Press Telegram coverage of MAPS Event: Boost In Toursism may not be be boon

2008-12-05T12:18:00.000-08:00

Originally Posted : http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_11143499

Boost in tourism may not be boon
By Kevin Butler, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/04/2008 10:27:38 PM PST

LONG BEACH - The city's promotion of tourism in the wake of manufacturing losses has brought more visitors to Long Beach but has not restored good-paying jobs, a member of a panel at Cal State Long Beach said Thursday.

Two professors and a policy analyst shared their thoughts on the well-being of workers at the forum, titled "Low-Wage Long Beach: The Problems and Pitfalls of a Low-Wage Economy."

Jasleen Kohli, policy and research analyst with the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, said the city made a big push for tourism and conventions after losing the Long Beach Naval Shipyard and many aerospace jobs. The influx of visitors created job opportunities in the hotel and hospitality industry, she said. But those jobs are generally low-paying.

"Are they good middle-class jobs to replace the ones that were lost? Not so much," she said.

Kohli's organization supports the efforts of the labor union UNITE HERE to organize workers at area hotels, which she said would help improve wages and working conditions there.

Dolores Navarro, a 64-year-old housekeeper at the Long Beach Hilton, said that a unionized workplace would lead to better pay and working conditions.

Navarro, whom Kohli invited to speak, said she makes $11.24 an hour and struggles to pay her bills and a $1,000 monthly rent.

"I feel that I am on my feet for many hours a day," she said through a translator. "It's very hard on me."

Ruth Milkman, a sociology professor at UCLA, discussed changes in the U.S. economic and political environment she feels have decreased job security while making more jobs low-paying.

Globalization and technological change are only partly to blame for more job insecurity, fewer fringe benefits and falling wages for many workers, she said.

Milkman, director of the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, argued that deregulation, reduced union presence, and poor enforcement of labor and health and safety laws also were factors.

Kristen Monaco, a CSULB economics professor, discussed whether increasing opportunities in the port-linked goods trade and transportation industry could offset the loss of manufacturing jobs in Long Beach.

Monaco said that such logistics jobs will be a poor replacement because generally only well-educated workers can hope to rise up to join the ranks of higher-paying managers and professionals in the industry.

Warehouse and distribution center jobs that have increased in San Bernardino and Riverside counties have generally been low-paying, said Monaco, who is associate director of the CSULB master's in global logistics program.

In order for the logistics industry to replace manufacturing losses, the jobs would have to offer ladders to higher-paying echelons." And they simply don't," Monaco said.

The logistics industry is seasonal, with activity spiking around the Christmas holidays. However, a financial crisis and recession will spell bad news for employment in those industries this year and next in Southern California, she said.

"We are shedding lots of jobs," she said.

kevin.butler@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1308

December 4, 2008 : 4:00pm - 6:00pm

2008-11-23T09:33:00.000-08:00

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MAP of Conference Location

2008-05-05T12:54:00.001-07:00

MAY 8th: Sustainable Cities: Possibilities and Pitfalls in Southern California

2008-04-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

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Cal State Long Beach's Metropolitan and Policy Studies Network

Press Telegram coverage of MAPS Event: Boost In Toursism may not be be boon

December 4, 2008 : 4:00pm - 6:00pm

MAP of Conference Location

MAY 8th: Sustainable Cities: Possibilities and Pitfalls in Southern California