Mexican Construction Cliques use corruption and discrimination against black tradesmen!

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As our network has reported in the past, the massive corruption that plagues one of the largest industries in the United States, construction, has never been fully remedied, and it is alive and well in 2019. The blood and sweat that has been poured out by black tradesmen and women in the hope of realizing the American dream, has always been undermined by secretive organizations, pacts, and industry gangs.

‘Mexican Cliques in Construction’, a book by thirty-year Hispanic carpenter Ricardo Charles, details a story of racism, fraud, discrimination and organized crime that is controlling the construction industry across the state of Texas.  

In his interview with reporter Greg Groogan, of Houston’s FOX26, Ricardo Charles was asked if black construction workers were welcome on construction sites in Texas. Charles said, "Oh no, blacks, they are out of the question. Blacks are out of the question. Nobody wants a black person in there." Charles, a US Army Veteran, was speaking about what the "cliques" would say about black tradesmen in the workforce.

Mexican racism plays a major part in keeping out blacks workers. Charles says those who run organized construction “cliques”, largely Hispanic crews almost never willingly hire black construction laborers.

The practice of rejecting black labor is deeply entrenched discrimination which extends to white workers as well, Charles said.

"They have these groups that are going to harass you, they want to insult you, degrade you. They want to make it very, very hard on you. They want to make false accusations about you: that you don't know how to do the job, you don't know how to talk to them, but they are all in the same conspiracy. It is a gang, like organized crime," Charles said.

For years Black tradesmen and women have been targeted by these secretive Mexican labor gangs according to Charles, effectively cutting black workers off from decent-paying construction. According to Ricardo Charles, Mexican groups conspire to keep jobs for themselves in industrial construction, and work with construction contractors to keep black tradesmen and women unemployed.

In an interview with Bob Price, Charles stated,"Corruption has been going on inside the plants for many years, but today's workforce comes with a culture of bribes. The Mexican culture of bribery makes it hard for ordinary citizens to be part of the workforce. However, these cliques help the employers by controlling the job sites by driving out 'unwanted' new workers. Anybody who disagrees with an unlawful act gets terminated."

"The traditional way of hiring through human resources has changed. Corrupt supervisors and managers inside do the hiring and firing giving preference to relatives and friends who, on occasion, pay to obtain the job. The employee of choice is the one who can be manipulated and does not report criminal acts. Eventually these type of workers join the existing group adding more crime into the system." Charles continued.

This evasive form of discrimination and nepotism being practiced throughout the industry is causing thousands of talented black construction workers to become bitter and discouraged. Recently in Atlanta black tradesmen confronted a Mexican construction worker who hung a noose on the job site. The noose incident in Atalanta and other cities, is provoking racial tensions that already exist, and these types of situations could have very ugly outcomes.

Since many millions of Mexican workers do not speak the official language, they commit fraud by cheating on the NCCER certifications and safety exams. Charles says they are supported by employers with no rights for the ordinary worker; they are organized criminals, and terrorist.

Over dozens of years and hundreds of sites across Texas, including the giant petrochemical complex in Port Arthur, he says Mexican construction cliques have muscled honest workers out of millions of dollars.

Money that's made gang bosses rich. He's talking about bribes. They call it "Mordida" in Mexico, the bite.

"This is actually just like in Mexico. It's not how much you know, it's who you know," Charles said. "Everybody knows. Yes, many people know that you have to belong to a clique in order to work. Mexicans exploiting Mexicans and contractors looking the other way," he said.

There's nothing casual about his allegations. Everything he's witnessed:

-- The "pay for play"

-- The graft

-- The enforced silence

-- And the corrupt complicity of contractors

He has also brought his allegations and evidence to the FBI.

It’s all recorded in his book “Mexican Cliques in Construction,” Twelve chapters including the author's background with more than thirty years experience in construction in 244 pages. Copies of "Mexican Cliques in Construction" can be obtained by contacting Ricardo Charles through his email address: ricardocharles46@hotmail.com.

Black tradesmen and women must Organize! Organize! Organize! And recognize what how deep the bribery and discrimination in the construction industry runs, and how they are being targeted. Black construction tradesmen and women in the United States descend from a linage of master tradesmen and craft-workers, and only by organizing their labor and talents together as a single force will they ever realize true success & potential in this industry that has a notorious history of racial discrimination.

Join our site today and network with black construction professionals from all trades across the United States!