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The New Orleans Advocate: New Courses Designed to Remove Employment Barriers for Black Men
New training courses designed to remove barriers to employment for black men
Tracy Stewart spends seven or eight months a year at sea, working as a cook on container ships and bulk carriers. But on Friday, with a few days off for the holidays, he decided to take a 10-hour class to become certified in Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards, policies and procedures for the construction industry.
“I figured the more credentials I have, the better off I’ll be,” Stewart said.
He was one of 30 people, mostly black men, who participated in the training course, which was organized by the Urban League of Greater New Orleans and taught by representatives from Parsons Corp., an international engineering and construction firm.
The Urban League hopes the class will serve as a conduit that connects unemployed and underemployed New Orleanians, particularly black men, to jobs.
Participants were part of the Urban League’s Workforce Development initiative and Ceasefire New Orleans, a city program aimed at reducing shootings and killings.
“People want to work. Our black men want to work,” said Erika McConduit-Diggs, Urban League of Greater New Orleans president and CEO. “They want better opportunities for themselves.”
According to a study released this summer, more than half of working-age African-American men in New Orleans were unemployed in 2011, as available jobs shifted away from industries such as manufacturing and transportation to professional services.
The study, published by Loyola University’s Lindy Boggs National Center for Community Literacy, found 37 percent of working-age black men were either unemployed or had dropped out of the workforce in 1980. The latter category includes people who had stopped looking for work or were in prison. That figure had climbed to 52 percent by 2011.
The Urban League is adding these training courses to other services it provides to try to reduce the unemployment rate. The organization also offers classes on conflict resolution, financial literacy and professional development.
To read the full article, please visit: http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/7838564-171/new-training-courses-designed-to
