This past Sunday was the five year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The Katrina Commemoration Foundation and the Hip Hop Caucus joined over 105 endorsing organizations in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans to honor and commemorate all that was lost during the disaster. Click here to see a short video about the march and here for amazing photos of over 2,000 people coming to honor those who passed in the storm and the Great Flood.
The march is a reminder of all that has been done to get the region back on track—and all the work that’s still left to do. So, what can we learn looking back on the past five years and what can we hope to achieve in the next five? And what has the economic situation been like in the Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Big Easy?
As the AFL-CIO pointed out in a recent blog post, New Orleans has an above average unemployment rate and nearly double the national poverty rate. Why? A critical piece of the answer is the lack of good-paying union jobs.
As it turns out, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) just announced a $1.8 billion school construction grant. The grant shows a renewed commitment to provide aid to an area that very much needs it. But unfortunately for Gulf Coast workers, this grant lacks Davis-Bacon requirements, which would ensure that construction workers for the project are paid the prevailing local wage. Only the “chiefs and the thieves,” are making a living off of the grant says Robert “Tiger” Hammond, president of the Greater New Orleans AFL-CIO.
At a time when Gulf Coast communities desperately need an influx of good, family-sustaining jobs, this is unacceptable. Starting with Katrina, folks who call this part of the country home have endured disasters both natural and man made–from hurricanes, to oil spills, to the recent layoff of 642 union workers at Northrop Grumman in Pascagoula, Mississippi. And as last Sunday’s march made clear, they’ve done it with remarkable resilience and determination to build something better.
But we can’t rebuild the region by cutting corners and cutting workers benefits. It’s going to take embracing the right to a livable wage and the benefits of a good union job, and joining the march for a brighter future. Who could possibly deserve it more than these resilient Americans?
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