Protest at City College of San Francisco Highlights Local Hiring Disputes

By Tabari Morris
tabari@sfbayview.com

San Francisco, CA – An early morning protest today at the City College of San Francisco was meant to call attention to the low numbers of local and African American workers on a new construction project at the college. African American Construction Collective or AACC, led the protest, where speakers were there to bring out what they say are the college and its contractors’ failures in fulfilling local hiring practices and inclusion.

AACC’s Call for Local Inclusion
Mike Gregory, president of the AACC, expressed his frustration with the hiring practices of the project. “We know this project is already started, but if you don’t hear the thing right, right now, right down there, you won’t even gear up down there,” said Gregory, referencing how critical it is that this matter is repaired before it becomes any worse than it already is. One of the paramount concerns of the AACC on this issue is the lack of presence of San Francisco businesses and African American contractors at the job site, in contrast to the city’s values regarding inclusivity and support for small businesses.

Community Values at Stake
This becomes clear from a text message from one of the truck drivers on the job site that one member of the AACC shared. “That this text does not align with San Francisco values. We in San Francisco protect our small businesses. We protect, we are inclusive to diversity and we just feel like they should not be here on this job site,” the message read, pointing out the expectation for local and diverse hiring.

City College Response
The protest couldn’t come at a more changing time for City College as new trustees are sworn into office. Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who was warned about the protest, will officiate the ceremony. Members of AACC say they hope the new leadership will listen to their demands on hiring concerns. “The name is City College. Right. Why wouldn’t you want city workers on your project?” mused one protester as he wondered aloud about the irony of it all.

Future Projects and Local Hiring
The AACC also looks to the future for other projects down the line, such as those planned for Franklin and Golden Gate, to better reflect a desire to work with local and African American contractors. “We want to know that a requirement, they’re required to use local residents,” Gregory said, citing the current practice mainly seeks labor from outside San Francisco.

Peaceful Protest
The protest was held in a non-violent fashion, and the AACC made certain that no one was prevented from entering or exiting the premise. “We reached out yesterday. It was great. Everybody was understanding. They just asked us to do it in a peaceful way,” Gregory said, solidifying their stance for beliefs in non-violent protest. The protest at City College of San Francisco brings into sharp focus this continuing struggle in pursuit of a share of hiring practices for public projects. As the city and its organs forge ahead, the voices of local contractors and community spokespeople rise loud and clear-for a time when San Francisco’s values of diversity and local support are real in action.

Tabari Morris, currently pursuing a journalism major at City College of San Francisco, is also undertaking an internship at SF Bayview National Black Newspaper and can be reached at Tabari@sfbayview.com.

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