By Brenda Flanagan
Correspondent
“Born and raised in Newark. Love Newark. Newark made me who I am.”
Take seven feet of local hoops legend Shaqille O’Neil, plus his $65 million redevelopment hi-rise project in downtown Newark. Add one city mayor looking to revitalize a local economy and resuscitate a middle class hit hard by recession and you get a pilot project called IMPACT Newark. The program is engineered to help Newarkers qualify for trades union jobs.
“These are living wage jobs. These are jobs that people out of poverty. These are jobs that introduce people to the middle class, that help open doors for people here in the city of Newark,” Mayor Ras Baraka said.
“Maybe this can be a little more promising, because coming from the inner city streets, we really don’t get too many opportunities,” program applicant Eric Rollins said.
Union jobs — even for those just starting out as apprentice or journeymen — can pay $50 an hour. That’s one path upwards into the admittedly besieged middle class. A recent report shows only half of the U.S. adult population falls into that category now. That’s down from 61 percent four decades ago. As the economy shifted, and the Great Recession devastated many households.
“Personally, me myself, I don’t see a middle class in Newark. That’s just my personal opinion,” Shaquane Willis said.
Willis, a non-union backhoe operator, joined several others Newarkers, filling out applications for this new program. The IMPACT Newark pilot will initially walk about 20 people through all the steps they need to qualify for union apprenticeships in carpentry, plumbing and other construction unions. There’s a particular focus on helping minorities, vets and women. Those who succeed will start work at O’Neal’s One Rector redevelopment project.
“It’s so hard for a female to get into these programs. When this opportunity came, I jumped on it,” Willis said.
“To be able to become a member, a card carrying member, that kind of thing is very important. It increases your wages by 30 percent or more sometimes,” Mike Lahr, Associate Director for Rutgers Economic Advisory Service, said.
It’s a tough program. Applicants must pass math and reading exams, hold a high school diploma and a valid driver’s license and interview successfully. It’s modeled on a year-old Hudson County program operated by Freeholder Bill O’Dea that’s already placed 20 participants in construction projects along Jersey’s so-called Gold Coast.
“It’s making a commitment. Individuals that commit themselves to the program will be successful, but there has to be a long term commitment. You don’t walk in today, you don’t fill out a form and get a job tomorrow,” O’Dea said. “Attend the classes and prepare for a test. If they make that commitment, there’ll be a job.”
“That’s more important for us than anything, to make sure they get a union card, and that they’re able to work. Not just to completion of this project, seven to 18 months, but for years to come, because they’re part of a union,” Baraka said.
Jersey City’s building boom fueled its successful program. O’Neal’s project is not expected to break ground until spring, but people who successfully make that building trades team can expect to eventually score salaries eventually of $80,000 to $90,000 a year.