Bury Me Broken

Auto Layoffs Will Hurt African-American Middle Class

From the Center for Economic Policy and Research via CommonDreams:

WASHINGTON - January 23 - The sharp decline in the auto manufacturing sector in the last 20 years has hit African Americans particularly hard, according to a new report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Ford Motor Company's decision to implement another round of layoffs is bad news for Ford workers, but especially for African Americans. Since the end of World War II, manufacturing jobs, particularly unionized jobs in the auto industry, have been an important source of well-paid employment for African Americans.

The study, "The Decline in African-American Representation in Unions and Auto Manufacturing, 1979-2004," details the sharp decline in African-American employment in auto manufacturing and the even sharper decline in African-American union membership rates for the population as a whole. The report, by CEPR researchers Dr. John Schmitt and Ben Zipperer, analyzed data from the Current Population Survey from 1979 through 2004.

posted by niteskolar @ 5:31 AM