At my table were four men, with not one job among them, and two women whose business cards — "coffee specialist" and "life, love and wellness" counselor" — testified to their hustle.
They were among more than 1,000 people who had been ferried in, fed and readied for protest by a union-backed advocacy group called Good Jobs
It was Bennell Bryant's first time at a political summit. He came because someone from Good Jobs LA knocked on his door in Compton. The group held a meeting on his block and "hipped us to what the corporations are doing."Bryant's been out of work for so long that every benefit he might tap has run out. He'd like to enroll in truck driving school, "but they keep turning me down for grants," he said.
Across the table was Willie Evans, a single father of two young sons. He's been out of work for 15 months; his janitorial job disappeared when the company went under.
His monthly income dropped from $2,100 to $730. He relies on food stamps, help from his church and a compassionate landlord to survive. Next month, he'll have to choose between paying rent and buying school clothes for his boys.Both men were ready for the rally's rhetoric: Tax the rich! Make the corporations pay!
The Good Jobs LA organizer at our table explained the problem this way:
"Rich people are buying their yachts and mansions and all this other stuff. If they would pay fair taxes, we could have jobs and training.
"But how are we gonna get this money from the rich folks to get all these strategies going?" he asked.
A good question … left unanswered.
The politicians will get back to us on that.
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