Please accept my commendations on the initiative you’ve shown in exploring the hindrances to full employment of African-Americans in the construction trades.
As the affirmative action manager for a construction management/consulting firm responsible for construction of many of Chicago’s major public and private sector projects, I agree that, without special effort, successes in these areas do not occur.
It should not be construed, however, as your stories suggest, that successes are achieved only in the public sector when mandated by legislation. Voluntary efforts in the private sector also should be credited.
On the recently completed United Center project, a privately funded job with construction valued at over $100 million, 35 percent of the hours worked were clocked by minority trades workers and 5.8 percent by women. This was the result of a cooperative effort between the owners, their representatives, contractors and community organizations.
Instrumental in ensuring that minorities and females were employed on the project were the scores of minority businesses who received over $30 million in construction and related contracts. Forty percent of those dollars went to African-American companies.
