MEBCO files $650 million lawsuit against IDOT

East St. Louis, IL (KSDK) - The Metro East Black Contractors Organization has filed a lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Transportation.

MEBCO will hold a press conference Tuesday to discuss the lawsuit.

Details regarding the legal action are unclear, but MEBCO is asking for $650 million in damages against IDOT, and the halting of IDOT awarding any further contracts on the Mississippi River Bridge Project.

The press conference is scheduled for 12 p.m. at the East St. Louis City Hall. Courtesy of KSDK TV 5, St. Louis.

We want to go to work': Planned protest of bridge project averted Friday, BND

Dr. Mason

EAST ST. LOUIS -- A planned march to protest a supposed lack of minority hiring on the new Mississippi River bridge project was averted Friday after state and city officials and local black contractors met for more than three hours.

Mayor Alvin L. Parks said the group made significant progress in the meeting, and another meeting is scheduled for Thursday. Parks said the intervention of Gov. Pat Quinn is the reason the meeting went so well. He said he believes Quinn wants to see more minorities with the opportunity to get jobs in their own back yard.

Bill Mason, president of the Metro-East Black Contractors Organization, said he felt better than he's felt in a long time.

He said he wants the graduates of the Highway Construction Preparatory program, which is paid for by the Illinois Department of Transportation, to get apprentice jobs so they can learn under journeymen, get paid and have a union card so they can have benefits for their families.

Mason, Parks and other city and MEBCO officials discussed a target minority program in which contracts would specifically seek out black and other ethnic groups. There would be another contract for women.

"We want to make sure we communicate with contractors and contractors communicate with the unions to request more blacks and other ethnic groups," Mason said.

Eric Vickers, legal counsel for MEBCO, said the group discussed the project labor agreement. "We want them to call for a greater percentage of minorities," he said.

Vickers said only 7 percent of the dollar volume for the project has been for minority contractors. He said Quinn's office agreed that number is too low.

Ann Schneider, acting secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation, and three others arrived at the East St. Louis City Hall building via the rear door, and were escorted to the elevators by police. The group left the same way.

IDOT later released a statement: "IDOT and representatives from the Quinn administration held a productive meeting today regarding the Mississippi River Bridge project with East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks, metro-east area officials and community organizations. We look forward to continued productive meetings with the delegation. Diversity in state contracting and hiring for public works projects is a top priority of IDOT and the Quinn administration."

The Illinois Department of Transportation said that, as of Aug. 29, minority workers made up about 35 percent of the total workers on the bridge project, which is higher than the federal goal of 14.7 percent.

About 200 protesters gathered at East St. Louis City Hall early Friday morning with the intent of marching to the construction site and shutting down the work there.

"We want to go to work. We want to go to work. No justice, no peace. Shut It Down. Shut it down. What do we want? Jobs. When do we want them? Now," the protesters shouted inside the City Hall rotunda. Then, they hopped on elevators and climbed the stairs to Parks' office where they continued their chants and pleaded with Parks not to wait on a call from Quinn. Several protesters said they had little patience for more talk.

Quentin Phillips, 14, said he needs a future in his city.

"My father went through this and my grandfather went through this. I don't want to also," the teen said.

Others complained of getting to union halls at 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. and sitting all day for work that never came their way or went to white workers. Many said they have been doing this for years. They complained of not being able to get union cards, while whites are frequently able to get them.

The protesters said they watch daily as one white person after another, including women who are considered minorities, walk out of the hall with job assignments.

They said shutting down the bridge project was only a last resort after IDOT negotiators walked out of a session after putting a proposal before the Metro-East Black Contractors Organization, pastors and other city leaders who were supporting MEBCO.

The protesters said Quinn had time to get involved and did not. But Parks was able to convince them to stand pat until after an 11 a.m. meeting. Parks announced, at 9:23 a.m., that the call he had been waiting on from Gov. Pat Quinn came through and Quinn promised the 11 a.m. meeting would be decisive.

Quinn, who is in China on a trade mission, sent his representatives, including Darryl Harris. He was joined by officials from IDOT. When they emerged from the closed-door meeting, none talked to reporters. Parks, area ministers and elected politicians from other cities surrounding East St. Louis and leaders of the Metro-East Black Contractors Organization had a news conference and talked positively about the meeting.

