Here Comes a First Source (with teeth)

When Dr. King met with President Lyndon Johnson, he told the President that the country needed a strong civil rights bill.  President Johnson replied, "... I know we do, now ... make me do it."     Prompted in part, no doubt by massive unemployment in the neighborhoods, the City Council and Michael Brown who chairs the relevant committee,  has moved their collective will to attempt to level the playing field for DC workers. This is NOT the best law possible, but it is a well crafted and serious attempt and we need it badly.   For this we owe them our appreciation and gratitude.  We will withold our respect until we see how far Council will go in rescinding key provisions of the bill when under pressure from the special interests.

All Who Seek a Just and Equitable Workplace

 Need to Mobilize in Support of this Legislation

The powerful construction and development industries do not want to see this new amendment enacted and they will exert considerable pressure on Council to bend them to weaken or even vote down this amentdmant.    All of us who seek a just and equitable workplace need to mobilize in supprt of the bill.  The bill: District of Columbia Workforce Intermediary Establishment and Reform of First Source and Living Wage Act of 2011, will be subtly attacked by council members who represent developer and contractor interests.  The way it will be done is to render the enforcement provisions useless by cutting the budget to the monitors.  to, in effect, pull the teeth of the bill.  Remember big, very big campaign contributions are riding on defeating this bill. We have to pressure the Council into supporting ALL of its provisions.

The Bill will be presented to the Council for vote sometime during the next session.  We need to be ready, organized and in force to offset the big money behind defeating it.  Watch for NCJC's coming program to support and reinforce the bill's sponsors in the coming weeks ... Watch This Blog.

Green Jobs: The Center for Urban Micro Enterprise

Here's The Plain Truth - We know that the new DC has no place for the hard working, under educated residents of our neighborhoods and communities.  The city of large institutions (Universities, Hospitals, and Gov't Agencies and Departments) will never again employ the throngs of low-skilled workers as it once did.   What recourse do we have to provide gainful and meaningful employment for citizens?  We are not sending all them to UDC ... trust me.  They are NOT going back to school.  What then, can we do to build opportunity?

Here's What We CAN Do - We can train them ... train them to operate and run their own profitable small businesses.   The time for education has past them by... but training is always an option.  This small growing business can become the cornerstone of a revitalization of the communities in which it exists.  Micro enterprise has helped rekindle commerce in the slums of India and the villages of Africa.  It can and will work here.  

Enter the Micro Franchise - Traditional small businesses have a 40% failure rate after two years.  However, if the business is part of a franchise then the rate drops dramatically to only 7%.  That's because a franchise is documented and training intensive.  It is standard operating procedure driven..  The plain truth is: The Franchise Model Works.  This is sustainable economic development.  This is an opportunity driven American solution.

The National Center for Urban Micro Enterprise
We need to establish a fund and an implementation strategy based upon a training (not education) model.  We need to establish the DC Sustainable Economic Initiative Fund.  We need to create The National Center for Urban Micro Enterprise.  We need to seriously foster a viral infestation of small growing businesses that are owned and operated by the people in the  neighborhoods.  How we do that and what businesses will work are legitimate questions that will be answered in the next blog... stay tuned DC.

Training? Eduction? For What? Find The Jobs First!

FIRST, Let's stop lying to the people of this city.  I mean those who live in the real DC.  The DC of Ivy City, of Trinidad and Anacostia of Wards 7 and 8.  Here's my take on the priorities of DOES and the of non profit alliance who maintain their lifestyles by training people for this "no decent jobs" environment.  There is an organization called putatively, The DC Jobs Council.  It has little to do about new jobs. It is in fact an association of non profits who provide so called job training for the unemployed here in the district.  Mostly, in my opinion, they train people for jobs that do not exist.  The DC Jobs Council is essentially a trade association that seeks the interest of those who earn their respective livings (and jobs) training people for low paying, food stamp and medicare subsidized jobs.

