✊🏾 Demand Justice for Black Workers in Long Beach
City of Long Beach Mayor, City Council, Directors, Managers, Supervisors and Union Reps,
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Signing this petition is about more than jobs. It is about dignity, safety, and basic civil rights at a time when hate and discrimination are becoming more visible across this country. In Long Beach, the numbers tell a clear story. Black workers make up about 11.6% of the City workforce, yet they are overrepresented in the lowest-paying jobs and make up only about 6% of higher salary positions.
That means Black workers are represented at roughly half of what would be expected in higher-paying roles. Even when Black workers are in the workforce, they are not moving through it at the same rate.
Across the city, 35% of Black residents are working multiple jobs just to survive, and Black men live 10 years less than white men.
This is not just about work. This is about life outcomes.
What is happening to Black workers in Long Beach is not separate from what is happening across the U.S. The truth is, anti-Blackness is so deeply rooted in our society that the struggles of Black people have become normalized. Inequity, discrimination, and harm are often expected, overlooked, or dismissed.
Black workers are not staying silent. They have been raising concerns through every available channel. Workers have spoken publicly at City Council meetings, describing unsafe conditions, unfair pay, and discrimination inside City departments. They have filed complaints with Human Resources and the Equal Employment Opportunity Office, often with little to no meaningful resolution. They have sought support from their unions, only to report that their concerns are not always taken seriously or are deprioritized. And when internal systems failed to protect them, workers took the extraordinary step of filing a class action lawsuit against the City, alleging systemic racial discrimination, retaliation, and unequal treatment. The fact that workers have had to escalate from internal complaints to public testimony to legal action is not just significant. It is evidence that the systems meant to protect them are not working.
We invite everyone who feels outrage about injustice, whether it's state-sanctioned violence, or the treatment of any marginalized community, to recognize that these issues are all connected. When systems fail one group, they create conditions that harm many. Standing up for Black workers is part of a broader fight for justice and human dignity for all.
The City already knows there is a problem. It has studied it, documented it, and acknowledged it publicly. The City commissioned the Black Community Health Strengths and Needs Assessment, which identified widespread anti-Black discrimination and its impact on health, housing, and economic stability. It adopted the Framework for Reconciliation and launched the Racial Equity and Reconciliation Initiative with explicit goals to eliminate systemic racism in City government. It created an Equity Toolkit to guide fair hiring, promotion, and discipline practices. And on February 10, 2026, City Council members voted to direct a workforce analysis, identify employment deserts, and evaluate whether the City’s own hiring systems are contributing to inequity. The issue is not awareness. The issue is follow-through and accountability. Your signature adds to a growing movement demanding that the City deliver on the commitments it has already made. The more people who stand up, the harder it becomes to ignore.
This is a moment to choose where you stand. Stand with Black workers. Stand for fairness. Add your name and be part of the change.
Petition by
To:
City of Long Beach Mayor, City Council, Directors, Managers, Supervisors and Union Reps,
From:
[Your Name]
THE CITY OF LONG BEACH IS FAILING BLACK WORKERS. IMMEDIATE ACTION IS REQUIRED
Dear Mayor, City Council, City Manager, Department Leadership, Human Resources, Equal Employment Opportunity Office, and Union Representatives,
WE ARE PUTTING THE CITY ON NOTICE
I am writing to put you on notice.
The conditions Black workers are experiencing in the City of Long Beach are not new, not isolated, and not unresolved. They are documented across your own records, your own data, your own commissioned reports, active litigation against the City, and current worker testimony.
This is a systemic issue, and it has persisted under your leadership.
THIS SYSTEM WAS BUILT AND IT CONTINUES TODAY
The City’s own 2009 Historic Context Statement documents that racial inequity in Long Beach was not accidental. It was built through segregation, displacement, exclusion from housing, and denial of economic opportunity.
The same neighborhoods Black residents were pushed into decades ago are now identified by the City as “employment deserts.” The geography of exclusion has not changed. Only the mechanisms have.
Today, those same patterns are operating inside the City’s own workforce.
YOUR DATA CONFIRMS THE PROBLEM
Your own workforce data from 2011 to 2026 shows a continuous decline in Black representation, from 14.9% to 11.6%, even as the total workforce grew.
At the same time, Black workers are concentrated in the lowest-paying jobs at around 16%, while making up only about 6% of higher salary positions. That is roughly half of what would be expected.
These disparities have persisted for 15 consecutive years.
This is not a pipeline problem. This is a system problem.
THE CONSEQUENCES ARE REAL AND MEASURABLE
The City’s own Black Community Health Strengths and Needs Assessment confirms the impact.
35% of Black residents are working multiple jobs just to survive.
25% cannot afford rent.
61% report emotional distress.
Black men in Long Beach live 10 years less than white men.
These are not abstract disparities. These are the outcomes of policy decisions and institutional practices.
