Tarry Hum’s “Persistent Polarization in the New York Workforce: New Findings of Labor Market Segmentation” clearly articulates and quantifies the large gaps in employment in terms of race, gender, and nativity. Some of the factors mentioned are understandably contributive to success in the job market such as language proficiency and education; however, the variance in terms of race and nativity are striking. African Americans, Latinos, and Asians collectively make up approximately half of both professional and financial services and between 70 and 75% of retail, food, and medical services. Bearing in mind last week’s discussion on immigrant entrepreneurship, this isn’t terribly surprising, but this huge divide between so-called skilled and unskilled labor is alarming, to say the least, especially since New York City is supposed to be a model in rising out of the current economic crisis.
What is perhaps most interesting is within these minority groups, there is a further division between native-borns and immigrants. The most extreme example is in the case of Asians and Asian-Americans. Native-born Asians on average make over $100,000 while their immigrant counterparts are sitting at the poverty line. While language and education can account for this to an extent, there is still clearly and abuse and exploitation of these immigrant workers.
However, Immanuel Ness’s Immigrants, Unions, and the New U.S. Labor Market shows how when these immigrants try to rally together to fight for better wages or conditions, they are met with overwhelming opposition. The example opening the chapter relays an anecdote about a shop that chose to shut down rather than increase its Mexican workers pay. Ness also discussed the strange comparison of the formation of such units to a “cultural propensity” towards militancy. Frankly, that is a bit ridiculous. Unions by native born Americans were formed in response to the influx of blue collar jobs and the ensuing abuse inflicted upon these workers. Although Ness is correct in saying we have increasingly become a service economy, there is still a need for unions, especially amongst immigrant workers.