NEXT, Let's face it .....BOTH THE PRIVATE (CHARTER) PRIMARY AND

SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN DC HAVE FAILED!  Though a product of, and an advocate for education as a concept - at the secondary level, at least or DC, education has largely been a bust. We have lost the war for the hearts and minds of many if not most of our teenagers here in DC.  The metriculation rate, if you get the real numbers ...? around 50% ,,, half of our inner city kids make it. ... if we use jobs as a measure? The unemployment rate for high school grads and non-grads being only onepercent apart (19vs20% respectively. The value of a high school

education to a job seeker here in DC (unless one seeks post secondary advancement) is zero, zilch, nada!

The structural problems of the neighborhoods resulting, at least in part, from the palpable failure of primary and secondary education Will NOT be solved by any intervention that uses traditional education as abase strategy.

I realize that there are no simple answers and I do not have a

comprehensive solution but there seems to be no one out there

innovating.

THIS I BELIEVE ...The focus should not be on jobs training but jobs CREATION. Find the jobs! Create an incentive for employers to come! Guarantee them trained workers by training for the specific jobs. Usehigh tech potable training facilities that can be moved from site to site.  Use journey level trained instructors.  Honda did it in Ohio...and with illiterate workers.

HERE'S WHAT I'D DO ... 

I would switch the PRIMRY focus from GENERAL education to technical english and general arithmetic (so people canread and comprehend manuals and instructional media) Also ... teachremedial math using mediated individualized instruction (validated computer based training) I would stop all non-specific job training and place the responsibility on employers to train on demand, eliminating the need for any level of education to be required.  How many people are being "educated" for jobs that DO NOT exist (not jobs that require the

employee to apply for food stamps)

I question the fundamental value of a system of jobs training that isdedicated to produce an underclass of people who will live in subsidized servitude as the flotsam of the late information age.

First Source, What's Next ...?

Where Are The NEW Jobs?

The National Capital Jobs Coalition has largely achieved its first objective of establishing a First Source Law that will improve the number of construction industry jobs available to District residents..  The amendment to the original law will close the major loopholes and provide reasonable enforcement provisions.  The law could be improved and we will continue to work to improve it, but we must now turn ourselves to our second objectives of NCJC;  The creation of new green jobs. 

The Jobs Are All Gone

It is time to stop lying to the people of DC.  It is time to stop promising what you cannot deliver.  Do not be deceived by the hollow promises of the politicians and those who profit from training people for jobs that do not exist.  There are no d ecent paying green jobs with a future.  Why, because they simply do not exist.  It is time to stop the charade. 

Years ago The Federal Government and the large institutions, Universities, Hospitals and others no longer will hire the large numbers of hard-working, low-skilled citizens of the neighborhoods of this city.  Automation and the out sourcing of jobs to contractors has largely eliminated gainful employment for our residents.  There are two DC’s.  The DC of large institutions where one needs a masters degree to be a file clerk. Then there is the DC of Ivy City, Trinidad, the DC of 30% unemployment and higher illiteracy rates.

The Old Jobs Are Gone

DC must diversify its commercial base.  There are no factories coming to Anacostia.  There is no Silicaon Valley ready to spring into being in Trinidad. 

DC cannot look to the past to find the future.  We need to look to innovative and creative means to bring these new green industries to our city.  We are actively engaged in this process.  We see two exciting possibilities.  One is Urban Farming and the other Commercial Energy Conservation.  We will address both of these in future blogs.

NCJC Position on First Source Amendment

A Law With Teeth - It is also of merit to note that when legislators intend for a law to be enforced, they include both the specific regulation, substantive penalties for infractions, and the funds to implement all elements of the law and the regulations.  Let  us hope that this will be the case here.

Here's What's Needed - One, there should be a First Source Officer who is a single point of contact for all questions and documentation.  That person should be personally liable for the accuracy and validity of all data supplied in reference to the law.  This is not without precedent.  The GMP’s (good manufacturing practices) regulations call for personal responsibility AND criminal penalties for failure to adhere.

