Looking Back: The WED Project's First Cohorts, and Why They Still Matter to Our Work
This month, we're taking a moment to revisit a milestone in LABWC's history. In July 2024, we published Workforce Warriors, a report on the first two years of the Workforce Equity Demonstration (WED) Project, our partnership with the City of Los Angeles' Department of Public Works and the 1000 Strong Coalition. Two years later, the results still capture exactly what your support makes possible.
WED was built on a simple premise:
Black workers deserve more than an entry-level job. They deserve a pathway into stable, unionized, public sector careers, with training, mentorship, and support built around them from day one. The first two cohorts proved that premise out.
A few of the wins from that report:
45 participants completed the Ready 2 Work bootcamp, a six-week program covering technical skills, professional development, and job-specific certifications
80% of those hired reached, or were on track to reach, their one-year employment milestone, a retention rate on par with industry standards
19 of the original Cohort 1 hires were promoted from vocational worker to maintenance laborer within their first year
200 applications came in within the first month of outreach, reflecting the trust LABWC has built in Black communities across Los Angeles over years of organizing
Participants received HAZWOPER certification, help obtaining Class C driver's licenses, and stipends of up to $5,000 to offset lost income during training
The Department of Public Works signed the only MOU of its kind in the City, committing to hire 200 WED graduates
Two stories from the report have stayed with our team.
One participant had left Los Angeles after his previous job offered little room to grow, both in responsibility and in pay. After completing WED and accepting a position with the City, the higher salary, benefits, and a clear promotion path allowed him to move back home.
Another participant, born and raised in Los Angeles, shared that the program is what will let them stay in the city, and hopefully grow old there. Two different starting points, the same outcome: a career that lets people build a life in the city they call home.
None of this came easily or quickly. Building the partnership behind WED took nearly a decade, from the 1000 Strong Coalition's founding in 2018 through a formal motion passed by the Board of Public Works in 2021 and the eventual contract with the City. It required LABWC, SEIU Local 721, AFSCME District Council 36, the LA Federation of Labor, and the City to stay at the table together, year after year.
The report was also honest about what remains unfinished. Civil service exam requirements still limited WED graduates to entry-level roles, and expanding the model beyond the Bureau of Sanitation will take the same sustained organizing that built the program in the first place. We share that not to diminish the wins above, but because our donors deserve the full picture: the wins and work are still ahead.
Your gift today helps us build on this foundation: funding the next Ready to Work cohort, the next stipend, and the next contract that turns organizing into real jobs for Black Angelenos.
