Tekoah “TK” Flory was thrilled to receive a job offer from the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting last September. Flory had been directing traffic at Dodger stadium, a seasonal job that would be coming to an end soon.
After taking on a series of minimum wage jobs, Flory, 31, was looking forward to starting a career in a city job Flory believed would pay $40,000 to $60,000 a year.
“I was so excited, elated, ready to budget for the year,” said Flory, who uses they/them pronouns. “I was excited to have a career in this city instead of just working a job, instead of being just above broke or just making enough to eat.”
But in January, the city rescinded the job offer. Flory was back where they started.
Flory applied for office work in the street lighting bureau through the city’s Workforce Equity Demonstration Program, a partnership between the Los Angeles Black Worker Center and the L.A. Department of Public Works. Participants who get several weeks of training at the Black Worker Center can apply for positions in Public Works without having to take a civil service exam, often a barrier for applicants.
The partnership contract signed in 2022 promised the city would hire 200 Black workers trained by the Black Worker Center. Trina Traylor, campaign director for the center said the city agreed to hire them by June 2024.
But so far only 49 of the 83 people trained have been hired. Besides Flory, one other applicant had their job offer rescinded.
“We are nowhere near that (200) number for different reasons, some that are not clear or satisfactory to us,” said Yodit Semu, a program specialist at the L.A. Black Worker Center’s Ready to Work…
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