Parks said a representative from the governor's office was on the phone during the meeting. When they emerged, they called the meeting "fruitful," unlike the Aug. 29 meeting when IDOT officials laid out their position and walked out without allowing the MEBCO and city leaders to lay out their issues.

Parks said he and the other leaders expect to see more progress when they meet again Thursday afternoon.

IDOT has maintained minority hiring guidelines are being exceeded on the bridge. Contractors claim the federal guideline mandate of 14.7 percent minority participation on government projects is outdated and that workers from distant communities are taking the jobs local residents should have. Courtesy of Belleville News Democrat

Our Message and Attitude of Protest is "If We Can't Work, You Can't Work"

EAST ST. LOUIS: Bridge project talks making "progress", St. Louis Post-Dispatch

September 16, 2011 -- Demonstrators, including James O'Neal (speaking), crowd East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks' office at East St. Louis City Hall as he awaits a telephone call from Illinois Governor Pat Quinn early Friday morning. The demonstrators were planning to protest for more minority jobs on the new Mississippi River bridge and associated road projects. Erik M. Lunsford elunsford@post-dispatch.com

EAST ST. LOUIS > Bridge project talks making "progress" • Talks between state of Illinois officials and Metro East leaders averted a threatened protest of the new Mississippi River bridge project on Friday.

East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks said the midday meeting resulted in 'significant progress" on the issues of hiring more minorities in the construction trades on the bridge project. Another meeting has been scheduled for Thursday.

Early Friday morning, dozens of people gathered at the East St. Louis city offices to prepare for a protest that, organizers say, was going to target Illinois Department of Transportation work sites related to the bridge.

Metro East mayors and minority contractors contend IDOT and its contractors are not putting enough blacks to work on a project that cuts through communities with significant minority populations. IDOT insists the projects exceed federal goals and minority workers account for 23 percent of project man-hours. 

Parks said the group met Friday with representatives of the Illinois Department of Transportation and Gov. Pat Quinn's office. Courtesy of St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Our Message and Attitude of Protest is "If We Can't Work, You Can't Work"

Rally at East St. Louis

There will be a rally as a precursor to the New Mississippi bridge protest that will be staged on September 16, 2011 to stop work at the bridge. This is in response to the lack of jobs for East St. Louis residents while IDOT spends nearly $335 million federal dollars for the project. IDOT caves in to racist unions and oppressors of the residents of East St. Louis.


IF WE CAN'T WORK YOU CAN'T WORK!

Minority quotas outdated, William E. Mason, letter to Belleville News Democrat

Dr. William Mason

"Enough is ENOUGH is what the Metro East Black Contractors Organization, five black mayors of metro-east cities, most blacks, and most caring and fair-minded whites who reside in the metro-east area are saying after seeing so few black contractors and black workers on the Mississippi River Bridge Project and other Illinois Department of Transportation projects.

When questions are raised as to why there are so few blacks, IDOT is quick to cite a still existing but outdated law passed in 1964 that set a 14 percent minority worker requirement for all federal projects. When that law was put on the books, blacks and minorities were a far smaller segment of the metro-east area than today.
Many of us who are saying "enough is enough" know that the only way to turn around all-black cities such as East St. Louis is to make sure that when work such as the new bridge comes through the city, that blacks and minorities get their fair share of the work. Because we also know that if they do not, then not only will those cities continue to decline, but the affluent surrounding cities will soon bear the brunt." Courtesy of Bellevile News Democrat


William E. Mason

President, MEBCO

East St. Louis

Black contractors plan rally in advance of 'highway shutdown' BND

A worker is suspended on the forms of the Illinois side tower. On Tuesday workers were installing forms and preparing for the next pour of concrete. - Derik Holtmann/BND

EAST ST. LOUIS -- Members of the Metro-East Black Contractors Organization will host a rally at 5 p.m. today in front of City Hall at 301 River Park Drive.

They invite anyone who is interested in helping to get more minority workers on the Mississippi River Bridge construction project to attend the rally.

At 7 a.m. Friday, the group will meet at City Hall before they have what their lawyer calls a "highway shutdown."

Organizers have not released details about their plans for Friday morning.

Eric Vickers, legal counsel for the group, said, "Everyone is invited to be a part of this rally and the highway shutdown." Courtesy of BND

New Mississippi bridge pictures

The following pictures show work in progress but the residents of East St. Louis are systematically excluded IDOT, which caves in to racist unions and other oppressors.

