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interview with a latina carpenter

Group fights discrimination in the construction trades

Published Apr 16, 2012 10:49 PM

Margarita Padín, a Puerto Rican resident of North Philadelphia, has been a member of the Carpenters Union for 23 years. For most construction workers of color in the Philadelphia area, and despite their skills and experience, it can be an uphill battle to find work. Padín, Paul Williams, John Graves and other workers in the building trades recently organized the Fair Hiring Coalition to fight against unfair hiring practices.

WW: How did this struggle begin?

MD: I and other people in the trades were looking for work, soliciting in the hiring halls. We were going into the Driscoll [a major construction management firm in Philadelphia] trailer at the Temple Gateway project to sign up, and I ran into a group of African-American operating engineers who were also out there, and I started talking to them. They were upset because on that site there were 16 white operating engineers. The contractors had overlooked all of the African Americans looking for work. So we started talking about doing something about it jointly because they aren’t the only group that’s excluded, since females are also excluded and Latinos. We decided to protest. It was a Thursday, so we said on Monday, let’s just come out here and protest.

We reached out to other groups we thought would support the issue, like the Occupy Philadelphia Labor Working Group and the Coalition of Labor Union Women. From there came Occupy Temple, and then it spread through word of mouth.

Our message has been — for the eight weeks we’ve been out there — that the demographics of Philadelphia are not represented on all of Temple’s construction projects, and in every trade in these projects. We’re contesting the claim that 35 percent minority representation is “good” representation for the job as a whole.

WW: What is the number in the city?

MD: In the city, 42 percent of the population is Black and 42 percent is white. That does not include Latinos or Asians. Then, there is the exclusion of women from the trades. There are seven ZIP codes adjacent to Temple. In ZIP code 19122, where the white population is 35 percent, probably including many students, the number Temple is asking for is inverted. The school should be asking for 65 percent people of color and women workers. In the other ZIP codes around Temple, whites are an even smaller minority.

WW: There are many laws — city, state, and federal — on this issue. Why are most of the high-paying construction jobs still being taken by white men?

We have many laws, but nobody enforces them. You know why: The contractors, developers and agencies don’t want to take punitive steps against businesses because they all have the goal of making money. To make things right so that hiring is inclusive, we would have to tell businesses, “You have to share the wealth.” Are we taught to share the wealth in this country? I don’t think so.

Is there racism? Yes. Is there nepotism? Yes. Is there sexism? Yes. Is it surprising? No.

WW: Please describe the high-paying trades versus the laborers’ trades.

MD: Temple has set themselves a contract and a goal with Driscoll for 35 percent minority representation for the job as a whole. It’s meaningless. They hire consultants from three or four different companies to help reach these numbers. The 35 percent is usually reached with laborers and cement finishers, who do the hardest work and are paid the least. They are comprised of African Americans and other groupings that are excluded from all the other trades.

So what is accomplished in hiring in just those two trades? It’s perpetuating the racism and exclusion from the rest of the trades from which they have always been excluded, if representation of the city’s demographics is not required in every trade.

There are 10, 20 or 30 different trades that work on a project, especially of that magnitude, from start to finish: electricians, carpenters, operating engineers, sprinkler fitters, steamfitters, bricklayers, glaziers, drywall finishers, and carpenters. If there are a significant number of African Americans only working as laborers and cement finishers, what is being accomplished by setting 35 percent minority participation for the job as a whole? Not much, because there are still going to be segregated trades.

In areas where there are few living wage jobs — that pay $40 to $60 an hour — the residents in Philadelphia, especially in North Philadelphia, are not hired for these jobs. There are always many construction projects going on all over Philadelphia, but you don’t see the city’s residents working on them.

Women also want living wage jobs. If they knew they were welcome, there would be a lot more women working in construction than there are now. It’s illegal to advertise for males or females in employment, but workers don’t apply for jobs where they see they are not welcome.

WW: Why is Paul Williams, one of the members of the Fair Hiring Coalition, working far away?

MD: Many African-American operating engineers are working in jobs way out in the counties for less pay. They end up making nothing because they have to pay to stay in a hotel. Why can’t they work in the city where they live?

WW: Who is doing the work in the city?

MD: The people who live in New Jersey and the counties, who are making all the high wages. It shouldn’t happen.

Enforcement of the city, state and federal laws is not effective because it depends on workers making a complaint. Seldom will workers file a complaint when they know they will be punitively shut out of employment and will work even less than before.

The enforcement agencies need to institute some mechanism so that they regularly insist on compliance wherever they go. Every time federal, city or state funds are used, the government agencies must check on those contractors and see what they’re doing, not wait for someone to make a complaint.

For 40 years, this wasn’t done throughout the conservative administrations. It hasn’t been done since before Reagan. It wasn’t important to the Republican or the last Democratic administrations. The Obama administration has been hiring inspectors, but they haven’t been trained about what to look for at a construction site. Contractors can tell them anything.

These investigators and enforcers should include African Americans, Latinos and women who are experienced in the industry and know what to look for.

WW: Private consultants are hired to oversee enforcement. Why does that not get you what you want?

MD: The developers and the contractors hire private consulting agencies that supposedly do compliance for the projects to make them look like they are actually doing something about diversity. In case somebody comes from the [U.S.] Department of Labor, they can say: “Look. We have hired a consultant. We have our numbers.”

It’s just a coverup. All they do is compile data. They don’t have enforcement powers. They just compile a list of who’s being hired for the project, even if it’s just for a day, and then the consultants say: “Good job. Here’s the paperwork.”

These consultants are never going to raise an issue to the developers or contractors who pay them. They will never say, “You guys are not doing what you’re supposed to do,” because they will never get a contract again. Some consulting companies have gotten subcontracts on compliance in the city for years. They’re not going to end their gig.

The contractors will find someone else to tell them they’re doing a good job. Ultimately, it’s a business decision. The consultants know how to alter the numbers so that the businesses can make the most profits.