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Minority quotas outdated, William E. Mason, letter to Belleville News Democrat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When questions are raised as to why there are so few blacks, IDOT is quick to cite a still existing but outdated law passed in 1964 that set a 14 percent minority worker requirement for all federal projects.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