Thread: Viewers Say Dig Deeper on Construction Corruption, Discrimin

Viewers Say Dig Deeper on Construction Corruption, Discrimination

myfoxhouston.com
by GREG GROOGAN Reporter
Published : Thursday, 29 Sep 2011, 6:08 PM CDT

Video @ link

HOUSTON - Blacks and whites systematically excluded citywide from construction jobs by corrupt local contractors and bribery-riddled Mexican construction gangs.

An explosive allegation by whistle blower and author Ricardo Charles has triggered calls from our viewers to dig deeper.

Since the airing of three FOX 26 reports, we've been inundated by tips, emails and phone calls.

"You really hit it on the head and it really goes deeper. I'm glad you had the nerve to expose that. It seems like if you can't speak Spanish you can't get a job. This is crazy," one viewer said.

"It is true they are bringing in friends, family and relatives and they are fixing the paperwork," another viewer reported.

While common place for years, viewers claim use of low-paid, undocumented Mexican workers is now beyond rampant on job sites around the Houston area.

"If immigration ever runs through my work site here, management will say, 'Oh well, the contractor does all the paper work, they are going to take the fall,' but the bad part about it is these people know about it!" said a viewer who works in the port of Houston.

As for discrimination, viewers say if a Houstonian doesn't speak Spanish, getting a construction job can border on the impossible.

"When I went to apply for a job the girl told me behind the counter that if I wasn't bilingual I couldn't get a job. There’s no matter if I had 10 years concrete experience or twenty years of welding," a discouraged viewer reported.

Read more: http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/lo ... z1ZUL2SPIR

"When I went to apply for a job the girl told me behind the counter that if I wasn't bilingual I couldn't get a job. There’s no matter if I had 10 years concrete experience or twenty years of welding," a discouraged viewer reported.

It's not just construction! It's happening in many different sectors. California is just as bad if not worse!

Related:

Corruption, Racial Discrimination as Construction Gangs Steal Millions in Texas

By Greg Groogan
Published September 21, 2011

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-250562.html

It is very common now that being bilingual is a job requirement. Ten years ago or so I worked for The largest home builder in the U.S. It was common knowledge that superintendents were instructed that if a White guy walked in and wanted to sub work , you were to throw his card in the trash after he left. I heard many times , " The white guy will want more money and they are not as easily controlled. A Mexican will take what you give him and not complain." Also it was easier to back charge Illegal workers , thus funnel more money back to the company. We could reduce labor by 30% by using Illegals.
I did not work there very long. I am the least PC person you might ever meet and not one that keeps my opinions to myself. My next job for a Commercial GC started with me searching out and firing all illegals working there. I continue to seek them out and put them out of a job whenever I find them.

The major homebuilders around the country are, or have been in the recent past, saturated with illegal aliens. Therefore it galls me no end to see these same builders going to Washington DC begging for a bailout for themselves when you know they would just turn around and hire illegals. I am also incensed that the collapse in home building is regarded as a terrible economic indicator. The major homebuilders and their illegal workforce were one of the major contributing factors to the housing bubble and following collapse.

Then the unions jumped into the fray to sign people up, no matter what their immigration status is. This is not sitting very well with the rank and file, now that we have a recession and it is becoming clearer that government stimulus isn't going to bring employment back.

In most cases, it is the subcontractors working for the builders who employ the illegal aliens. Now many of the American subcontractors who hired illegals are finding jobs difficult to find as the illegals have learned the trade and started their own construction companies, where they bid for jobs at much lower prices than Americans can work for.

The Mafia always covered their trail with fake enterprises. All of the ILLEGAL EMPLOYERS realize that many "subcontractors" or “employment agenciesâ€

This story could and should be everywhere across the nation!
If the media was not in the pockets of the corrupt. Stories like this would be common in every community.
Then maybe people would get pissed and wake up to why uncle Jim and brother Bill can't find a job!

This goes much, much farther than the construction industry. Our school system let English speaking only teachers go while holding on to bilingual teachers. Any doctor or dentist office requires at least one bilingual speaking staff member. Manufacturing supervisor jobs require bilingual skills in order to communicate with the illegal staff.