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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 25, 2015)
Career & Education Page 8 New Prices Effective May 1, 2014 March 25, 2015 O PINION Martin Cleaning Service Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Residential & Commercial Services Minimum Service CHG. $45.00 A small distance/travel charge may be applied CARPET CLEANING 2 Cleaning Areas or more $30.00 Each Area Pre-Spray Traffic Areas (Includes: 1 small Hallway) 1 Cleaning Area (only) $40.00 Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area (Hallway Extra) Stairs (12-16 stairs - With Other Services) : $25.00 Area/Oriental Rugs: $25.00 Minimum Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool) : $40.00 Minimum Heavily Soiled Area: Additional $10.00 each area (Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying) UPHOLSTERY CLEANING Sofa: $69.00 Loveseat: $49.00 Sectional: $109 - $139 Chair or Recliner: $25 - $49 Throw Pillows (With Other Services) : $5.00 ADDITIONAL SERVICES • Area & Oriental Rug Cleaning • Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning • Deodorizing & Pet Odor Treatment • Spot & Stain Removal Service • Scotchguard Protection • Minor Water Damage Services SEE CURRENT FLYER FOR ADDITIONAL PRICES & SERVICES Call for Appointment (503) 281-3949 Fair Trade Is a Racial Justice Issue Another wrong-headed trade pact by i saiah J. P oole The work of re- pairing the racial fis- sures that broke wide open in Ferguson, Mo., last year goes beyond the shooting death of unarmed teenager Mi- chael Brown. It also goes beyond ending the practices highlighted in a Justice Department report that criticized Ferguson cops and courts for shaking down the city’s poor, black residents for revenue. What else will it take? Good jobs. Unfortunately, an upcoming Senate bill could make the un- derlying economic crisis faced by communities like Ferguson even worse. That legislation would “fast track” the passage of the Trans-Pacific Partner- ship trade and investment pact through Congress. What’s the connection to racial unrest? Simply put, it’s the lack of economic opportu- nity that results when bad trade deals lead to the disap- pearance of good-pay- ing jobs. Hundreds of thou- sands of blue-collar jobs vanished after the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, was signed in 1994. And towns like Ferguson were hit especially hard. The St. Louis metropolitan area, home to 206,000 man- ufacturing jobs in 1990, only had about 113,000 left by the end of 2014, according to the Labor Department. During that same period, the region saw no net growth in trade, transporta- tion, or utility-sector jobs. “We used to have a ton of light manufacturing, light in- dustrial jobs,” said John L. Davidson, a St. Louis banking lawyer who writes a blog about economic issues. But now, “there are no jobs out there.” The trade deal left the St. Louis region with a mortally wounded tax base intertwined with deep-seated racial bias. In Ferguson, local officials scrambled to balance munic- ipal budgets through law en- forcement, fines, and court fees, the Justice Department’s report found. That report quotes a 2010 email from the city’s finance director to the police chief that warns, “It will be hard to sig- nificantly raise collections next year” without ramped-up tick- et writing. “Given that we are looking at a substantial sales tax shortfall, this is not an in- significant issue.” That was the justification for subjecting the residents Fer- guson — 25 percent of whom live below the poverty line — to usurious fines and penalties. These fell hardest on the city’s black majority. People were levied fines they couldn’t afford for even minor offenses. Not cutting the grass low enough in front of your home, for example, could mean a $102 ticket. And when the victims couldn’t pay quick- ly, the late penalties piled up fast. To many civil rights leaders, bringing well-paying jobs back to African-American commu- nities is crucial to repairing the damage done by racially dis- criminatory policies. “The question of good jobs in minority communities is di- rectly tied to the loss of these jobs overseas,” the Reverend Dr. William Barber II, pres- ident of the North Carolina NAACP, recently wrote. What these communities need is fair and balanced trade, which would mean more jobs at all skill levels for American workers, as well as higher la- bor and environmental stan- dards for workers around the globe — a true win-win. Hanging in the balance are the Fergusons of America, whose struggles to overcome racial and economic barriers are hard enough without the headwinds of yet another wrong-headed trade agreement. Isaiah J. Poole is the editor of OurFuture.org, the website of the Campaign for America’s Future.
