New state grants support suicide prevention in construction industry

February 3, 2026 by

Text or call 988 to find judgment-free support for mental health, substance use, and more. Or chat with someone at 988lifeline.org.

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry awarded new grant funding last month to help two organizations tackle a leading safety hazard in the construction industry: mental health.

Minnesota Building Trades unions partnered last year with their employers, represented by the Associated General Contractors (AGC), to push state lawmakers to address the mental-health crisis in their industry, pointing to suicide rates among construction workers that are four times higher than the national average – and even higher among men.

With the combined $750,000 in new funding, two organizations – the AGC of Minnesota Foundation and Suicide Awareness Voices of Education – will create outreach and engagement programs tailored to construction workers, aimed at promoting mental well-being and preventing suicide.

In a statement announcing the grants, DLI Commissioner Nicole Blissenbach said prioritizing construction workers’ mental health “will save lives.”

The new grant program is modeled after a similar initiative, led by the state’s Department of Agriculture, to address higher suicide rates among family farmers.

Both farmers and tradespeople face stressors unique to their communities. For construction workers, they can include working long hours away from home. And employment is cyclical for most; when their trade wraps work on one project, there is no guarantee of a job waiting for them on another.

LIUNA Minnesota and North Dakota President and Business Manager Joel Smith, a leading advocate for the DLI’s new grant program, said the macho culture on a construction job site can make some tradespeople hesitant to ask for help dealing with stress.

But the construction industry has changed its culture before, Smith added.

“Thirty-four years ago when I got my start, safety wasn’t emphasized nearly as much,” Smith said during a breakout on mental health during LIUNA’s infrastructure summit last October.

“We changed the culture around safety. Now we need to change that culture around mental health, to remove the stigma and let our people know it’s OK to talk about it. But it’s going to take all of us.”

For its part, the unionized trades and their contractors in Minnesota already have begun the work of changing their approach to mental health, even before lawmakers approved funding for the new grant program.

Many unions and their contractors have begun including mental-health awareness into their first-aid trainings and increasing the number of times workers can access their employee-assistance programs (EAPs). LIUNA rolled out a hardhat sticker – “What’s Underneath Your Hardhat?” – encouraging members to look out for each other’s wellbeing.

With the new grant funding, AGC CEO Tim Worke said, the contractors’ foundation and its partners in labor – and, he hopes, local developers – will expand on work to break stigmas around mental health in the industry.

Plans include an expanded suicide prevention training, with a new, tailored curriculum that will reach more than 1,500 construction apprentices statewide.

During the summit last fall, Worke said the stakes are high not just in terms of saving lives, but for the industry’s success in recruiting and retaining young workers, too.

“I’m absolutely convinced that if we cannot change folks in the industry that do not value mental health, the workforce is going to respond with their feet,” he said. “They’re going to move to another industry that does.”

– Michael Moore, UA editor

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Tradeswomen honored at local ceremony as Trump halts efforts to diversify industry

July 23, 2025 by

Union tradespeople from across Minnesota gathered at a White Bear Lake banquet facility June 5 to celebrate winners of the 2025 Women Building Success Awards, which recognize women forging careers in an industry long dominated by men.

Minnesota Building Trades unions founded Women Building Success (WBS) in 2017 to recognize and promote the achievements of women in their ranks, in the hopes of drawing more.

Experts have long argued that attracting more women to the construction trades would help reduce broader pay disparities, as skilled tradespeople – particularly union members – earn family-sustaining wages with access to health and pension benefits.

The kind of outreach, community-building, mentorship and support that WBS offers women in construction is critical to getting women to enter the skilled trades – and keeping them there, experts say.

Initiatives like WBS and Tradeswomen Build Nations, launched by North America’s Building Trades Unions 15 years ago, have helped drive an increase the number of women working in construction, by nearly 30% between 2018 and 2023, according to Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

But federally funded programs that look to build on that success face an uncertain future. Earlier this year, the National Taskforce on Tradeswomen’s Issues and five Building Trades unions issued a joint statement calling on Congress to maintain funding for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau and the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) program.

