Public Comment

The San Francisco Chronicle recently published an article detailing the harassment of black workers rs by white workers and supervisors in the construction industry. The harassment is not just wrong and inappropriate. It is vicious. One African worker reported finding on more than one occasion a noose at his workplace, In a lawsuit by some black workers they complained that supervisors referred to them as “undesirables”,” lazy, and” dumb n******s”. They were even subjected to racist jokes,

Moreover, complaining to the higher levels of management brought no results. Nor has their local unions, whose function is to protect its members regardless of race, been helpful. Not surprisingly, African American rarely are promoted even if they have seniority..

Although the article was informative, what was missing is the very important issue of wages. Its absence gives the wrong impression that the wage issue is not a serious problem. However, it is a major problem. The black construction workers could not expect to earn more than 75 percent of white workers. In other words they are underpaid.

Moreover, it is important for us to understand that the humiliations the African American workers experience is closely linked to the wage problem. The derogatory comments are not only insulting. The remarks provide a justification for economically exploiting these workers. If these workers are seen as lazy or dumb and in other ways as inadequate, they don’t deserve higher wages.

One important attempt to protect low wage workers has been the prevailing wage laws. These laws are important. Like minimum wage laws they narrow the gap between low wage and high wage workers. But they certainly do not eliminate the difference. In fact, in many instances it has led to higher wages at the top, which as a result has done little to narrow the gap.  

Also, there has been some recent efforts by states to abolish their prevailing wage laws. The current economic climate has given business more leverage to get its way. In Kentucky, a major developer threatened the state that rather than invest over a billion dollars in Kentucky it would go elsewhere unless the prevailing wage requirement was abolished. As a result, the Kentucky Senate passed a bill eliminating the state’s prevailing wage requirement for state funded projects. 

What then should working people do? Of course there are no easy answers. But we do know that divisions between workers are self-defeating. Instead, every effort must be made to build a democratic, militant, united front movement, There is no other way. 

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