City ponders how to deal with job losses that might only get worse

By Kristina Peterson

"Emily!" The newlywed couple scolded their dog as it foraged through a box of sandwiches intended to feed a group of displaced garment workers rallying on the steps of City Hall Nov. 21. More intent on relaying their message than on eating, the unemployed garment-factory and other light-industry workers held up signs in English and Chinese reading, "Jobs for Working Families" before dispersing to go inside for a hearing called by Sup. Sophie Maxwell.

With the rapid decline of light manufacturing in San Francisco, increasing numbers of blue-collar workers have been left unemployed. The Chinese Progressive Association cites data from the Employment Development Department showing that between 1990 and 2000, garment manufacturers laid off almost 16,500 San Franciscans. And just since 2004, more than 900 workers have come to the CPA to help get unemployment benefits and assistance under the Federal Trade Adjustment Act. Even with these benefits, the workers "face significant barriers accessing retraining and re-employment services," due to the limited English of many workers and declining employment opportunities, said Gordon Mar, executive director of the CPA.

"This is really a question of who gets to live here, who gets to work here," explained Maxwell aide Greg Asay. "If the city doesn't rearrange its priorities, it's going to lose its working class."

For example, housing policies being pushed by Mayor Gavin Newsom and his allies would allow residential development on vast stretches of land in the eastern neighborhoods, where garment factories and other light-industrial businesses now operate. A Planning Department study released in October said those housing policies would displace about 17,500 of these jobs.

Maxwell introduced the hearing by emphasizing the issue as one of economic development, not of social welfare. "Job losses disproportionately affect working-class communities, especially those not proficient in English," she said. Wes Dixon from the Private Industry Council suggested that responding to the needs of unemployed workers could be streamlined by better mapping out of the city's businesses so the PIC is aware of upcoming layoffs and can provide information and services to displaced workers.

Luna Yasui, policy director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, stressed the need for increased language services. "We need to integrate language acquisition with vocational training," she said. Representing San Francisco City College, where many people receive vocational training, Phyllis McGuire highlighted the importance of partnerships with community organizations to provide child care and transportation services, among others, to those in training programs.

One major problem many speakers brought up was the lack of Cantonese-speaking government officials in unemployment service centers such as OneStop, making it extremely difficult to explain benefits and opportunities to displaced workers. Maxwell resolved to make it a top priority to reinstate a Cantonese-speaking worker to improve communication.

Representing the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Jesse Blout defended the mayor's prioritization of biotechnology, digital media, and clean technology with statistics on their growth. "These are the next generation of manufacturing jobs," he said, agreeing with Maxwell's proposal that the city should integrate displaced light-industry workers into developing industries, rather than simply trying to preserve declining manufacturing businesses.

At the hearing's close, Maxwell resolved to focus more on keeping dialogue open with the displaced workers, as well as with City Hall. "I think having a task force is OK," she said. "We have a lot of those." But the real need is for the city to find ways of better supporting locally manufactured apparel and otherwise helping these workers remain employed.

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