The Homeless Person's Bill of Rights and Fairness Act recently proposed in the California Legislature would provide broad protections to homeless individuals with respect to employment, housing, health services, etc., and effectively make housing status a protected class when it comes to discrimination in employment...This frankly needs to be FEDERAL legislation.
Specifically, the proposed law prohibits California employers from discriminating against applicants and employees due to an individual's:
•Condition of being homeless;
•Lack of a permanent mailing address; or
•Current income level.
The proposed law permits aggrieved individuals to file a civil lawsuit and allows a court to award statutory damages of $1,000 per violation, actual damages, compensatory damages, general damages, special damages, exemplary damages, appropriate injunctive and declaratory relief, punitive damages, and reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Interesting legislation...
I suspect that one of the reasons it's been almost six months here in Phoenix, and I have not been hired as of yet, is that companies may be finding out that I am homeless and refusing to consider me on those grounds. There is legislation pending in the state of California which would make that illegal:
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Saturday the 13th, and I'm still waiting
I am still in Phoenix, I am still unemployed, I am still looking for
work, and I am still homeless. In that regard, not much has changed
over the last 60 days.
I have been here in Phoenix since November. I have not found employment as of yet. I did find one freelance graphic design project that is ongoing, but the client is bootstrapping his business venture and cannot really afford to pay me a large amount of money. But at times it keeps me busy. I have more or less finished up a pro bono freelance project I took on while I was still in Houston.
Therefore, at this present time, I am still waiting. Waiting for that one company to take a chance and hire a 43-year-old unemployed Black graphic designer. I keep sending out resumes, and I have gone on a few more interviews. Thankfully, there are still firms that are posting jobs, so there is some hiring activity going on in my industry. I was just on an interview Thursday, and it seemed to go very well, but then again, a couple of my other interviews went "very well" and I'm still waiting to hear back from them, weeks after the fact. I'm not holding my breath. Until then, I spend my days and pass the time going back and forth around town, around this great Valley of the Sun, traveling on the light rail and the bus, visiting different libraries here in Phoenix as well as in Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler, waiting, waiting for that one company to hire me.
I love this town. I am glad I am here. The weather is awesome. A good part of the rest of the nation is still dealing with snow, rain, tornadoes, etc., even in April, but here it is sunny, clear blue skies and the high temps will be in the 90s today. It is better to be here in Arizona than in Houston. I liked Houston, and wanted to stay, but Arizona always kept calling me, and when the opportunity presented itself to come back, I jumped at the chance. I just wasn't anticipating being unemployed five months after my arrival. That's the part that's hard.
I'm also trying to keep marketing my freelance services. If you are in need of a logo for your startup, contact me. Take a look at my page:
https://sites.google.com/site/msreeddesign2/
As I have stated before, CASS, the shelter where I am staying, has a time limit on a guest's stay, and my time will be up on May 19. I must leave CASS on that date unless there is an extension granted, and cannot be re-admitted for one year. I have applied for a rental assistance grant from the City of Phoenix, and my assessment interview for that is April 26. I should get a minimum of three months of assistance, from all preliminary indications. That will buy me a little more time to keep searching and keep waiting. I have been approved for six more months of SNAP (food stamps) assistance so at least I can minimize my trips to the soup kitchens.
This Great Recession has been very difficult, to say the least. Jobs are difficult to come by, and when you do get a job, you are forced to keep that job as long as possible, because if you leave, it's too hard to find another, and the older one gets, the less marketable a professional really is. It's not just me, I have talked to other "older" professionals and they seem to have the same issue. Companies want younger, faster, cheaper.
And what gets me is that all this really did not have to happen. Companies, especially the Fortune 500 conglomerates, have been allowed to have way too much power and way too much control. During a time when people need a "leg up" the most, the major corporations only care about maximizing their own profits. They reject any calls by the 99% to share their wealth. Social welfare programs are decried as "un-American" and "not what made this nation great." Excuse me, but this nation was "made great" on the backs of working people. And working people - which includes the middle class - are being pushed further and further into homelessness and poverty because of the greed of the 1% and the refusal to "share the wealth" that WE create. WE are the "job creators" by virtue of being the very labor force, and getting disrespected and thrown aside in the name of "cutting costs" and "maximizing revenue". Utterly unacceptable and a recipe for further social and political unrest in this country. Count on it unless things change dramatically and soon.
What I think we need:
- Guaranteed minimum income. $27,500 per year to every adult American citizen. Period. You can abolish most of the minimum wage (with the caveat that if a company employs you, they are required to pay you something, if only a couple of bucks an hour) but companies do have to realize that people ain't gonna work for nothing, so there will be a natural minimum wage that's prevailing.
- Single-payer health care in the USA on the Federal level. Period. Studies and proposals have been put out there that are detailed and show that such an approach will actually save this society money and keep or improve the health of all citizens.
- Employment law reform. Make it illegal for employers to require credit checks on jobs that do not deal with financial records/information or handling cash. Make it illegal for employers to use social media usage/history as a criteria to hire/not hire. I have other ideas I posted some months ago, take a look at them.
- Tax reform. Start with:
I have been here in Phoenix since November. I have not found employment as of yet. I did find one freelance graphic design project that is ongoing, but the client is bootstrapping his business venture and cannot really afford to pay me a large amount of money. But at times it keeps me busy. I have more or less finished up a pro bono freelance project I took on while I was still in Houston.
