Just and Equitable Recovery
BSP first released this framework in 2020
Building Skills Partnership’s (BSP) policy framework integrates workforce development with immigrant inclusion and community advancement to advocate comprehensive methods of promoting prosperity, belonging, and wellbeing for California’s property service workers and their families.
BSP’s policy advocacy platform calls on decision makers and legislators to approach the COVID-19 pandemic and the country’s racial reckoning as an opportunity to advance policies and investments that dismantle systemic barriers and reflect values of inclusion, equity, and shared prosperity.
This crisis presents significant opportunities in three areas:
The pandemic has shone a spotlight on janitors and airport and other property service workers as frontline workers who contribute a vital service to public health and to broad sectors of the economy.
Calls for racial justice and the reform of a broken immigration system have brought the contributions of immigrant workers of color out of the shadows.
Upheavals in the labor market have resulted in the highest public approval rating for unions in two decades.
Guiding Principals:
Properly diagnose the problems and bring a clear-eyed and unwavering commitment to following whatever path leads to solutions.
Commit ourselves to principles of equity, justice, and inclusion.
Assess the success of a given policy based on measurable outcomes.
Represent property service workers in the fullness of who they are, as experts in their own experience and agents of change in their lives and communities.
Amplify workers’ voices and strengthen their leadership capacity whenever possible.
BSP’s priority issue areas:
Workforce Development and Quality Jobs: Vision—Property service workers hold high-quality jobs with career advancement, family-supporting wages, comprehensive benefits, and respect for worker voice. To this end, BSP will focus on advancing policies that:
Invest significantly in foundational skills training, including English as a second language (ESL), digital skills, paid vocational training as well as supportive services that enable workers to fulfill their professional aspirations, attain economic mobility, and be equipped for the future of work. Advance job quality in essential industries by investing in high-road training partnerships that are worker-centered and industry-led.
Strengthen union membership and create favorable markets for responsible union companies. Ensure that “green” infrastructure investments and policies aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of commercial buildings take into account the essential role of operations and maintenance workers. Diversify the workforce within the workforce development system itself.
Immigrant Inclusion and Belonging:
Vision—Resources, services, legal protections, and an inclusive pathway to citizenship that enable all immigrant families to fully belong in their communities. To this end, BSP will:
Advocate permanent, comprehensive immigration reform that opens a broad pathway to legal status and citizenship for essential workers, Dreamers, TPS holders, and others.
Work with industry partners to identify win/win policies that foster complete economic inclusion of the immigrant workforce and also serve bottom-line interests, integrating a unique business perspective into the broader dialogue on immigration. Advance holistic strategies for immigrant inclusion and belonging by fostering the civic engagement of the immigrants we serve.
Community Advancement and Social Safety Net
Health and Wellness: All property service workers have quality, affordable healthcare services, mental wellness resources, and the overall conditions in their environment (the social determinants of health) necessary to leading full, healthy lives.
Financial Empowerment: All property service workers have the financial stability they need to thrive, including family-supporting wages and an inclusive financial system that supports their long-term financial health.
Parent Engagement and Education Access: All property service workers and their children enjoy equity in education, receiving the guidance, resources, and support they need to develop to their full academic and social potential. Digital Equity: All workers have the quality technological hardware, internet connectivity, and skills needed to meaningfully participate in economic, social, and civic life in a digital world.
Safety Net and Wraparound Services: All workers, regardless of immigration status, enjoy a strong social safety net and comprehensive wraparound services.
BSP looks forward to leveraging our influence and our unique, on-the-ground understanding as a direct service provider to educate and inform policy agendas and legislators at the local, state, and national levels on our policy priorities. Indeed, BSP will only fully realize its mission to improve the lives of property service workers and their families by striving for sound public policies that resolve the root causes of the barriers they face.