by Congressman Elijah E. Cummings
Until their well-deserved retirement, my parents worked long and hard hours every day of their lives. After his 3-11 p.m. shift at Davidson Chemical, Dad would work picking beans in the fields of Harford County until one in the afternoon. Mom would take the bus at dawn to clean other people
=s homes.They never complained, but their loving smiles could not hide from us the simple fact that they were always tired - the unavoidable consequence of being forced to work all of the time.
There is courage and dignity in labor, especially in the work we do out of love for others, and I respect my parents' sacrifice more than I could possibly express.
All the same, I wish we could have spent more time together as a family during my childhood. When parents must work for less than a living wage, their children share that burden.
The most bitter irony of our family
=s struggle out of poverty is the fact that both of my parents are quite intelligent. Had their employers invested in that potential, everyone could have gained.I am the son of a laborer and a domestic - doing everything within my power to help working families - but I also support those enlightened employers who understand the lesson of my family's experience.
Our global economy allows both business and labor to win if they work together with government to create the larger skilled labor force we need. In Baltimore, and throughout America, we have entered an economic era in which such win-win propositions are essential to our economic survival.
I recall these thoughts every year as I plan my annual "Seventh Congressional District Jobs Fair." This year's event (my 4th) will take place on Monday, September 13th (9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.), when more than 100 major employers once again post their
Ahelp wanted@ signs in Baltimore's Fifth Regiment Armory near Eutaw and Preston Streets.Each of the government agencies and private companies I have invited to the event has assured me that they are coming to hire people for good jobs - career positions which pay a living wage and offer health benefits. That commitment was my most important consideration in their selection.
Like my parents before them, most of the more than 3000 people who attended my Jobs Fair last year were "underemployed," not unemployed, at the time. Despite working hard at one, two or even three marginal jobs, their hard work was not getting them ahead.
I expect this year's job seekers to be no different. Underemployment is a wide-spread fact of economic life for too many working people in the Baltimore region.
At the same time, however, our region's growing economy has made employers highly motivated to find and hire skilled, dependable workers at good salaries.
The devastating structural unemployment among too many of our young people demands the intense vocational intervention I often have advocated in both the Congress and these commentaries. A large number of other workers, however, are already prepared to advance into a better job. They need only some encouragement and practical assistance in making the transition.
At my Jobs Fair, we once again will be at work implementing the win-win, living wage strategy Baltimore must follow to succeed. Past experience has demonstrated to me the value of easy, one-stop access to job opportunities for a wide variety of positions and practical counseling on how to prepare a winning résumé and succeed in job interviews.
I recommend that everyone arrive early, but a lunch-hour visit to the Armory could also pay dividends. Parking costs can be avoided by utilizing the readily available public transportation (any Eutaw Street bus, the subway to State Center or the light rail to the Cultural Center stop).
The door to a better future may be opening for you and your family on September 13th.
-The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings represents the 7th Congressional District of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives.