“It’s very important that we be very assertive in our fight for equity and justice within the private sector and public sector,” Lee told theGrio.
Democratic Congresswoman
According to the letter, since the beginning of 2023, more than 240,000 tech workers have experienced layoffs, which is a more than 50 percent increase from 2022.
Lee found that minorities and women make up most of the tech layoffs that have occurred this year.
The longtime representative told theGrio it is important that the tech industry remain diverse.
“If you don’t have African-Americans developing content,” Lee said, “then we’re going to have Black people, brown people [and] women disproportionately impacted.”
“This country is supposed to be a representative democracy where you include people and you don’t discriminate against them,” she added. “When you see the disproportionate numbers of people being laid off, then that is a red flag that it could be discrimination occurring against these workers and employees.”
Lee is hopeful that the Department of Labor will respond “positively” to the CBC missive.
“The letter was sent to the secretary of labor, and it’s the federal government’s job to conduct oversight and to answer these questions,” she contended.
“I would hope that the tech companies would welcome this so that they can get their act together and make sure that they don’t disproportionately lay off African-Americans,” she noted, “which is occurring right now.”
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The post Exclusive: Rep. Barbara Lee and CBC members’ letter addresses layoffs of Black tech employees appeared first on TheGrio.
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