I checked on a big pipeline project we have going on recently. Crew had 4 trackhoes, 3 welders, welding assistants, highway flagmen, and numerous other employees working. This is a 10" and 12" welded steel natural gas pipeline. Well, this is Alabama, there were no black workers, they were white and hispanic. I asked the forman why. It is because they can't pass the required drug tests. The hispanic workers must have a green card and pass a drug test. This is DOT pipeline construction requirements. That says a lot. I have been engineering these type projects for 35 years, and when I first started, the work forces on the jobs were about half white and half black. Same with the gas company I work for, must have a drug test and random drug tests to keep your job, even for office workers. DOT says we are dealing with a flamable substance, and they do not want dope or potheads working around it. Same with alcohol. One of my contractors had to fire a welder who bought a beer for lunch one day. Can't have it on the job, or the contractor will be shut down. This is not to defend the illegals, but true hard working hispanics with greencards can pass the drug tests. It shows the sad state our country is in. Where my kids went to highschool, one of the best in the state, black boys have a 25% dropout rate and black girls have a 12% dropout rate. While white boys have about a 6% rate and white girls 3%. They have equal opportunity education, and they complain about job opportunities.