SHAME SHAME IDOT! SHAME SHAME IDOT! 

Mississippi River Bridge Project Employment Disparity Stings for African American Community Hit Hard By Recession, Riverfront Times

"I myself don't choose to be a third generation welfare mother. I want to work in the field that I'm trained in," says Dent 

Updated 12:35 p.m. with comments from IDOT spokesman Josh Kauffman

Updated again 3:40 p.m. with comments from Kauffman outlining IDOT's strategy to improve minority participation.

Tiama Dent is a single mother of two children and a graduate of the Illinois Department of Transportation's Highway Construction Preparatory Training program.

The eight-week program was created in 2008 to help ensure that minority workers are given the opportunity to work on big projects, such as the $700 million Mississippi River Bridge project.

And yet, out of the program's 178 "pretty much all" minority graduates, Dent says that few are currently working. Which fits into IDOT's math. Minorities make up 99 percent of East St. Louis, but account for just 23 percent of man hours worked on the Mississippi River Bridge project.

"To sit back and let our skills go to waste and to watch our young men go back to the street corner is ridiculous," she says. "This is a 100 percent black city that is suffering from crime and poverty and it's just not enough."

The Great Recession hit the African American community particularly hard, reverberating in cities like East St. Louis. Nearly seventeen percent of African Americans are unemployed, which is more than double the rate of whites. So it can be discouraging for an African American construction worker to see the jobs from a $700 million project, paid for by state and federal funds, mostly go to out-of-towners.

"I myself don't choose to be a third-generation welfare mother," says Dent. "I want to work in the field that I'm trained in."

So she'll be protesting September 16, likely alongside hundreds more including Mayor Alvin Parks and local community leaders, in a march from East St. Louis City Hall to an undisclosed construction site, demanding increased minority participation on the bridge project.

IDOT asserts they're not doing anything wrong. On federally funded projects such as this one, minorities must account for 14.7 percent of the hours worked -- a requirement easily met. But Parks, according the the Belleville News-Democrat, argues that the law, enacted in 1966, is outdated and not a viable standard.

He and leaders of the Metro-East Black Contractors Association are asking for 50 percent minority participation on the bridge project. Dent says that they are also requesting that IDOT provide work for 30 percent of the prep program's graduates, many of whom will be marching.

IDOT spokesman Josh Kauffman says that a quarter of the training program's graduates have been placed in union positions at construction-related jobs. Whether or not they are working, he says, is up to contractors who hire them-- IDOT's role is simply to give them the best chance of getting a job by training them.

"IDOT intends to continue its efforts to improve minority participation as much as possible," says Kauffman. "We are dedicated to increased minority participation on this job as well all jobs across the state."

When asked what strategies IDOT plans to implement to increase minority participation, Kauffman mentioned several on-going IDOT initiatives, such as providing contractors incentive to hire graduates from the training program, meeting with contractors to encourage workplace diversity, establishing a confidential hotline to allow workers to report potential fraud on a project, and implementing their Target Market program, which sets aside 30 percent of funding for minority-owned and female-owned firms.

When pressed to explain what "incentives" IDOT will use and how they plan to "encourage" contractors, Kauffman couldn't provide details. Additionally he could not say what percentage of the total workforce lives in the Metro East area, although he did state that 85 percent of the minority workers were local.

This isn't the first time the region has seen protests for minority employment rights. From the time Percy Green climbed up the side of the Gateway Arch in 1964 to the time Al Sharpton blocked I-70 in 1999 to the time Jamilah Nasheed sat on the MetroLink tracks in 2003, racial disparities on government works projects have been a consistent fault line in St. Louis.

In all of those cases, the two sides eventually found compromise. Courtesy of Riverfront Times

Protestors Say They'll Stop Construction of Mississippi River Bridge, Riverfront Times

Mississippi River Bridge stirs controversy

Work on the new $700 million Mississippi River Bridge north of downtown St. Louis could come to a halt next week.

East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks and the Metro-East Black Contractors Organization announced their plans for a protest on Friday, September 16, aimed at temporarily shutting down construction. Alvin and MEBCO want more minority participation in the project, especially for black workers.

According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, the state agency has exceeded minority participation guidelines with minority workers making up about 35 percent of the total workers on the job as of August 29, and accounting for 23 percent of the man hours worked on Mississippi River Bridge. An IDOT spokesman tells Belleville News-Democrat that 85 percent of those minorities come from the Metro East. 

