Announcements of a big employer moving to town, or a large infrastructure project, can often spark excitement. Local communities see the potential for big benefits, including new and better jobs and other investment in community needs. Too often, however, these benefits do not materialize. Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs), binding agreements created between community groups and organizations like real estate developers or large employers, are a powerful alternative that ensure people have a real say in shaping the outcomes these new investments will create for their communities.
Jobs to Move America (JMA) is a national leader in leveraging CBAs to improve jobs and provide opportunities for historically disadvantaged communities and workers. CBAs have allowed JMA to build consensus between affected workers and employers on policies that would benefit the community — from reformed hiring practices to improved training and protecting workers from discrimination. In this webinar, co-hosted by JMA and the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program (EOP), we’ll hear from experts and practitioners about their experiences implementing CBAs and leveraging them to improve job quality in their communities. This event is part of EOP’s Job Quality in Practice series, which examines the strategies and approaches practitioners are using to improve job quality and expand economic opportunity.
The passage of the 13th Amendment following the American Civil War abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, but it included a crucial exception: “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” This exception allowed southern governments to institute an early version of prison labor called convict leasing. Black Americans arrested for minor offenses, once imprisoned, were effectively purchased from state and local governments by individuals and companies looking to continue using cheap labor. This allowed individuals and companies to keep slavery in action. Though the practice of convict leasing ended in the mid-20th century, its infamous traits can still be seen in today’s incarceration system.
Today, the majority of incarcerated workers in the US, who are disproportionately Black and people of color, are often required to work or face retaliation such as solitary confinement, denial of opportunities to reduce their sentence, and loss of family visitation. They work jobs that might pay pennies on the hour, if they are paid at all, and are often not protected by labor laws. Many work in dangerous conditions. At the same time, some find deep purpose in their work behind bars, an opportunity to build skills, and support in making a successful transition to life after incarceration. In this recorded event, the first in a two part series, the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program explores the history and conditions of work for incarcerated people and ideas for creating more humane and dignified work for those behind bars.
Our second conversation, Re-Entry and Good Jobs: Building the Second Chances We All Believe In, explores the opportunities and challenges of work for returning citizens after they have been released from incarceration.
Today’s politicized environment poses unique challenges for worker rights advocates. With Congress often divided, and many state and local governments as well, the path to improving worker rights through legislation is narrow. Nonetheless, we have seen some remarkable progress on worker rights over the last few years through executive action. Leveraging executive action, however, is not a straightforward and easily discernible path for grassroots activists and organizations interested in advancing worker rights and job quality.
In the “Toolkit: An Organizer’s Guide to Executive Action,” Mary Beth Maxwell, executive director of Workshop, demystifies and democratizes the policy-making process by sharing lessons learned during her time in federal government. Toolkit offers a blueprint for advocates inside and outside on how they can collaborate to build an economy that works for all and, in the process, rebuild a healthy democracy.
This webinar, co-hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program and Workshop, featured a panel of experienced public servants and organizers. Speakers will dive into the lessons and stories from Toolkit and provide guidance to advocates and organizers striving to advance worker rights.
This website includes resources to support pregnant and breastfeeding workers. Resources are designed to educate employees about their workplace rights, for employers to adopt family-friendly policies and ensure compliance with state and federal laws, and for policymakers and advocates to support pregnant and breastfeeding employees. Tools include a model policy that reflects current legal requirements, a webinar for employee training, and a chart of workplace accommodations for common pregnancy-related conditions. In addition to workers, employers, and policymakers, workforce development professionals who support workers may also find this resource guide useful.
This report uses principles of behavioral economics to offer recommendations to workforce development professionals about how to strengthen their collaboration with business leaders and better understand how they make decisions. The report outlines four cognitive biases that might affect an employer’s decisions, including those related to business practice changes, and suggests practical solutions.
The Management Center created this library of tools related to equity and inclusion aimed at addressing internal practices and management approaches of organizations. Included are worksheets, resources, and case studies that have applications for organizations seeking further equitable opportunities and outcomes.
The Job Accommodation Network’s publications include a resource series on Accommodation and Compliance, designed to support employers and employees in determining effective accommodations that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Each publication in the series addresses a specific medical condition and potential accommodations and points toward resources for additional information. These publications can be used by practitioners assisting employers in accommodating disabilities as well as by individual employees as they discuss accommodations with their employer.
This post and sample letter details how to document your disability and how to share the information with your employer to provide an accommodation. It includes helpful information about an employee’s rights and a sample letter of inquiry to an employer. Employees and the advocates who support them may find this tool useful when interfacing with an employer about needed accommodations.
This guide includes information about the legal basics of the Americans with Disabilities Act and how to request and negotiate an accommodation. Each section responds to commonly asked questions about the policies and practicalities of getting an accommodation at work, including if you have to disclose your disability to your employer and what accommodations you can request. This tool could be helpful for an individual employee, a practitioner informing clients of their rights, or an employer seeking to strengthen accommodations.
This framework can help employers and their partners define job quality and design high-quality job opportunities in collaboration with workers, based on a menu of components of a quality job. The tool is built around three pillars that can help to attract and retain talent: foundational elements of a quality job such as wages and benefits, support elements such as training, and opportunity elements such as recognition.