On December 3rd, unemployed workers and their supporters who are angered about the lack of public funding to address the continued economic assault of unemeployment and
underemployment on communities of color, people with disabilities, and youth, held a “Jobless Summit” in Chicago to discuss innvovative strategies to put people back to work.
The summit was in direct response to the “Jobs Summit” called by President Obama. While we applauded the President’s effort, we were concerned about the fact that the voices of the communities most affected by the crisis were ot invited to the table.
The “Jobless Summit” brought together a broad based sector that included unemployed workers, union representatives, economists, religious leaders, and people with disabilities who outlined specific recommendations to increase employment, including a National Jobs Program that puts the most vulnerable members of our communities back to work.
Aronzo Davis, an unemployed worker, said:
This Summit was the first step of a long-term organizing campaign to win a National Jobs Program. The epidemic of joblessness in the African-American community has become a social catastrophe. Unless something is done soon, I’m afraid our nation will head down a long road of endless violence. But we want to create vibrant communities, not desolate ghettos. We need our President and other elected officials to understand. In addition, the brother from the union had it right — we should also be fighting to insure that the jobs that currently are in our community pay living wages. I’m glad I came to this. Let’s start the fight for social justice.
CBS Channel 2, Fox News, and local media covered the event. CBS National did a piece that tied the local event with the President’s Summit.
Elce Redmond is an organizer with the South Austin Coalition and sits on the Executive Committee of Chicago Jobs with Justice.
