Minorities Excluded From New Courthouse Project: Protesters

JOLIET, IL - In late December, hundreds of smiling Will County politicians, courthouse staff and city of Joliet officials gathered downtown to mark the official groundbreaking of the future Will County Courthouse, a $215 million county government funded project. Since January, contractors have been tearing apart the former First Midwest Bank property to make way for the new 10-story building. On Tuesday morning, several minority tradesmen from around Joliet held a peaceful protest outside the Will County Courthouse.

"This protest is about zero African American workers or contractors at the new adjacent facility," James Foster told Joliet Patch.

Patch was on hand as the workers began circulating hundreds of fliers to people coming and going from the courthouse on Tuesday morning. Several people stopped and spoke with the protesters to learn more about their concerns.

Some of their signs proclaimed, "WILL COUNTY IS A DISGRACE," "JOBS FOR BLACK FAMILIES" and "SOMEBODY NEEDS 2 KNOW WE ALL WANT 2 WORK."

Willie Sellers is mad about the new Will County Courthouse.

"We need to do something about this," remarked Willie Sellers, a union member of Local 786.

In two weeks, the minority contractors, who include electricians, truckers and cement masons, plan to mobilize a large scale protest in downtown Joliet. That event will be attended by the president of the Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce, they said. They've also reached out to Operation PUSH and the NAACP for support at the event as well.

"We're hoping for over 500 people," Sellers said.

James Foster said he and the other black tradesmen plan to address the Joliet City Council at the March 5 meeting. The city is one of the key local government partners with Will County on building the new courthouse. (County officials say it's a $215 million project but the fliers referred to it as a $300 million venture.)

"We're the black contractors of Will County, and we're here today to protest the brand new $300 million courthouse that is going to be built over our shoulder," Foster told Joliet Patch.

"Right now there are zero or no African-American participation over there from the contractor's standpoint, or the laborer's standpoint, and this is something that consistently goes on in Will County. If you take the $35 million 911 center out on Laraway Road, you take the $25 million transportation center, the $25 million over on Water's Edge project, blacks are systematically left out.

"We're asking that Will County and the city of Joliet incorporate minority participation goals on future projects ... Let it be known that Joliet and Will County now has a 45-percent minority make up. Minorities are here. We deserve the work. We're union, and we pay taxes in Will County."

Images via John Ferak, Joliet Patch Editor