Both the Women’s Bureau and WANTO have been “instrumental” in creating pathways for women to enter male-dominated fields like construction, the organizations say, particularly in supporting pre-apprenticeship programs, which create opportunities to try out a trade before fully committing.

But since President Trump took office in January, the Labor Department has terminated WANTO grants, and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s budget request for 2026 would zero out funding for the Women’s Bureau, which she called a “relic of the past.”

WBS, self-funded by unions, isn’t likely going anywhere – and that’s a good thing for local tradeswomen, including these 2025 award winners, profiled below.

Apprentice of the Year

Ironworkers Local 512 apprentice Michaela Oelkers, 29, began welding at 18, earning a Certified Welding Inspector credential on her own time while working two jobs. When her boss at a non-union shop told her they didn’t need another CWI on staff, Oelkers acted on a friend’s suggestion to check out the Ironworkers.

Pete Teigland, the local’s apprenticeship training director, is glad she did. “Michaela represents everything we look for in an apprentice ironworker,” he said. “She has a great attitude, is hard working and wants to be good at whatever task is laid in front of her.”

The award came as a surprise to the third-year apprentice from Baldwin, Wis., but she left the awards ceremony feeling “hyped up,” she said.

“The women are all so positive and couldn’t be more supportive. I wanted to know, are there tips and tricks for how to keep your mindset so focused? And how the hell did they do it for so long?”

Oelkers said being the only woman on a jobsite can be “a pain in the ass sometimes,” but she keeps her sense of humor.

“I’m not going to lie, they’re big and burly, and frankly they’re kind of gross,” she said. “But the men I’ve worked with have been so good and willing to teach the next generation (of apprentices), so there’s an upside and a downside. And hey, women can be hormonal and annoying as well.”

Journey Worker of the Year

Heidi Loesch, 61, of Shell Lake, Wis., retired after a nearly 40-year career as an operator two years ago. The member of Operating Engineers Local 49 didn’t take the traditional apprenticeship pathway, instead attending technical college in Staples after graduating from high school to gain the skills she would need as an operator.

Loesch had no idea Women Building Success existed until Melissa Vandal, a dispatcher with Local 49, asked if she could nominate Loesch for an award. At the ceremony, another woman who, like Loesch, worked for Bolander Construction approached Loesch’s daughter, Megan, to say she had been hearing about her mother for years.

“It was interesting to learn that you were kind of mentoring everybody along the way – whether you knew it or not,” Loesch said. “No women were in the field when I started – that I ran across anyway.”

What kept her going? “I just loved my job, and I was pretty good at it,” she said. “And there are a lot of guys out there that will tell you that, too. If I was going to worry about the guy-girl ratio, probably I wouldn’t have gotten out of vo-tech.”

Women’s Advocate

Rachel Malmer, a member of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 110 who works at the wastewater treatment plant in St. Paul, is blunt about what attracted her to the trade: “money and insurance.” But the 33-year-old from Bay City, Wis., has thrived in several roles since joining the union in 2017, volunteering with the Electrical Workers Minority Caucus and representing members on several committees.

As a member of the executive board, Malmer sees new apprentices and members being sworn into the union, and she makes a point of reaching out to women taking the oath.

“A lot of times you’re the only woman on the job site, and let’s just say some people suck,” Malmer said. “So having someone to talk through that or work through things – people who have experienced it and know different ways to navigate things – it helps. I want them to know that they have a support system.”

A self-described “behind-the-scenes person,” Malmer was not eager for her moment in the spotlight at the WBS awards. “I was mad,” she said. “I don’t like getting up in front of people, let alone talking in front of people or talking about myself, really. I’m just doing what I feel like people are supposed to do.”

Tradeswomen in Leadership

Two tradeswomen shared the leadership honor this year: Erica Hartse of Heat and Frost Insulators Local 34, and Colleen Bibeau, an instructor at the Laborers Training Center in Lino Lakes.

Hartse, a 32-year-old from Lindstrom, recently took an office job at Local 34 after working 10 years in the field, starting in 2014. That’s when she left her job as customer-service representative to join a pre-apprenticeship program. She joined Local 34 soon after, but said she wishes she had learned about career opportunities in the trades sooner.

