of Southern California Black workers and scale their solutions to win at the regional, state, and nationwide levels. By building alongside Black workers, funders can support us in moving forward with some of the key solutions outlined in Essential Stories below.

• Provide ong-term economic support and COVID-19 recovery programming. Although many systems have been created in California as a social safety net, Black workers need the help of CBOs to navigate the current state-funded systems in place. CBOs need support to fill the gap these state-funded programs can not address. Philanthropy can bring down barriers to receiving sustainable, multi-year, unrestricted support. Without this, the constant cycle of injustice will continue. 

• Support Black worker wellness by addressing racism as a workplace hazard and increase the availability and accessibility of mental health and wellness services for Black workers. 

• Direct workers’ rights training and workforce development funding to Black workers. Funders can support Black worker centers that have developed and implemented robust mechanisms for ‘Know Your Rights” training and resources. Additionally, funders can support workforce development and training for Black workers by investing in apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs at the state and community levels. 

Funders can stay informed and join the fight to end the Black worker’s crisis by visiting the Southern California Black Workers Hub for Regional Organizing (SoCalBWHub) website. Funders can also get involved with the Hub’s current programs and campaigns by contacting Regional Development Director Alyce Monet at amonet@bwhub.org to learn more.