SCHOOLS PROJECT Results are short of goals

Union membership is usually a prerequisite for construction employment.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The city school district is close to its goal in minority hiring in its $200 million schools construction and renovation project, but results for female and city resident hiring are disappointing, according to the district's equal opportunity compliance officer.
For construction of the new $8.5 million Taft Elementary School, which opened Sept. 7, the work force this year was 18 percent minority, 2 percent female and 26 percent city residents, compliance officer Alfonso Curry told the board.
The board established goals of having 20 percent of the work go to minorities, 20 percent to females and 50 percent to district residents.
All but one of the contractors working on the schools construction and renovation project so far sets union membership as a prerequisite for anyone to be considered for employment, Curry noted. Curry said he has a list of more than 200 minority and female job seekers for the project, but most of them aren't union members.
"We're trying to get them into the building trades unions so they can be considered for employment," he said. "It's hard work, and you have to be physically fit to do this work," he added.
Jobs are limited
Curry also noted that the overall number of construction jobs has been reduced by improved technology. "The only person that's not affected by the technology is the bricklayer, who still has to put that brick up one brick at a time," he said. Plumbers need fewer helpers because today's plastic pipe is lighter and easier to carry than metal pipe, he noted.
The Cement Masons and Plasterers Union is accepting applications for apprenticeships during business hours this week and until noon Saturday, Curry announced, adding that a $20 fee must be paid at the time of application.
Superintendent Wendy Webb announced that a formal dedication for Taft will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, and a groundbreaking will be at 10 a.m. Sept. 24 at the site of the new Williamson Elementary School. Taft was the first building to open in the district's construction project.
In a comparison of enrollment figures, the district had 9,471 students last May 11, compared to 9,593 on Tuesday, for a gain of 122 students. Mike McNair, supervisor of public and community relations, attributed much of the gain to students returning to the district from charter schools.