Can Progress on Diversity Be Union-Made?
The New York Times
In Boston, setting a goal for a racially diverse construction work force is one thing. Meeting it has proved more difficult.
Staring at the wall of glass clawing its way up the unfinished facade of the Winthrop Center in downtown Boston — 53 floors of commercial and residential space soaring 690 feet — Travis Watson isn’t interested in the grandeur of the thing. He wants to know who’s working on it.
“It doesn’t pass the eye test,” he scoffs: In a city whose non-Hispanic white population has dwindled to 45 percent, it’s hard to see Black and brown faces on the site.
He has more than his eyesight to go by. In 2018, Mayor Martin J. Walsh — now President Biden's labor secretary — appointed Mr. Watson to lead the Boston Employment Commission, the body created to monitor compliance with the Boston Residents Jobs Policy. The policy mandates giving a minimum share of work to city residents, women and people of color on large private construction projects and those that are publicly funded.
The canal’s two biggest ports are operated by a Hong Kong company with global reach. The Trump administration sees a Chinese threat to U.S. security.
The distinctive domed building, turning 50 this year, is known for hosting the Super Bowl, but to locals, it’s also “the city’s living room.”
Black-owned brands got a foot in the door through accelerator programs at big retailers like Target and Amazon. Now they worry the door might be closing.
The trade deficit has long drawn the president’s ire. Now, he’s preparing to take it on again.
American companies intent on making goods in the United States are fretting over the impact of tariffs on their access to parts and raw materials.
A growing number of countries, including American allies, are striking trade deals as the Trump administration erects a higher fence around its global commerce.
The invoking of national security to unravel trade agreements could scramble the international trading system in China’s favor.
Canada, Mexico and China account for more than a third of the products brought into the United States. Tariffs could lead to higher prices for consumers.