NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #19/NN_1992_19.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/6155

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From: [e-mail] (Rich Winkel)
Subject: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DEFENSE BUILD DOWN
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POSITIVE ALTERNATIVES
A Publication of the CENTER FOR ECONOMIC CONVERSION

Published quarterly. Materials in POSITIVE ALTERNATIVES may be
reprinted if this publication and the CENTER for ECONOMIC CONVERSION are
credited and a copy is sent to CEC.

** Written  4:46 pm  Aug 10, 1992 by dwalt in cdp:econconversion **
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DEFENSE BUILD DOWN:
The Impact on Women and Minorities
by Elizabeth  Mueller

At first glance, the downsizing of the military and defense lay-offs seem
to have little to do with women and minorities.  After all, defense
industries are enclaves of white male engineers and women have little
role in the military -- right?

Only partly. In fact, although defense industries are indeed the employers
of a large share of the nation's scientists and engineers, 58 percent of the
national defense-related workforce is blue and pink collar workers,
according to Ann Markusen and Joel Yudken, authors  of DISMANTLING THE
COLD WAR ECONOMY. Many of these workers are members of minority
groups and/or women. Over 20 percent of Los Angeles defense workers
were either Black, Asian or Hispanic in 1980. (The categories Black and
Hispanic may overlap since Hispanics can be of any race.)  Slightly more
than 32 percent were women.

The downsizing of the armed forces will have serious consequences for
the African-American community whose young men have joined in
disproportionate numbers in recent years. And while women form only ten
percent of military personnel, they are also disproportionately African
American or Latina. Compared to the other opportunities available to these
women, these jobs offer good pay, benefits, and the chance to learn skills
that are traditionally taught to men.

Defense Cuts Socially Uneven
    Different segments of the defense economy employ distinct types of
workers. As a result, some cuts will affect women or minority workers
more severely than others. Using census data collected on defense workers
in Los Angeles County, we can see how the differences might be played
out.
        African-American men are concentrated in jobs in the aircraft and
        parts and the office and accounting machines sectors; Latinos in
        electrical machinery and supplies. Asians are most strongly
        represented in electronic computing equipment (Wolch, 1990).

All of these sectors have higher proportions of low skill occupations than
do other defense sectors. The skills required for these jobs are often
highly specific and therefore not easily transferable to other
manufacturing jobs. While the aircraft industry is the most commercially
viable of those listed above, in recent years commercial production has
come on hard times.

        Women -- whatever their race or age -- are concentrated in low
        skill jobs across defense industries in Los Angeles.  They are
        also more likely to work in the electrical machinery and
        supplies or scientific instruments sectors than in other
        defense work. Not surprisingly, these two sectors have more
        low skilled jobs than do other defense industries and higher
        percentages of workers with less than a high school education.
        Because of their concentration in clerical jobs, little
        attention is paid to women's displacement. It is generally
        believed that clerical skills are easily transferable. However,
        it is important to note the different context in which clerical
        workers are employed. Defense industries provide greater
        stability and better wages and benefits for clerical workers
        than most available alternatives.

In manufacturing industries in general, women and minorities fare worse
than white male workers in regaining employment after being displaced.
And when they do find new employment, they are likely to be bumped down
to jobs in lower wage service occupations -- one of the only growing
sources of low skill employment in the Los Angeles region. The loss that
this represents for minority men is potentially greater than for women
since evidence shows that during their careers as defense workers, these
men have been able to move up skill and wage ladders (Office of
Technology Assessment,  Technology and Structural Unemployment, 1992).

Indirect Layoffs and Jobs for the Unskilled
     Defense downsizing without conversion planning will also cause
layoffs outside of defense industries. These effects will be magnified in
smaller, more defense dependent communities and impact workers in the
service industries that are patronized by defense workers, many of whom
are minorities or women. The lost jobs will be primarily low skill, low
wage positions in retail and service industries. Those displaced will have
to compete with higher skilled defense workers for remaining service
sector jobs. For African-American and Latino men, who already suffer
unemployment at rates two or more times that of whites, this added
competition is especially unwelcome.

