The Missouri State AFL-CIO recently announced they have received a grant from the Missouri Department of Labor to assist Kansas City in employing under-represented people in the construction industry including minorities and women. The grant will provide $400,000 per year for 3-years, to help the city recruit and retain people of color and women in the construction industry.

The State AFL-CIO expects to hire an Executive Director for the program shortly and to begin identifying partners in the area to team up with for recruitment strategies. The 5-week program will focus on educating new recruits in OSHA 10 rules, financial literacy and give the prospective workers an understanding of the construction industry from the hours they would be working to the various trades that they could join, and the work they would perform within those trades.

Greta Bax, who works for the Missouri AFL-CIO as Director of the program explained to several City Council members who attended the briefing that their goal is to reduce the barriers that impede so many people of color and women from getting into the trades. She stressed that child care and transportation seem to be the biggest barriers. “We will provide transportation to and from job sites and will work to find a child care component that supports those that are selected for the program.”

Several members of the Kansas City Council and construction unions met with representatives of the MO State AFL-CIO to discuss a new workforce initiative that will recruit more minorities and women into the construction trades.

From L-R, Clyde McQueen, FEC; Ryana Parks-Shaw, City Council; Kevin King, Roofers; Greta Bax, MO AFL-CIO; Dave Coleman, Ironowrkers; Reggie Thomas, Laborers’; Marion Barry, MO AFL-CIO; Duke Dujakovich, KC AFL-CIO; Diana Radzivich, Councilman O’Neills office; Jake Hummel, MO AFL-CIO

Jake Hummell, President of the Missouri AFL-CIO stated that they expect two training classes the first year with an approximate total of 40 to 45 students.