But that's not enough, according to a KMOX report that has the Parks and MEBCO demanding that minorities make up 50 percent of all workers. Negotiations between IDOT and MEBCO broke down last week.

Now the black contractors are calling for a protest September 16 and hope to get Governor Pat Quinn and other local leaders to join them in their effort. Courtesy of Riverfront Times

Black workers plan to stop Mississippi River Bridge project, Belleville News Democtrat

East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks Jr. talks about the group's plan to shut down the construction on the new Mississippi   River Bridge. - Derik Holtmann/BND

EAST ST. LOUIS -- Mayor Alvin Parks and a group of black contractors, residents and local pastors said they plan to shut down work on the new Mississippi River Bridge project Friday because talks between community leaders and the state have broken off. Neither Parks nor others at a news conference Friday would discuss exactly how, or whether, their actions would lead to any traffic disruptions. "Unfortunately, it has come to this," Parks said.

 

They talked at length about why they plan to protest.
Parks and several local pastors, elected officials, community members and members of the Metro-East Black Contractors Organization said they are sick and tired of watching outsiders come into their community to get construction jobs, while they have one after another from the community who are unemployed coming to them.
Bill Mason, president of MEBCO, is disturbed that those individuals who have graduated from the Illinois Department of Transportation Highway Construction Preparatory Training program are not getting the opportunity to work.
"They call me on a daily basis or come to my office about jobs. I encourage them to keep hoping," Mason said.

A number of the graduates, Mason said, were recruited off street corners. He said he doesn't want to see them return to that life. But, he said if a person can't pay his rent or feed his family, there is no telling what he will do.

Parks said Illinois Department of Transportation leaders on Monday walked out of a meeting with a federal mediator present. He said the action came as members of MEBCO and other leaders were trying to make their case for increased minority participation in the project to put another four traffic lanes across the Mississippi River.

Parks said that level of disrespect from IDOT at the meeting has led black leaders to elevate the issue with plans for a shutdown. Parks put out a call for his fellow colleagues in Belleville, Swansea, Collinsville, Maryville and everywhere to join in. Parks described the issue with a quote from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

Parks said letters were sent to many elected officials. He said St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern is standing with East St. Louis and that his office would reach out to Gov. Pat Quinn, who he called a friend of East St. Louis.


IDOT spokesman Josh Kauffman said Friday afternoon, "The Illinois Department of Transportation met with representatives of MEBCO for more than four hours on Monday, Aug. 29, the third meeting with the group in four weeks. IDOT briefed the group on the very strong participation numbers to date on all Mississippi River Bridge projects, where minority workers made up about 35 percent of the total workers on the job as of Aug. 29, and account for 23 percent of the man hours worked on Mississippi River Bridge jobs to date, both significantly higher than the federal participation goals of 14.7 percent on the MRB projects. About 85 percent of the minority workers on MRB projects live in the metro-east area, and those workers have performed about 85 percent of the total work hours by minorities. More than 90 percent of the minority workers on MRB projects are African-American."

Parks said, "I thought we were moving in the right direction with IDOT. We were moving toward making sure more African-Americans and other ethnic minorities were working. Unfortunately, the Aug. 29 meeting netted a backward step. When we were ready to make a presentation, they walked out. The federal mediator was so frustrated with IDOT. The disrespect they showed for the federal government and the community have left leaders no alternative but to shut the MRB project down."

Parks said the group wants to ensure IDOT exceeds the requirements calling for 14.7 percent minority participation. He also said the federal law mandating 14.7 percent minority participation is outdated and should be revisited.

He said when the 14.7 percent law was enacted in 1966, the communities of Alorton, Brooklyn, Venice Washington Park, Centreville and East St. Louis did not have predominately black populations.

"IDOT is proud of its record of minority participation in all aspects of the Mississippi River Bridge projects and intends to continue its efforts to further improve minority participation as much as possible," Kauffman said. "IDOT is committed to working with all community groups on participation opportunities and issues."

Tiamo Dent, a black female graduate of the training program, said, "It's time to take it to the streets and to the citizens of East St. Louis. We're asking the citizens to come out and support this cause. The fight is for the citizens of East St. Louis. You have no right to complain if you don't come out."  Courtesy of BND

FRIDAY SHUTDOWN OF NEW MISSISSIPPI RIVER BRIDGE PROJECT POSTPONED.

