Workfare And Community Marchers Demand Jobs And Worker ProtectionsBy Aida Pavletich
-- Los Angeles, April 1, 1998 On a bright, sunny morning between El Niño storms, a group of 150 or so demonstrators carried clearly printed placards as they picketed outside the County Workfare office on the corner of Grand and Adams. Representing 25 organizations, they are calling for changes in the County's Workfare program, specifically in the areas of job creation, training for the former welfare recipients, and child care. The scrubbed and energetic marchers seemed like yeoman footsoldiers, all ages and colors, a mix of everyone who lives in Los Angeles: Older ladies, high school boys, college girls, mothers, children. Led on the bullhorn by Xavier Gonzalez, one of the L.A. Metropolitan alliance organizers of this event, the crowd responded to each call. Chanting in turn in English and Spanish, they called out "What do we want/Jobs! When do we want 'em/Now!" For anyone who has been at other demonstrations, there is nostalgia in "The people/United/Will never be defeated!" and its Spanish variant, "El Pueblo/Unido/Jamás sera vencido!" Who wouldn't relate to "Corporate America is rollin' in dough!/Poverty wages is got to go!" As videotapers moved people aside to get a better shot, the chant went up, "Se ve/Se siente/El Pueblo estÈ presente!" The crowd was high-spirited as they shouted "We're fired up!/We won't take it no more!" and "Welfare wages/Are outrageous!" The issue at hand for the coalition of 25 community organizations known as the Los Angeles Metropolitan Alliance that includes ACORN, AGENDA, AFSCME, SEIU, labor, religious and professional groups, is an alternative for the simple workfare plan that will shunt welfare recipients directly into jobs. The coalition is calling for safeguards for the workers, such as good child care and realistic training for good jobs. One woman held up a placard with a demand that has a certain L.A. flavor: "Cuidado de niños bueno -- no son carros por estacionar en garajes" In other words, kids are not cars that you can just park in a garage. Erica Guerra, form People On Welfare took the mic to ask, "How am I going to go to work if nobody takes care of my kids?" Erica has three children, one of them an infant, and at present -- according to Erica -- there is no provision for infant care. Karen Bass of the L.A. Welfare Reform Commission pointed out that there is no daycare after 5 PM. Signs read: WELFARE-TO-LIVABLE WAGE WORK, CHILD CARE NOW, JOB CREATION FOR LIVABLE WAGES, DESAROLLO DE TRABAJOS CON SUELDOS DIGNOS, REAL TRAINING FOR REAL JOBS, PROTECCIÓN DE LOS DERECHOS DE TRABAJADORES, THIS IS NO TIME TO CELEBRATE, referring to the clown and balloon decorations to mark the celebratory kickoff of the new program inside the Workfare office. According to Sabrina Smith of the L.A. Metropolitan Alliance, the coalition of community groups has forged an alternate plan to create model jobs, whereas the county's plan seems to be "work first and train after." Under the blue "Calworks/Your Passport To Success" banner, a group of women beat time with kitchen implements and hold a big pink banner of their own: "Every Mother Is A working Mother/International wages for Housework Campaign." The facts are clear to the labor groups. There are going to be a lot of people suddenly in the workforce, and people who are already working stand to lose their jobs to the underpaid newcomers. With the number of people going from welfare to workfare, numbering anywhere from 150,000 to 200,000, there simply may not be enough jobs to go around. Service Employees International Union locals fear that their jobs will be contracted out to the workfare workers. Anna Menses, Steward of SEIU local 660, notes that Workfare people may be working with department county workers, who may be scapegoated and have Workfare workers used against them. Speaking in Spanish, the impassioned Zonia Cavazos of the YUCCA Neighborhood Community Silverlake/Echo Park/Hollywood Metro Alliance noted that her people have been hard-working and honest as a part of the community for many years. On the other hand, former welfare recipients who join the workforce should have all the rights and protections accorded to all workers. As Abdullah Mohammed of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) put it, "We want to change the policy of workfare... from creating little jobs to creating full-time jobs plus grievance procedures and allowing workfare workers to organize themselves in a union such as ACORN." As it now stands, the County's plan is offering only a "dead end opportunity." As a media event, the affair was very well organized, offering visual and sound fodder for Fox/UPN/KMEX and other media, along with a plethora of flyers detailing every issue and demand from each organization. And nobody got hurt, except for maybe a sore throat from shouting here and there. More to come was scheduled for April 7, when the action was to converge upon the County Board of Supervisor's meeting at Hahn Hall.
Aida Pavletich is a Los Angeles based writer and videographer.
Contact:
ACORN -- 213-747-4211 |