The Percy Program

It is a fight to level the playing field to be able to compete for jobs and careers on the basis of skills and make available apprentice training to all. In 1973 Al Percy launched a class action lawsuit to give workers like him a chance to better their lot in life. It would also ensure the availability of skilled workers to build the infrastructure of the future.

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3 years ago

Percy Action

disproportionate

disproportionate distribution exists for other measures of economic, social and educational disadvantage. All told, the same small number of Community Districts continue to experience multiple, overlapping conditions of distress. These entrenched neighborhood pockets continue to prove resistant to superficial reform efforts, which fail to combine ongoing training, support services, and a credible pathway to employment. In the methodology described below, Community Districts are ranked according to their combined score of disadvantage based upon each Community District’s measures of: a. Unemployment, b. Poverty, c. Public Assistance, d. Low Income, e. No High School Degree, f. Prison Admissions. 143. [Eric] Statistical evidence demonstrates that social and economic disadvantage has continued to grow worse in disadvantaged communities across the country since the enactment of Civil Rights Act of 1964 amended in 1991, and EO 11246 in 1965, which have tried levelling the playing field economically for the neighborhoods. These legal initiatives as implemented in practice have failed to produce a reduction in disadvantage as measured by unemployment rates in these neighborhoods. In 1954, 9.9 percent of African-Americans were unemployed. By 2013 that had increased to 13.4 percent (Bureau of Labor Statistics from Pew Research Center). The failure is further evident in our research which shows high levels of unemployment, incarceration , poverty and low levels of education in densely populated minority areas. 144. While the Black unemployment rate in 2013 was 13.4%, the white unemployment rate was half that, 6.7%, a 2-to-1 gap, which has persisted more or less over the last 60 years (Bureau of Labor Statistics from Pew Research Center). According to the Pew Research Center, “. . . labor economists, sociologists and other researchers have offered many explanations for the persistent 2-to-1 gap . . . from differing industrial distribution of blacks and whites to a ‘skills gap’ between them . . .” The disproportionate disadvantage in educational attainment and employment are certainly consistent with the presumption of a skills gap. Additional conditions of disadvantage such as poverty, dependence on public assistance, and criminal justice system involvement in these neighborhoods suggest that without persistent, concerted, and targeted intervention in the 36

education, skills development, training and employment of these residents, these debilitating conditions are unlikely to be relieved nor fulfill the vision of the Civil Rights Act. 145. Further exacerbating the inequity, automation and new technology are combining to raise the level of unemployment resulting in less and less opportunity for the lower or nonskilled class. 146. Percy became the Chief Oiler at the North River Water Pollution Control Plant, making sure the plant was maintained and removed pollutants from used water before being discharged into local New York City waterways. As an oiler Percy’s main job was to oil machinery and check engine equipment for leaks or malfunctions, lubricate moving parts, and check gauges, notably for sewage, lighting, air conditioning, and water systems. 147. This was an important job that required an advanced skill set, a skill set to allow Percy to handle the tasks at the plant and ensure the average New Yorker could enjoy potable water. Without the proper skills, Percy would not achieve his career success. This skill set was not developed in the United States, however, but in the oilfields of Trinidad and Tobago. The unfortunate truth is that the United States does not make the effort to train its own citizens to handle its critical infrastructure needs. Yet Percy is an example of the level of success and responsibility that is achievable when one does have the skill set. 148. Today Percy, the Class Representative in a lawsuit commenced years ago, wants to make sure apprenticeship exists to develop skilled workers to care for the infrastructure and systems that the people of the United States of America rely on. There will always be a need for skilled workers capable of keeping society’s infrastructure functioning. This cannot happen without the skilled, salt of the earth, labor of hardworking Americans. Percy is leading the charge so that hard working Americans have access to the skills necessary and the good paying jobs needed to keep the machinery running which manages and protects our Earth. Percy is proof of what is possible. But nothing is possible without the proper training and safety. 149. In the landmark class action lawsuit, Percy v. Brennan, Percy won the right for unskilled workers to receive apprenticeship so they may benefit from 37

Alternative Employment Practice Percy Program