Therefore, at this present time, I am still waiting. Waiting for that one company to take a chance and hire a 43-year-old unemployed Black graphic designer. I keep sending out resumes, and I have gone on a few more interviews. Thankfully, there are still firms that are posting jobs, so there is some hiring activity going on in my industry. I was just on an interview Thursday, and it seemed to go very well, but then again, a couple of my other interviews went "very well" and I'm still waiting to hear back from them, weeks after the fact. I'm not holding my breath. Until then, I spend my days and pass the time going back and forth around town, around this great Valley of the Sun, traveling on the light rail and the bus, visiting different libraries here in Phoenix as well as in Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler, waiting, waiting for that one company to hire me.
I love this town. I am glad I am here. The weather is awesome. A good part of the rest of the nation is still dealing with snow, rain, tornadoes, etc., even in April, but here it is sunny, clear blue skies and the high temps will be in the 90s today. It is better to be here in Arizona than in Houston. I liked Houston, and wanted to stay, but Arizona always kept calling me, and when the opportunity presented itself to come back, I jumped at the chance. I just wasn't anticipating being unemployed five months after my arrival. That's the part that's hard.
I'm also trying to keep marketing my freelance services. If you are in need of a logo for your startup, contact me. Take a look at my page:
https://sites.google.com/site/msreeddesign2/
As I have stated before, CASS, the shelter where I am staying, has a time limit on a guest's stay, and my time will be up on May 19. I must leave CASS on that date unless there is an extension granted, and cannot be re-admitted for one year. I have applied for a rental assistance grant from the City of Phoenix, and my assessment interview for that is April 26. I should get a minimum of three months of assistance, from all preliminary indications. That will buy me a little more time to keep searching and keep waiting. I have been approved for six more months of SNAP (food stamps) assistance so at least I can minimize my trips to the soup kitchens.
This Great Recession has been very difficult, to say the least. Jobs are difficult to come by, and when you do get a job, you are forced to keep that job as long as possible, because if you leave, it's too hard to find another, and the older one gets, the less marketable a professional really is. It's not just me, I have talked to other "older" professionals and they seem to have the same issue. Companies want younger, faster, cheaper.
And what gets me is that all this really did not have to happen. Companies, especially the Fortune 500 conglomerates, have been allowed to have way too much power and way too much control. During a time when people need a "leg up" the most, the major corporations only care about maximizing their own profits. They reject any calls by the 99% to share their wealth. Social welfare programs are decried as "un-American" and "not what made this nation great." Excuse me, but this nation was "made great" on the backs of working people. And working people - which includes the middle class - are being pushed further and further into homelessness and poverty because of the greed of the 1% and the refusal to "share the wealth" that WE create. WE are the "job creators" by virtue of being the very labor force, and getting disrespected and thrown aside in the name of "cutting costs" and "maximizing revenue". Utterly unacceptable and a recipe for further social and political unrest in this country. Count on it unless things change dramatically and soon.
What I think we need:
- Guaranteed minimum income. $27,500 per year to every adult American citizen. Period. You can abolish most of the minimum wage (with the caveat that if a company employs you, they are required to pay you something, if only a couple of bucks an hour) but companies do have to realize that people ain't gonna work for nothing, so there will be a natural minimum wage that's prevailing.
- Single-payer health care in the USA on the Federal level. Period. Studies and proposals have been put out there that are detailed and show that such an approach will actually save this society money and keep or improve the health of all citizens.
- Employment law reform. Make it illegal for employers to require credit checks on jobs that do not deal with financial records/information or handling cash. Make it illegal for employers to use social media usage/history as a criteria to hire/not hire. I have other ideas I posted some months ago, take a look at them.
- Tax reform. Start with:
- raising the corporate tax rate in this country to 48% (what it was under LBJ)
- ...and closing ALL loopholes so the effective tax rate is actually 48% rather than the 11 or 12% it is currently, which is utterly ridiculous (corporations like GE, DuPont, Verizon, Honeywell, El Paso Energy, etc., actually have a low or even NEGATIVE tax rate and get tax refunds!!!!)
- ...AND start taxing the $2 trillion in assets US-based companies are hoarding overseas. Just do a Google search for "Dirty Thirty".
- Also raise the top personal tax rate to 50%, what it was under Nixon. Some commentators think it can safely go even higher than that: http://www.epi.org/publication/raising-income-taxes/
- Also, have a "financial transaction tax", such as the one called for in HR 4191, proposed by Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon), that calls for a one-quarter-of-one percent (.25%) tax on all stock transactions (as well as minor taxes on futures contracts and credit swaps), estimated to bring in a projected annual revenue of $150 billion per year.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Quick update: April 11th
Not much has changed with my situation.
- Today I have a job interview for a graphic design position, and have sent resumes out for two others so far this week.
- I have an assessment interview at the end of the month for the rental assistance program with the city of Phoenix.
- Trying hard to stay positive and focused. Hearing from several different sources that even in an improving economy the job market is still tough, especially for workers past their 20s and 30s. Many employers being unreasonably picky.
I'll keep everyone posted.
- Today I have a job interview for a graphic design position, and have sent resumes out for two others so far this week.
- I have an assessment interview at the end of the month for the rental assistance program with the city of Phoenix.
- Trying hard to stay positive and focused. Hearing from several different sources that even in an improving economy the job market is still tough, especially for workers past their 20s and 30s. Many employers being unreasonably picky.
I'll keep everyone posted.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)