SCA Unites Communities of Color for Good Jobs Fight

Sunflower Community Action, Service Employees International Union Local 513, and Communication Workers of America marched together in solidarity at the annual Wichita Black Arts festival to kick off a campaign to unite communities of color in the struggle for quality jobs that afford a dignified standard of living. With well over 100 members dressed in bright yellow Sunflower t-shirts, SCA’s column in the march was a bold sign of our organization’s power. Our members are motivated in their mission and organized for action.

Twenty years ago Wichita corporations such as Coleman and York Industries had a predominantly white core workforce with good pay and benefits, supplemented by contingent workers during times of peak production that had less pay and no benefits. Now many core workers are employed on a contingent basis, and many of those contingent workers are black or brown.  Instead of providing good jobs for our communities, these corporations have turned to Wichita’s 21 flourishing temp agencies instead of offering good jobs directly to employees.  This is having a negative impact on the workforce, especially workers of color.

 

Official unemployment rates in Wichita, even before the recession, showed a black unemployment rate three times higher than for whites, and twice as high for brown workers.  Those jobless rates are likely to be even more disproportionate now, since the slow economic recovery means that black and brown workers, often the first laid off, are frequently the last rehired.  For years, these corporations have been the recipients of tax subsidies as incentives to provide good jobs.