Where are the Good Jobs at the Airport?

Aug. 23, 2011

by Julio Sanchez

SeaTac, Wash. -- Sangabo Hassan, Farhiyo Ahmed  and Mohamed Hassan joined together with workers and out-of-work community members to ask “Where are the Good Jobs?” at Tuesday’s Port of Seattle Commission meeting.

Port commission meeting
Port commission meeting

The question was particularly relevant because for the first two hours of the commission meeting, the Port Commissioners and a succession of bureaucrats touted the allegedly “Good Jobs” available at SeaTac Airport, which the Port Commission oversees.

From the perspective of these bureaucrats, comfortably perched in their secured, benefit-abundant jobs, things are OK at SeaTac. But from the perspective of the unemployed and the struggling workers who are desperately trying to survive with a low paying job—without benefits and often seeing only part-time hours—things look dramatically different.

For example, according to the bureaucrats, among the allegedly “Good Jobs” at the airport today is work for one of the many passenger, ramp and cargo handling services provider where a crew of two is expected to unload a 140 passenger plane and refill all the water tanks on that plane in just 1 hour—quite a physically demanding and pressure-laden job. The pay is often $9.25 per hour, just 58 cents above minimum wage. Even worse, some of these jobs do not allow vacation or sick leave during the first year.

These “Good Jobs” claim to offer benefits, but how anyone on this essentially minimum wage job can afford to pay the outrageous amounts required to cover insurance out of pocket for a family is beyond us.

Offering jobs like these to working families leads to a lot of frustration. During the testimony at the commission meeting, these emotions were palpable.

“Every time I apply for a job I am told there is nothing,” said Ahmed, a single mother of three. “We need benefits and we need good jobs.”

Herbert Bernard, a Bags Inc. employee whose hours have been cut to 20 per week with no benefits, spoke up as well.

“We need benefits and we need good jobs,” said Bernard.

Mohammed Hassan, an employment caseworker at the Somali Community Services Center in SeaTac, told the commissioners how he sees plenty of hard workers who are ready to put in long hours in every day.

“I have sent more than 10 qualified candidates to apply to open positions without getting a single response,” he said. “People working in the airport need good jobs with benefits so they can survive and have a better life.”

Working Washington will continue to ask “Where are the Good Jobs at the Airport” We are working on an agenda for the next Ports Commission meeting in September, and we will be asking that question again and again and again, until we get an answer.

Outrageous water bills in New Holly

Aug. 24, 2011 By Sandra VanderVen

 

New Holly, Wash.—Recently, Dionna Fry of Working Washington was talking with residents of New Holly, when she unexpectedly got an earful.

They told her jobs are scarcer than ever. School bus routes have been cut for all kids who live within a mile of the school, even elementary.

Imagine how a working person without a car can provide transportation for a kindergartener when the school is a mile away?

But the biggest issueWater faucet dripping on their minds by far is one of the most precious resources we often take for granted:  water.

The Seattle Housing Authority recognizes that people in low income housing struggle with water bills, so the plan is to ask residents who qualify for help to pay about 30 to 40 percent of their bill.

It turns out that this is not happening. Rather than paying for only a third of their bill, residents are paying about 75 percent of the total cost—which makes water worth its weight in gold, relatively.

It gets worse for New Holly residents like Beverly Riley, who has lived in the neighborhood for 35 years, at one time with three daughters. Riley said her ex-husband refused to pay child support in her early days of living there, but the water bills are harder to manage than those tight budget days.

“Now my water bill runs up to $150 every two months,” said Riley, 78. “I don’t use that much. I have arthritis and I have to get in the tub and soak.”

Recently, her water bill came in at $249. It turned out that her toilet had a silent leak.  The housing authority let her pay the bill over two months—but that didn’t reduce the bill. She paid for the extra cost—and for fixing the toilet—with the $725 per month she receives from Social Security.

The reason many bills are high is there is a large amount of water pressure entering that neighborhood.

Generally, it is easy to regulate the amount of pressure entering a home when it is an average amount. This is important because high water pressure in a house is like high blood pressure in a human—it wears out the plumbing.

But that isn’t being addressed in New Holly, and instead, leaks are springing up. When the residents can’t find the leak, they have to pay the price.

New Holly residents have had a series of meetings with the Seattle Housing Authority to discuss this. The representatives of the Housing Authority claim residents use too much water.

Riley speaks to this issue too. “I know some people abused it by watering their gardens and filling little wading pools,” she said.

Hearing her say this is painful, when having a garden and giving the kids a way to cool off in the summer looks to some like a stolen luxury, while much of the water they are paying for is going down the drain from a leaky system they have no control over.

If society is judged by how we treat the most vulnerable, how are we doing in New Holly?

We Wanted your Jobs Ideas...

and You Delivered!

by Nate Jackson

The economy is working for CEOs and greedy corporations. They got bailouts and tax breaks, but for the rest of us, the officials who voted for tax cuts for the rich just don’t seem to realize that we need good jobs.

Since these “leaders” are too busy to look for answers to the jobs crisis, we asked you to give us your ideas about how to get this economy back on track. As expected, the ongoing results are fantastic, and we are still looking for more.

We asked you: “If you had a billion dollars, what jobs would you create?”

The results are pouring in and the vast majority of us have great ideas on how to get this economy moving again with practical, simple to implement ideas. In no particular order, let’s look at some of the ideas.

 

1.      Marita G. suggests creating and funding art-based educational programs for children.

The impact on a community would be twofold: the positive influences of art in children’s lives and the good rewarding jobs created by the program itself. According to the Policy and Advocacy group ArtsUSA, some of the most impressive benefits are: equalizing the playing field for socio-economic differences, strengthening critical thinking skills and providing motivation for children to be continual learners.