The effect of defense downsizing without careful conversion planning
would furthermore polarize our economy as lesser skilled defense workers
join the ranks of poorly paid, vulnerable service workers. It is important
that we not only find ways to re-employ those currently working in
defense industries or serving in the armed forces, we must also plan and
decrease economic polarization.

If we learn nothing more from the recent unrest in Los Angeles, we should
note that the decade long defense build-up in local employment did nothing
for residents of South Central and other poor neighborhoods. Links need to
be forged between future sources of employment and poor urban residents.
A vision of our future should really be ours, it should include everyone, not
just those winning now. To realize this vision, we need to strengthen the
social agenda in our conversion efforts and make common cause with
groups who have suffered from high levels of defense spending (whether
from exclusion or lack of attention to needed social services).

Conversion, Competitiveness, and Technology
     National level discussions have emphasized the influence of military
spending on the development of technology in this country. It is often
framed by academics and policy makers as an issue important to the
future competitiveness of American industry. Yet, we cannot rely on the
redirection of technology to generate both low and high skilled positions.
Evidence from the plant closures movement shows that restructured
industries employ fewer blue collar workers. Under even the most
optimistic conversion scenarios, blue collar workers will suffer job
losses. We must broaden conversion planning to include their re-
employment.

In short, we need to choose what kind of economy we want. This includes
deciding not only what kinds of things we want to produce but also at
what environmental and social costs. Who will benefit from alternate
paths of development and who will lose?

"Inclusive conversion" of our economy will require investment on a scale
like that seen in the conversion of our economy out of war-time
production after the second World War. We must invest in public education
and in our cities -- in our social as well as physical infrastructure.
Politically, this will be difficult. The current climate paints urban and
social programs as programs for poor people, for minorities -- programs
from which the white middle class cannot benefit. To re-cast this issue,
we need to challenge this segmented view of our economy.

     ELIZABETH MUELLER, Ph.D., is a Research Fellow with the Project on
Regional and Industrial Economics (PRIE) at Rutgers University. She
teaches and researches the impact of economic restructuring on those at
the bottom in cities: the working poor, especially women and immigrants.

REFERENCES:
Alternative Women in Development. "Reaganomics and Women: Structural
Adjustment U.S. Style: 1980-1992: A Case Study of Women and Poverty in
the U.S." Washington, D.C., Alt-WID, 1992.
Beneria, Lourdes and Rebecca Blank, "Women and the Economics of Military
Spending," in Adrienne Harris (ed.) ROCKING THE SHIP OF STATE, Westview
Press, 1989.
Wolch, Jennifer R., Robin M. Law, and Lois Takahashi, "Defense Industries,
Workers, and Communities in Los Angeles County," Working Paper no. 28,
Los Angeles Homelessness Project, Dept. of Geography, University of
Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0255, 1990.
Markusen, Ann and Joel Yudken. DISMANTLING THE COLD WAR ECONOMY. New
York: Basic Books, 1992.
U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment.  AFTER THE COLD WAR:
LIVING WITH LOWER DEFENSE SPENDING. OTA-ITW-524. Washington D.C.:
GPO. February 1992.

** End of text from cdp:econconversion **


******************************************************************
                     THE CENTER FOR ECONOMIC CONVERSION
                222 View St., Suite C, Mountain View CA 94041
                  Tel: [phone]    FAX: [phone]
                          Email: [e-mail]
The CENTER for ECONOMIC CONVERSION is a non-profit public benefit
corporation dedicated to building a sustainable peace-oriented economy.
Founded in 1975, the organization serves as a national resource center and
a catalyst for conversion planning. CEC provides educational materials;
speakers; organizing assistance to conversion activists; technical
assistance to workers, managers and public officials confronting military
cutbacks; and research on conversion issues.

Beth Delson, Editor; Michael Closson, Executive Director; Joan Holtzman,
Development Coordinator; Marie Jones, Conversion Planner; Susan Strong,
Senior Research Associate; Rosemary Wick, Office Manager.
******************************************************************