- Dec 6, 2005
- 1,773
- 1,298
First, a little background on my situation.
I have mentioned before that where I live is high unemployment (around 40%), with about an 85% black population.
Now, the company I work for is owned by a group in Spain, and I am the union steward. We have an average of around 70+ employees, but during this time of year, have around 100.
The thing is, there is a high mexican rate at work (around 75%), although they only make up less than 6% of the total population. I constantly see mexicans being hired over blacks. And to be honest with you, I am beginning to be bothered by this more and more, and am considering some sort of action either through the union, or other avenues. But there lies the problem.
If I start making too many waves, I risk upsetting the owners to the point that they could just as well shut the place down. And believe me, I know they would. I don't want to see that happen because around here, jobs are scarce. Also, I spoke with another brother about this today, and he reminded me that a lot of brothers & sisters coming through the door fail the drug test given with 3 days of being hired, or that some have been hired only to not come back on their first break ( the jobs are not hard, but physical & continuous). I told him that though I understood his logic, that you still can't hold every black to that stereotype, that all blacks are not like that. I also reminded him if that was the case then, then blacks are not even being given a chance to prove his/her self, that we are being shut out right from jump.
Family, I want to do something about this, but don't want to make things worse. So my question is simple.............do I or don't I.
I have mentioned before that where I live is high unemployment (around 40%), with about an 85% black population.
Now, the company I work for is owned by a group in Spain, and I am the union steward. We have an average of around 70+ employees, but during this time of year, have around 100.
The thing is, there is a high mexican rate at work (around 75%), although they only make up less than 6% of the total population. I constantly see mexicans being hired over blacks. And to be honest with you, I am beginning to be bothered by this more and more, and am considering some sort of action either through the union, or other avenues. But there lies the problem.
If I start making too many waves, I risk upsetting the owners to the point that they could just as well shut the place down. And believe me, I know they would. I don't want to see that happen because around here, jobs are scarce. Also, I spoke with another brother about this today, and he reminded me that a lot of brothers & sisters coming through the door fail the drug test given with 3 days of being hired, or that some have been hired only to not come back on their first break ( the jobs are not hard, but physical & continuous). I told him that though I understood his logic, that you still can't hold every black to that stereotype, that all blacks are not like that. I also reminded him if that was the case then, then blacks are not even being given a chance to prove his/her self, that we are being shut out right from jump.
Family, I want to do something about this, but don't want to make things worse. So my question is simple.............do I or don't I.