“My biggest gripe is that it was never really posed as an option in high school, or maybe I would have taken a different path earlier on in life,” Hartse said. “Maybe I would have seen it as a viable option sooner.”

Hartse, who serves as Local 34’s vice president, called the experience of winning the WBS award “overwhelming but exciting.” She said she appreciates the organization’s work to create space for women in the trades. “Seeing people relatable to you is so important,” she said. “I can hear a guy talking about careers like this, but to have that real success story in front of you, then it’s real.”

Bibeau, who lives in North Branch, joined the Laborers in 1999. She was working two jobs and raising three kids on her own, with no child support. “My kids needed to have a mom more,” she said. “I needed more money.”

She worked in the field until 2013, when she applied for an instructor’s position at the training center, teaching safety on the job.

“I love getting to work with apprentices,” she said. “I get to see a lightbulb go off every week with my students.”

Now 59, Bibeau has seen firsthand the how the industry has changed to become more inclusive of women, and she hears about it from the apprentices who come through her classroom, too.

“I ask them all the time, ‘How many women are working with you guys?’” she said. “And there’s always multiple women on the jobsites, which I’m so happy to hear.”

This article appeared in the August 2025 issue of the Saint Paul Union Advocate.

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

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Trump guts agencies key to keeping worksites safe

May 23, 2025 by

Don Mullin (L), executive secretary of the St. Paul Building and Construction Trades Council, draped a black sash over the cross bearing the name of Daniel Lee, who died on the jobsite in November when a structural column fell on him. Ironworkers Local 512 President Troy Sebion held Lee’s cross during the Workers Memorial Day ceremony on the Capitol grounds. Sebion called Lee his best friend and said Lee nominated him to serve as the union’s president. “He was the best,” Sebion said. “Good worker, good father, horrible golfer. I miss him.”

Local unions’ Workers Memorial Day observances took on heightened urgency this year, as the Trump administration sought to hollow out federal agencies critical to protecting workers from injury, illness and death on the job.

Workers Memorial Day falls on April 28, the date President Richard Nixon signed the Occupa-tional Safety and Health Act into law in 1971. Unions across the U.S. hold events to honor workers who died on the job and rededicate their organizations to fighting for safer workplaces.

But 54 years since the landmark, bipartisan law took effect, Trump and his billionaire backers are moving to dramatically – and recklessly, unions say – to scale back the federal government’s investment in workplace safety.

Most alarming to worker advocates is a two-thirds reduction in staff at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a division of the Health and Human Services Department that is dedicated to research that protects workers.

The agency’s recommendations are relied on by workers and employers throughout the world. Its work has informed life-saving regulations around asbestos, bloodborne pathogens, silica and black lung, and it tests and authorizes safety equipment relied on by American workers across most industries.

A coalition of unions has filed a lawsuit to restore staffing at NIOSH.

Meanwhile, workers in the Department of Labor, according to a report in The Guardian, have warned of widespread resignations that could cripple the federal government’s ability to investigate and enforce wage-and-hour and OSHA regulations.

Twin Cities Building Trades unions held a Workers Memorial Day ceremony at the Capitol on April 28.

If Trump succeeds in steering the federal government away from its responsibility to protect worker safety, labor leaders warn, it will put overwhelming pressure on unions and state and local agencies to pick up the slack.

“The realities of our present day are disturbing,” Dan McConnell, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council, said during a Workers Memorial Day ceremony in St. Paul. “We must remember, while political leaders come and go, our movement endures, and our job remains unchanged.”

Held at the Minnesota Workers Memorial Garden on the Capitol grounds, the ceremony wove together solemn remarks from union leaders and state regulators about their commitment to safety on the job with a sobering reminder of what’s at stake in that work.

Dean Gale, business manager of St. Paul Plumbers Local 34, offered an opening prayer from a podium placed before a row of five white crosses, each bearing the name of a union tradesperson who died in jobsite accidents or from work-related illnesses in the past year.

“Help us honor the legacy the fallen have built and left behind,” Gale said. “You can see it in the skyline.”

