On September 15, 1986, about two dozen African American contractors and unemployed workers visited the Guy F. Atkinson Co. job site near the Mount Baker tunnel to express their dissatisfaction with minority hiring and contracting procedures used by the firm. Eddie Rye Jr., a representative of the Black Contractors Coalition, told Atkinson representative Ira Fell that the group was particularly upset with the way the company handled the recent Metro bus tunnel bid. Rye complained that contractors from the Seattle's Central Area were shut out of the process.

This photo shows Jim Mason, left, president of the Independent Black Truckers Association, and Eddie Rye Jr. speaking with the press about the problems with government construction contracts.

Eddie Rye, Jr., whose father was a organizer for the African American-led Pullman Porters union, is a long-time community activist for social change and economic justice in the Pacific Northwest.

Caption information source: "Blacks Confront Tunnel Project Contractor," Seattle Times, September 16, 1986, p. D12.
Caption information source: "Eddie Rye, Jr.: Unapologetic For His Efforts To Bring About Social Change," The Seattle Medium, retrieved at http://seattlemedium.com/eddie-rye-jr-unapologetic-for-his-efforts-to-bring-about-social-change/