New Year, Same Bullsh*t: The Fight for Black Workers Continues
By Tanya Wallace-Gobern
Executive Director, National Black Worker Center
As we step into a new year, I wish I could greet it with the optimism and fresh hope many associate with January 1st. But let’s be real: the challenges we face as Black workers didn’t magically disappear at midnight.
The truth is, 2024 was a reminder of how much work lies ahead – from anti-worker policies, to systemic racism and attacks on labor unions: these challenges disproportionately impact Black workers. And now, we’re advocating for Black worker rights during a time where policies fighting racial inequities are being dismantled and corporate interests are protected at the expense of everyday people.
For Black workers, these threats aren’t abstract. They’re deeply personal and deeply felt. We see it consistently in the erosion of rights to organize, stagnant wages, and the persistent racial pay gap. We’ve seen it in the disproportionate number of Black workers forced into low-wage, high-risk jobs without adequate protections during the pandemic. And we’re reminded of it every time a Black worker faces discrimination or retaliation simply for demanding fairness on the job.
But this isn’t a post about despair. It’s a call to action.
At the National Black Worker Center, we know that the fight for Black workers is part of the larger fight for racial and economic justice. And in 2025, we’re doubling down on our commitment to end anti-blackness in the workplace by:
- Advancing Worker Protections: We’ll continue advocating for policies that ensure fair wages, safe workplaces, and the right to organize without fear of retaliation. This includes pushing for federal and state-level protections that address the unique challenges Black workers face.
- Organizing and Empowering Black Workers: We’re building power from the ground up, organizing workers in industries where exploitation runs rampant. Whether it’s warehouse workers, gig workers, or healthcare workers, we’re equipping Black workers with the tools to demand and win the respect they deserve.
- Holding Corporations Accountable: We’re not letting corporations off the hook. From addressing discriminatory hiring practices to challenging exploitative policies, we’re committed to making sure companies invest in Black workers, not just their bottom line.
- Building Solidarity Across Movements: The fight for worker justice intersects with the fight for housing justice, climate justice, and voting rights. We’re working alongside partners in these spaces to build a future where every Black worker can thrive.
This new year might feel like a continuation of the same old fight, but it’s one we’re ready for. I look forward to being alongside y’all: marching, organizing, and demanding better.
Let’s get to work. Learn ways you can join our movement at nationalblackworkercenters.org/get-involved/.
Report: Black Workers in L.A. Face ‘Jobs Crisis’ That’s Causing Decline in Black Community
Monique Judge, theroot.com, March 21, 2017.
A new study conducted by the University of California, Los Angeles, says that the city’s black community is in decline as a direct result of the lack of jobs available to black workers, who are more likely to remain unemployed or drop out of the workforce entirely as a result of the 2007-2009 recession.
The report, “Ready to Work, Uprooting Inequity: Black Workers in Los Angeles County,” was published Tuesday in collaboration with the Los Angeles Black Worker Center and the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, and found that although black workers have lost blue-collar jobs at the same rate as whites in the county, they seem less likely to find replacement work, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Additionally, 17 percent of black workers were unemployed on average from 2011 to 2014, compared with 9 percent of white workers, and 25 percent of black workers who had a high school degree or less were unemployed, compared with 14 percent of white workers.
As the Times notes, while education helped bridge the gap, it did not completely erase it because 9 percent of black workers with at least a bachelor’s degree were unemployed over that period, compared with 7 percent of white workers.
The report says, “Los Angeles is in the throes of a black jobs crisis.”
From the Times:
The lack of work is part of the reason many black residents have abandoned Los Angeles altogether, at a time when the county’s population boomed, the report says. The black population in the county plunged by 122,032 people from 1980 to 2014, according to the report. The county has gained around 2.5 million residents overall during that time.
In the meantime, black workers have flocked to the Inland Empire, which includes Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Those counties gained a combined 260,494 black residents from 1980 to 2014.
Lola Smallwood Cuevas, founder of the Los Angeles Black Worker Center, told the Times: “Black workers are often the last hired and the first fired. If we don’t address the crisis, we will have a city and a county where there are no black workers.”
The report notes that “while the black community was once a thriving part of L.A.’s landscape and remains integral to the county’s cultural and economic life, it has long been in a critical decline.” This is directly attributed to the lack of jobs for black Angelenos.
The report says that “economic and social hardship is pushing the black community out of Los Angeles County” and notes that although blacks in Los Angeles are significantly more educated than previous generations, they experience a lower labor-participation rate and a significantly higher unemployment rate than their white counterparts.
From the report:
The study calls for a stabilization of black families and communities through the creation of well-paying, quality, accessible jobs. Among other solutions, report authors recommend the unionization of black workers, an expansion of hiring benchmarks that include underrepresented workers, and an institutionalization of partnerships with credible community organizations to implement targeted outreach, recruitment, and retention programs. Through an analysis of current and historical census data, a comprehensive literature review, and the collection of worker’s stories and case studies, the report looks at the experience of the black community in Los Angeles through a labor and employment lens. It details how the lack of access to quality jobs is adversely impacting the community and draws a portrait of the challenges that black workers in Los Angeles face.
Now, if only we could get some of these suggestions implemented so that the black community in Los Angeles can be revived and revitalized.