Teaching is a highly rewarding career, and having specific programs to focus solely on art is very much needed when school district budgets are being cut. Often times, the arts are first on the chopping block during a budget crisis.

 

2.       Harriet W. suggests building and running pet care centers.

Pet ownership is huge in the United States. According to The Humane Society 39% of US households own a dog, while 33 percent of households own a cat.  If you broaden out to any pet the number of households in the USA that have a companion animal of some sort jumps to a majority 62 percent of households.

That is a huge market for business, and the pet industry is a multibillion dollar enterprise.  Harriet’s idea of building and running pet centers is good because of the sheer potential number of customers.  The pet care industry would create many jobs both in direct care and in support.  Veterinarians and Vet Technicians would be needed to fill these positions and they are highly skilled professionals.

 

3.       Quenea P. suggests: building and running low income area grocery stores.

Many people in low income areas do not have readily available nutritious foods to eat. Some of these areas do not have a grocery store, which is called the “food desert” phenomenon. Fast food restaurants and gas stations stock greasy, salty and fatty foods that negatively impact the community’s health and longevity.

Stores in low income areas would not only alleviate the “food desert” syndrome, but would activate a job creation center.  Grocery stores may not have the largest profit margins, but they are steady and reliable.  Grocery jobs, under the proper conditions, are good work that is stable.  Stable employment is one of the best ways to get this economy moving again.

These jobs would help fulfill First Lady Michelle Obama’s fight against childhood obesity.

 

4.       Chris W. suggests: Construct mixed income housing near job centers.

Construction jobs are good jobs for families. If you follow some of the examples that have already occurred in the Seattle area, these jobs can be quite stable.

Constructing homes that are near job centers creates walkable communities. Dependence on car-based transportation, a major social justice issue and sometimes impediment to gainful employment, would be lessened.

 

5.       Sibyl J. suggests: Bringing back the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Citizen’s Conservation Core (CCC).

These two organizations are “New Deal” programs that put young people to work during and after the Great Depression. The “New Deal” created infrastructure, parks, and other major public works projects. Some of our country’s greatest projects, like the Federal Writer’s Project that employed writers and artists.

A similar type of program might look something like an expanded AmeriCorps program.  AmeriCorps is the domestic, or United States based, version of Peace Corps.  Participants choose from varying work from teaching, home building, environmental protection or various other community needs.

A version of rebuilding roads, bridges, parks and retrofitting buildings would create many good jobs with the potential to transfer those skills learned into the private sector upon completion of the program.  Some estimates have the amount of crumbling roads and bridges in the thousands.

 

If you have an idea that you haven’t seen here please send us what you think would be the best use of a billion dollars for bringing good jobs back to Washington here:  We Need a Jobs Idea from You.

 

Seattle Workers Stand Up for Themselves and Demand Good Jobs

by Julio Sanchez
Seattle--Thursday, Aug. 11, seven workers stood up to demand living wage jobs for themselves and their communities.

Holding hands

Workers in Seattle are speaking up to private business, local, state and federal officials demanding good jobs. After years of unprecedented tax breaks for the rich and greedy corporations, the results are record breaking profits for those that make the most, but very few living wage jobs for us.

Kimberly, Vernon, Frank and others went to a city-funded construction site and the Park and Recreations Services office in Seattle moved by the lack of steady, living wage jobs and the effect this is having in our communities.

Working Washington went with workers Kimberly, Vernon and Frank and Ed to a Lake City construction site to demand that jobs funded by money from our community be offered to qualified unemployed community members. Ed, one of the workers, read a letter stating that we are ready and able to work and demanded the opportunity to compete for this jobs.

Next we moved on to the Park and Recreations services office in Seattle. This is the city department in charge of the Ranier Beach Community Center construction project.

The center is closed at present and the project has not been granted to any contractors yet. This project was chosen because, by closing the center, this has left a hole in the fabric of the community. Again, we asked that that good jobs that come out of the project be offered to qualified community members.

In a letter read to a city official, Vernon said, ”We are asking for a fair shot at the jobs created in our communities.”

Frank added that the actions are not over yet, and they can expect to see more of us demanding good jobs. With Congress continuing to grant tax breaks to the rich instead of helping create jobs for the middle class, our fight will continue.

“We are going to keep coming back until our voices are heard,”  Frank said.

Washington Teamsters Plan to Leaflet 50 Fred Meyer and QFC Stores

Leafleting to take place statewide over the weekend  (Tukwila, WA) Teamster grocery warehouse workers, their families, and community allies will handbill 50 Fred Meyer and QFC stores this weekend, demanding that the stores’ parent company, Kroger, provide its workers and their families with quality, affordable health care coverage.

Kroger reported over $432 million in profits in the first quarter of 2011, an increase of 16%. Its CEO, David Dillon, has been paid over $25 million in the last five years.  Yet despite soaring profits, Kroger refuses in bargaining to provide Teamster grocery workers at the Fred Meyer distribution center in Puyallup with the same health care coverage as other workers in the industry, and instead has initiated a campaign to undermine the collective bargaining process.

 

 

WHO: 

Tracey A. Thompson, Teamsters Local 117 - Secretary Treasurer

Fred Meyer grocery warehouse workers and their family members

 

WHAT/WHEN:           

FRED MEYER/QFC LEAFLETING ACTION

Saturday, August 20 / Sunday, August 21

11 A.M.

 

WHERE:        

Fred Meyer Parking Lot

1100 North Meridian, Puyallup, WA 98371