Construction Hiring Practices Called Racist

(New York City) Columbia University's planned expansion has raised strong objections from Harlem Fight Back, a black and Hispanic workers rights group. The primary complaint is that the city has a 62 percent minority population, however, the black and Hispanic community is not getting 62 percent of the nine billion dollars of contracts issued by the City of New York every year.

"We should get 62 percent of the money, not of the contracts," said City Councilman Charles Barron of Brooklyn. "That kind of contractual racism must stop. We want a fair shot," he added.

Jim Heyliger, the president of the Association of Minority Enterprises of New York pointed out that of the 500 million dollars spent on the cleanup of the former World Trade Center site, "not one dime was given to a black or Hispanic contractor."

The strident remarks are aimed at Mayor Bloomberg, former Mayor Giuliani, and Columbia University administration.

In response, Mark Burstein, the director of Facilities Management for Columbia, stated that for years the university has ensured the inclusion of minorities, women, and locally owned firms in all construction projects. Their goal is to give 15 percent of the revenue of all contracts to minority owned firms, 5 percent to women, and 5 percent to local firms.

"All of our construction projects for 2001 and 2002 exceeded these targets," Burstein said. Of the four main projects the University is presently undertaking, the targets are also being exceeded.

Burstein believes the demand that 62 percent of city construction funds go to minorities is an admirable goal but changes in the industry can only be expected to occur incrementally. The university, he said, would be fully supportive of changes in that direction.

It seems there will be a lot more shouting before the amount that's doled out equals the amount desired.