Visual Display by Prime Contractor - We also feel strongly about visible displays.  I suggest that a graphic sign equal in size and visibility to the contractor and prime be co located in a prominent place visible to the public. 

The sign should display:  The name of the prime contractor and major sub contractors on the sight.  The sign also should contain t he following:  1) The name of the First Source Officer along with contact information.  2) The number of all trades and laborers working on the site.  3) The number of trades and laborers who live in DC.  3) The percentages of labor hours required by First Source and the average percentages of hours worked by category over the previous reporting perion (month, quarter, etc)  At the bottom.  These should be adjacent to each other for easy comparison.  Finally, there should be  a tally board and back up documentation should be maintained by the First Source Officer at his desk on the site.  This board should be kept updated (with penalties for failing to do so) and available on demand by any person or organization with standing.

Co Director Peloquin Addresses Green Statehood Party General Meeting

A Meaningful Intellectual Dialog and a Progressive Agenda

We spoke at UDC Law School to a group of around thirty or so party members including David Schwartzman, former party candidate for DC City Council noted activists Michelle and Richard Clemmons among others.  We put forth the NCJC Mission and objectives of a revitalized and effective First Source law along with the pressing, even desperate need for decent and just new green jobs for the district.   Jobs being the key to an economic rebirth for our city.

NCJC was asked to address the First Source law and the proposed amendment.  We noted the improvements in the law and made known our suggestions for further enhancing the potential for an effective implementation and enforcement plan.  Other speakers addressed the issue of:  Wage Theft, a disgusting and growing problem and eliminating the blanket discrimination against returning citizens without cause or purpose.

I was generally impressed by the serious nature of those present.  The progressive agenda and the overall quality of the intellectual discourse.  I think we should consider engaging here.  It will be an opportunity for us to extend our vision and to link with those who would become our allies.

The Illusion of NEW Jobs for DC

As Co-Director of The National Capital Jobs Coalition I am legitimately concerned about new jobs for residents of The District of Columbia.  Why then, am I opposed to the influx of new Walmart stores here in DC?  

There Will be NO NEW JOBS! 

After studying the company’s record, operating history and reviewing economic and demographic studies I oppose WalMart for a number of reasons.  The principal claim made by supporters is that these stores will mean decent jobs for the residents of our city.  The truth , according to local economist Michael Siegel, and supported by other independent studies in Chicago and elsewhere, is that although Walmart  claims to bring 1200 jobs to DC.  In fact it will cost our City 1,600, a net loss of 400 jobs.  Even a casual inquiry will reveal a history littered with broken promises of jobs and prosperity.  In fact what Walmart provides and what our politicos are buying is the illusion of jobs.  

 The WalMart Record is Appalling

Walmart, as a matter of policy under pays and overworks the majority of its employees.  The Walmart jobs available to city residents will be minimum wage and mostly part time.  The company maintains its extraordinary profit margins by a systematic policy of worker exploitation, a statement supported by the record. Walmart intentionally under staffs their stores forcing low paid employees to work harder and longer without overtime and even unpaid off-the-clock.

WalMart Has a History of Unethical Behavior

I also oppose Walmart on ethical and moral issues.  Walmart has been repeatedly sued for unethical and unlawful business practices.  Wal-Mart has paid millions to settle class-action lawsuits that asserted Wal-Mart employees have been forced to work off-the-clock.   The plain truth is that most jobs open to DC workers will not be jobs at all, but in fact will be little more than subsidized servitude. This is worker exploitation in its worst form and a most bitter pill to those who so badly need legitimate jobs to support and raise their families.

 Walmart Puts Workers on Food Stamps

As a matter of policy Walmart has employees apply for Food Stamps and Medicaid, thus forcing the municipalities in which it operates to support Walmart’s overhead.   To the politicians and others who tout the benefits of Walmart and to the citizens of our city who support them.  I repeat the old adage: “Be careful what you wish for … you may get it.”