Minority quotas outdated, William E. Mason, letter to Belleville News Democrat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When questions are raised as to why there are so few blacks, IDOT is quick to cite a still existing but outdated law passed in 1964 that set a 14 percent minority worker requirement for all federal projects.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

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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.