Barrie Smith
October October 23, 2018
To the editor:
In his latest letter to the editor, Richard Berman continues to peddle false and hateful claims about the supposed treatment of African-Americans by New York City construction unions.
As an African-American man who worked, and almost died, doing nonunion construction in this city, few things could be more insulting than having a rabidly anti-union white man beholden to nonunion construction companies claim to speak about what it means to treat me fairly.
I know full well he could not care less about me or anyone he proports to show outrage on behalf of.
It is no wonder Berman can’t find a single black advocacy group in this city to deliver his despicable message. No responsible person would. The social-justice community here is actually well past talking about how “diverse” the building trades now are. That is a given fact now.
What is actually getting talked about is how the construction unions are providing the most unprecedented opportunities for African-American men and women returning from long periods of incarceration to truly re-enter society and re-start their lives. Yes-the building trades are actually now at the forefront of the civil rights struggle in this city. People who care about that issue know it. And no one has the time or patience anymore for Berman’s nonsense.
…
Numerous studies have shown-contrary to Berman’s claims-that the national pay gap between white and black workers is substantially ameliorated by collective bargaining agreements. But what really matters to workers of color is how they get paid and treated when they show up for work. Nonunion minority construction workers in the city are making a whopping 45% less than their counterparts with union representation. People care about whether they can feed their families, not fake statistics. The union jobs are the ones that make that possible.