MEBCO

METRO EAST BLACK CONTRACTORS ORGANIZATION

(618) 271-1974  (618) 271-0746 fax

President

Dr. William E. Mason

August 2, 2011

For Immediate Release

FRIDAY SHUTDOWN OF NEW MISSISSIPPI RIVER BRIDGE PROJECT POSTPONED

AS IDOT ACTING SECRETARY TO COME TO E.ST. LOUIS ON FRIDAY

     IDOT has agreed to the demand of MEBCO and E. St. Louis elected and community leaders that the IDOT Acting Secretary meet with them in E. St. Louis to seek a resolution in order to avert the shutdown of the Mississippi River Bridge Project planned for this Friday, August 5^th. 

     The meeting between IDOT officials and MEBCO, elected officials and other leaders will take place Friday, August 5^th at 2:00 p.m. at E. St. Louis City Hall, where it will be hosted by Mayor Alvin Parks.  A press conference will be held following the meeting to announce whether an agreement is reached or whether the shutdown will proceed on Monday, August 8th.

     For more information contact either MEBCO President Dr. William E. Mason at number above or (618) 670-1225, or MEBCO Counsel Eric E. Vickers at (314) 420-8700.

  

1801 Tudor Avenue

East St. Louis, Illinois 62207

FYI: This blog has already been sent to over 100,000 people including Illinois Governor, Senators & District Reps; Illinois US Senators and Reps, the Democratic establishment in Illinois, and pertinent federal agencies.

WE MEAN BUSINESS! WE WILL SHUT IT DOWN IF THERE IS NO COMPROMISE. WE ARE SICK AND TIRED OF WATCHING THE RACIST UNIONS FERRYING IN LABOR FORCE FROM RURAL ILLINOIS AND MISSOURI TO WORK ON THE MISSISSIPI BRIDGE YET OUR FELLOW EAST SAINT LOUIS CITIZENS HAVE NO JOBS. THIS CAN'T CONTINUE. JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL.

    

IDOT Signs $2M HCPTP Agreement with SIUE SWIC and MEBCO in 2008 but breaks promise.

 The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) announced a partnership with SIUE, Southwestern Illinois College and Metro-East Black Contractors Organization (MEBCO) in 2008 to help minorities achieve employment in local highway construction projects. The joint venture cost $2 million.

There are over 170 graduates of the construction program established by MEBCO and IDOT under the MOU, who are all trained-having obtained multiple certificates for various construction work-and who are prepared and eager to work to feed their families and contribute to the community.
IDOT has made no attempt to ensure that these 170 graduates are employed on IDOT projects because of the resistance and pressure from the unions and IDOT caving in to their discrimination.

Program graduate Tiama Dent (above) is among the graduates looking for work, She said “We worked our butts off. We want the same opportunity that they have.”

"Tiama Dent, a single mother of two, and a graduate of the Metro-East Black Contractors Organization training program, said she doesn't want government handouts such as food stamps and a Medicaid card.

Instead, she said she wants to work for what she gets and that's why she is willing to put her body in harms way to shut down the $749 million Mississippi River bridge project.

Dent, along with her fellow graduates, some local ministers and community activists want to halt construction if the Illinois Department of Transportation does not put more black people to work on the project.

Dent, flanked by East St. Louis City Manager Deletra Hudson, Alorton Mayor Randy McCallum, and pastors from across the metro-east, told reporters Friday she had a past that she wasn't proud of, but because of Metro-East Black Contractors Organization, she now has the education and training to be an apprentice under a journeyman." Courtesy of Carolyn Smith, Belleville News Democrat, 7/30/2011

IDOT and the white-controlled unions hire workers from outside East St. Louis while Tiama Dent is skilled and can't get a job at the Mississippi Bridge Project to feed her family, pay taxes, and support her community in East St. Louis. Ironically Ms. Dent was trained through the joint venture program IDOT put in place in 2008. Broken promises, lies, racism, that's what IDOT is all about.

The Metro East black community has vowed to bring IDOT to its knees if it doesn't give African Americans in these communities jobs and contracts.

"We will use litigation, protest, and blogging to fight and overwhelm IDOT", said Eric Vickers, the MEBCO counsel.