WORKERS HAVE TRIED EVERY CHANNEL AVAILABLE
Black workers are not staying silent. They have used every system available to them.
They have spoken publicly at City Council meetings.
They have filed complaints with Human Resources and the Equal Employment Opportunity Office.
They have sought support from their unions.
And when those systems failed to protect them, they filed a class action lawsuit alleging systemic racial discrimination, retaliation, and unequal treatment across City departments.
The fact that workers have had to escalate from internal complaints to public testimony to legal action is evidence that the systems meant to protect them are not working.
A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AND CURRENT REPORTING CONFIRM THIS IS ONGOING
The City is currently facing a class action lawsuit documenting patterns of denied promotions, unequal pay, retaliation, and suppression of complaints.
Current worker testimony shows these conditions are still happening now.
Workers report unsafe conditions, including exposure to hazardous materials.
Workers report wages that do not meet basic living needs even after decades of service.
Workers report being denied promotions while less senior non-Black employees advance.
Workers report retaliation for speaking up.
Workers report complaint systems that dismiss claims as “unsubstantiated” while allowing harm to continue.
These are present-day conditions inside your departments.
THE CITY HAS ALREADY STUDIED AND ACKNOWLEDGED THIS
The City of Long Beach has already acknowledged these realities through formal action:
1) In 2020, the City adopted the Framework for Reconciliation, recognizing systemic racism as a public health crisis
2) The City established the Racial Equity and Reconciliation Initiative (RERI)
3) The City created an Equity Toolkit for City Leaders and Staff to guide hiring, promotion, and discipline practices
4) The 2025 City commissioned the Black Community Health Strengths and Needs Assessment
5) On February 10, 2026, the City Council formally acknowledged employment inequities and directed a 120-day workforce analysis, including identifying employment deserts and evaluating City hiring practices
The issue is not awareness.
The issue is that, despite these studies, policies, and votes, the outcomes have not changed.
WE WILL HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE TO YOUR OWN COMMITMENTS
You have already made commitments to equity, transparency, and systemic change.
We will hold you accountable to those commitments.
That includes delivering the workforce analysis you voted for, implementing the equity policies you adopted, and addressing the disparities your own data confirms.
Failure to act will not be seen as a lack of information. It will be understood as a choice.
WHAT WE ARE DEMANDING NOW
I am calling on the City of Long Beach to take immediate, measurable action:
a) Deliver the 120-day workforce analysis on time and make it fully public, including detailed data on hiring, pay, promotions, discipline, and reclassification by race
b) Release ongoing workforce data through transparent, publicly accessible reporting so progress can be tracked over time
c) Adopt and enforce a comprehensive Workplace Equity Policy that clearly defines discrimination, anti-Blackness, harassment, and retaliation, with required timelines and consequences for violations
d) Establish an independent Truth, Reconciliation, and Accountability Commission, separate from HR, EEO, and internal City systems, to investigate systemic inequities, document findings, and monitor implementation
e) Reform hiring, classification, and promotion systems to eliminate documented barriers, including biased exams, informal selection practices, and denial of out-of-class compensation
f) Conduct wage equity audits across all departments and implement corrective actions
g) Strengthen anti-retaliation protections and create safe, independent reporting systems for workers
h) Strengthen protections for workers by creating independent, accessible, and trauma-informed complaint systems, with clear anti-retaliation safeguards and public accountability for outcomes
i) Invest in Black worker advancement through targeted hiring, leadership development, career pathways, and partnerships with community-based organizations
j) Fully fund and support the City’s Office of Equity and the Health Department’s health equity work, including their ongoing implementation of the Racial Equity and Reconciliation Initiative, to ensure these commitments result in measurable outcomes
k) Require union representatives to uphold their responsibility to advocate for workers’ rights and ensure equitable representation in addressing complaints and workplace conditions
THIS MOMENT REQUIRES ACTION
At a time when hate and discrimination are becoming more visible across this country, anti-Blackness remains deeply embedded in institutional systems.
What is happening to Black workers in Long Beach is part of a broader pattern of systemic harm. When one system allows inequity to persist, it reinforces inequity everywhere.
You have the data.
You have the documentation.
You have the legal exposure.
You have already made the commitments.
What you have not done is deliver results.
THIS IS A TEST OF LEADERSHIP
The City of Long Beach has reached a point where acknowledgment is no longer enough.
This is a test of whether you will act on what you already know.
When workers are treated unfairly, it impacts families, communities, and public trust.
When workers are underpaid, it affects housing, health, and stability.
When workers are afraid to speak up, harm spreads across institutions.
But when Black workers are treated with dignity, respect, and fairness, the entire city benefits.
WE ARE ADDING OUR NAMES
I am adding my name to demand accountability, transparency, and real change for Black workers in Long Beach.
Black workers are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for what everyone deserves.
Fairness. Safety. Opportunity. Dignity.
It is time for the City to deliver.