Groups Ask MSD Board To Examine Minority Hiring Program
Date Posted: November 5, 2015
Posted In: News, Workforce,
From stlToday: Critics of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District’s minority hiring initiative are calling for MSD’s board of trustees to carry out new policies that will promote the hiring of more minority and women laborers.
Clergy from predominantly African-American churches and groups such as the NAACP want MSD to ensure that contractors working on its massive sewer upgrade project adhere to minority hiring goals the district laid out in early 2013. They criticized the district through the summer for allowing some contractors to retain current crews. MSD said the exceptions were made for safety reasons and had been discontinued.
On Wednesday, the groups made a formal presentation to several MSD trustees, urging them to scrutinize the district’s numbers and look at changes to the program they say could better keep it on track.
“Send a message to the community that MSD is serious about diversity,” said Yaphett El-Amin, the executive director of MoKan, which advocates for minority construction workers and contractors.