Union investment fund backs $42.3 million project in Lowertown

A union investment fund announced plans today to renovate an aging, eight-story office building in St. Paul’s Lowertown district. The project will create 134 market-rate multifamily housing units and an estimated 190 union construction jobs. The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT) unveiled the $42.3 million project, dubbed “333 on the Park,” in a press release. […]

East Side Freedom Library announces Black History Month programming

St. Paul’s East Side Freedom Library will make the most of the five Mondays in February by hosting a Black History film each evening, part of a series of free, public events the non-profit library has planned for Black History Month. Additionally, the library will host the February installment of Twin Cities Labor Movie Night, […]

Carpenters union’s free workshops a hit with kids

Jim Hendricks clapped his hand five times, and the room bustling with more than 30 busy children Saturday morning fell silent. Everyone turned to face Hendricks, a business representative for the Carpenters union, awaiting his instructions. Holding up two pre-cut pieces of wood, Hendricks demonstrated the method for fashioning them into the sides of a […]

Photos: A ‘concrete Christmas’ for Cement Masons Local 633

  Decking the apprenticeship hall with festive concrete has become an annual tradition at Cement Masons Local 633. The local hosted a holiday party at its training center in New Brighton last night, and members strolled through a “Peanuts”-themed winter wonderland fashioned by first- and second-year apprentices. All of the work to create the concrete […]

Building a movement to combat student debt, CWA offers free, public clinics in Minneapolis

Naomi Holmes will run out of deferments on $57,000 in student debt this winter. Howard Terry took out a $30,000 loan to finish his graduate degree at the University of Phoenix. Tom Laabs’ wife, Liz, will graduate next year from the University of Minnesota with six figures’ worth of debt. “When that school loan comes […]

As reports of understaffing soar, Minnesota plummets in hospital safety rankings

Minnesota plummeted in a nationwide ranking of hospital safety released yesterday, but that came as no surprise to nurses, whose reports of unsafe staffing incidents in hospitals statewide have doubled over the last 12 months. Minnesota fell from 15th to 32nd in the Hospital Safety Score rankings, based on the percentage of hospitals that receive […]

Minnesotan named North America’s top tile apprentice

The trophy on display in Local 1’s New Hope training center may be small, but the accomplishment behind it – Brandon Peterson’s first-place finish in the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers’ International Apprentice Contest – is as grand as they come. Peterson, a 33-year-old apprentice tile setter from Ham Lake, advanced from local and regional tiling competitions […]

With new facility, St. Paul Pipefitters double down on commitment to training

  A tenant for 111 years, St. Paul Pipefitters Local 455 finally has a home of its own. The union held an open house at its new facility at 1301 L’Orient Street in St. Paul yesterday, celebrating with apprentices, members, retirees, public officials and union leaders. Local 455 acquired the property – a former fabricating […]

Union Advocate recognized for excellence in labor communications

The Union Advocate, official publication of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, received five awards in the International Labor Communications Association’s 2015 awards contest. Competing among print and online publications produced by statewide and other labor organizations in the U.S. and Canada, The Advocate won the following awards: First Place, Visual Communication Awards: Best Informational […]

Photos: IBEW volunteers keep lights on at veterans memorial

Union electricians are making sure a spotlight continues to shine on the All American Veterans Memorial in Shieldsville. Active and retired IBEW Local 110 members volunteered their time and skills this morning in Shieldsville, about an hour south of the Twin Cities. The crew installed new light posts, donated by union contractor Muska Electric, and […]