GARY — Four Black mayors from throughout Indiana took part in a panel discussion at Indiana University Northwest on Wednesday regarding labor issues affecting the Black community and how they were promoting the interests of workers in their communities.
Michigan City Mayor Angela Deuitch, Gary Mayor Eddie Melton, Marion Mayor Ronald Morrell and Elkhart Mayor Rod Roberson took part in the hour-long event hosted by the Black Labor Week Project.
The local leaders were questioned about challenges faced by Black workers in the labor market, how they could be ensured fair access to employment opportunities as well as initiatives and trainings they supported to further develop job skills.
Reflecting on personal experience, Deuitch emphasized the importance of providing youth with access to different career opportunities, as well as connecting labor unions with them, noting how her consulting firm has been bringing high school students to visit with the local carpenters' union recently.
People are also reading…
Gary Mayor Eddie Melton, right, answers a question Wednesday at The Mayor's Conversation Event at Indiana University Northwest in Gary. Mayors from Gary, Michigan City, Elkhart, and Marion participated in the panel discussion inside Bergland Auditorium in the Savannah Center.
"I think it's my responsibility as the mayor, as an African-American woman, to show them options," Deuitch said. "I'm trying to push our kids to take advantage of those opportunities."
Roberson noted the importance of having cultural competence, especially in his city, which is rapidly becoming a majority-minority community.
However, he said, the city government also needed to be able to position themselves as equitable employers, hiring candidates based on merit, instead of personal connections.
"I believe if you level the playing field for us, African-Americans, we will do well ... we just have to make sure that ... we won't get treated in a different way than anyone else, and we feel as though we're valued," Roberson said.
Melton highlighted the excuses often made by companies and unions for not hiring Black workers.
"We can't find qualified Black workers. Or the one I hate the most, they can't pass the drug test," he said.
The Gary mayor also recounted how recently a business asked the city about receiving a tax abatement in order to not pay taxes. When Melton asked how many Gary residents the company employed, he said he wasn't impressed.
"But I didn't stop the conversation or negotiation there, it's how do we remove this as a barrier so this is no longer an issue," Melton said.
Gary Mayor Eddie Melton answers a question Wednesday at The Mayor's Conversation Event at Indiana University Northwest in Gary. Mayors from Gary, Michigan City, Elkhart, and Marion participated in the panel discussion inside Bergland Auditorium in the Savannah Center.
Morrell, the only Republican on the panel, said he collaborated with the local Ivy Tech Community College and local trade unions to create a scholarship program in which students who graduated from Marion High School and wanted to go into the trades could attend Ivy Tech for free.
"I really took the approach to how do we address the next generation," Morrell said.
The Black Labor Week Project is an annual event launched in 2012 to highlight the Black community's contributions to the labor movement.
The project's founder, Ephrin "E.J." Jenkins, said it was the first time they held a mayors' panel. According to him, the event was a way for more tangible conversations to be held.
"Each one of the mayors that was on the panel actually gave evidence that they create solutions versus being part of the problem," Jenkins said.