Post by blackcrowheart on Oct 3, 2007 14:00:47 GMT -5
Navajo preference laws put tribal members to work
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
With unemployment rates high on the Navajo Nation, the tribe is making sure
that tribal members are put to work at construction projects across the
reservation.
The Navajo Preference in Employment Act became law in the 1970s. But
employment of Navajos in the construction field still hovered around 43 to 46
percent in the mid-1990s, The Gallup Independent reported.
Strict enforcement of the law has changed the picture. The Office of Navajo
Labor Relations says 96 to 98 percent of construction workers are Navajo.
"It had been in the laws, but we didn't really start it enforcing it until
the 1990s," Reynold Lee, the director of the office, told the paper.
The office visits construction sites to check on the number of tribal
workers. Companies are given a week to hire more Navajos if there aren't enough.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
With unemployment rates high on the Navajo Nation, the tribe is making sure
that tribal members are put to work at construction projects across the
reservation.
The Navajo Preference in Employment Act became law in the 1970s. But
employment of Navajos in the construction field still hovered around 43 to 46
percent in the mid-1990s, The Gallup Independent reported.
Strict enforcement of the law has changed the picture. The Office of Navajo
Labor Relations says 96 to 98 percent of construction workers are Navajo.
"It had been in the laws, but we didn't really start it enforcing it until
the 1990s," Reynold Lee, the director of the office, told the paper.
The office visits construction sites to check on the number of tribal
workers. Companies are given a week to hire more Navajos if there aren't enough.