Wages and Systemic Racism
—guest post by Dawn Baker, AFSCME Local 328 unit steward—
Income is the easiest measure of success for the average worker in America. What do wages truly reflect, though? Do they reflect the importance of the work being performed, or do they reflect the importance society has assigned to the person earning the wage? What jobs are truly essential, and what people are doing these jobs?
When COVID-19 arrived in the United States, many very highly-paid professionals were rendered useless, while low-wage workers became some of the most important people in our economy. Many more have been fortunate to have jobs that can be done from the safety and comfort of home. Other workers have stayed working, out on the front lines. These truly essential workers are those who drive buses for critical mass transit, those who process the food we eat, those who keep our hospitals clean, those who ring up our groceries — those whose unappreciated, “unskilled” labor is truly what keeps our economy moving and keeps our way of life possible. Why are the wages of society’s essential workers so out of sync with their critical value?
Let’s take a look at the situation at OHSU. According to OHSU’s 2019 Fact Book, 53% of minority employees represented by AFSCME Local 328; only 23% are in faculty or unclassified-administrative positions. Only 36 of 3,114 faculty members are Black. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the lowest-paid jobs are often held by BIPOC workers. We see this at OHSU as well — workers in Food and Nutrition in Environmental Services all serve critical functions for the institution, but their wages too often leave them struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living in the Portland metro area.
These disparities in wages and type of employment are just one element of systemic racism. From the beginning, American society has withheld education and opportunities from its BIPOC citizens. During slavery, an enslaved Black person could be killed for simply learning to read and write. As some pushed for equality and civil rights, others tools were found to oppress minorities; formerly overt tactics went underground. One such tactic was the use of redlining, which kept Black people restricted to certain neighborhoods; these neighborhoods are often still negatively affected by different standards of education, services and policing. This housing discrimination has prevented Black people from gaining wealth by building equity in the ways that white people have always been able to.
Segregation, underfunded school systems and the Black-white wealth gap are factors have resulted in fewer educational opportunities being available to Black people. In turn, BIPOC workers often find that the only jobs available are in under-valued manual or “non-professional” positions — the same ones that have proven so essential to our society and economy. Employers — including OHSU — justify these low wages as being the “market rate,” as if this is based on the value of the work itself rather than on the value society has placed on those who do the work. It’s par for the course that the same white supremacy that has limited Black people’s educational and employment options has limited the wages for the type of work they’re doing, thus making it difficult for them to escape the traps and hurdles set for them by “the system.”
If we are truly committed to eliminating the systemic racism that pervades every aspect of American society, a good place to start is with wages. For Black lives to matter, Black work has to be valued and appreciated. We must realign wages to reflect the work’s value to society, balancing that with factors such as knowledge, skills and experience. A rising tide lifts all boats, and such a change would ultimately benefit society at large. Our employer recently indicated a willingness “to begin to address structural racism inherent to OHSU.” Our union will encourage OHSU leadership to build a more equitable wage structure and improve opportunities for BIPOC employees as part of these efforts.