The names affixed to the crosses included James Baker III of Bricklayers Local 1, David Buck of Operating Engineers Local 49, Gregory E. Jeanette of IBEW Local 242, Daniel L. Lee of Ironworkers 512 and Zachary McDonald of Bricklayers Local 1.

McConnell said unions would never accept the loss of any worker to jobsite hazards “as merely the price of doing business.”

“We gather today, on Workers Memorial Day, to remember our fallen brothers, to re-center ourselves, to recognize that our work advocating for the safety of our members will never be done and to remind one another, even though we belong to different trades, the safety of our members depends on every member of every trade performing their job safely,” he said.

– Michael Moore, UA editor

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Up for a challenge: Competitors test their skills at WBS Trade Games

December 10, 2024 by

Ashley Kula (L) and Anya Davis raced to finish Cement Masons Local 633’s challenge.

It wasn’t gold, silver or bronze, but there was plenty of metal in play during the Trade Games Challenge at St. Paul Pipefitters Local 455’s training center Nov. 21.

Hosted by Women Building Success (WBS) to celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, the friendly, hands-on competition drew nearly 200 participants in its second year.

“This event has hands-on challenge activities for each trade,” WBS board member Jenny Winkelaar, director of workforce and community development for Operating Engineers Local 49, said. “It is a fun way to showcase what the trades have to offer.”

Competitors included apprentices, journey workers and community members with an interest in exploring careers in the union construction trades.

Cement Masons apprentice Grace Olson checked out her virtual paint job.

Participants walked from station to station on the shop floor, trying their hand at challenges sponsored by different local union apprenticeship programs. Each union designed the challenge to reflect their unique craft.

At booths hosted by Plumbers Local 34 and Sprinklerfitters Local 417, instructors timed competitors as they followed the instructions for connecting pieces of pipe into a “pipe guy.” Insulators Local 34 challenged competitors to affix insulation to the proper place on a pipe structure, like a puzzle.

Some Trade Games challenges pitted competitors against each other. Laborers Local 563 held wheelbarrow races. At Pipefitters Local 455’s station, it was a chain hoist race, with competitors racing to raise their large spool to the finish point fastest.

Madi Jennings, a fourth-year apprentice with the Insulators union, tied rebar at Ironworkers Local 512’s station, clocking the second-fastest time of the event’s early session. Local 512 training coordinator Erik Hansen said that it’s good for apprentices like Jennings to gain exposure to other crafts – and good for apprenticeship programs’ recruitment efforts, too.

“We’re hoping this kind of becomes a word-of-mouth thing,” Hansen said. “OK, you’re already in a trade, but maybe you know someone considering their options, and you tell them, ‘Hey, check out the Ironworkers.’”

For competitors like Matt Segal, who learned about the event from a friend, the Trade Games Challenge also served as a career fair. After working in the tech industry for a decade, he’s looking for a change.

“I’m exploring my options and seeing what’s out there,” Segal, 34, said after splitting a pair of chain hoist races – hosted by the Pipefitters – with IBEW Local 110 member Marisa McAndrew. “I like working with my hands, and I’d like to learn some skills that I can take with me – that are applicable in my home and anywhere I go.

“It’s been exciting to be here and talk not only to trades instructors, but tradespeople, too.”

Mahaila Houle (R), a career navigator with Operating Engineers Local 49, guided Plumbers Local 34 apprentice Karen Severson through the excavator event.
Ironworkers Local 512’s Erik Hansen timed Madi Jennings, an Insulators apprentice, as she raced to tie rebar.
Dorlisa Squires (L), an apprentice with Local 49, and Glenda Tejada race to assemble a “pipe guy” at Sprinklerfitters Local 417’s challenge.
Rockett (R), who said she uses just one name, matched insulation with piping at Insulators Local 34’s station during the Trade Games Challenge.

For most attendees, though, the primary objective was fun and fellowship.

At Cement Masons Local 633’s station, that meant playing in the “mud,” as competitors raced to flatten and level wet cement, edge the sides and install control joints – the cuts in walkways or other slabs that allow for movement due to temperature or moisture.

Local 633 apprentice Grace Olson was not tempted to leave her craft behind after trying the virtual spraypainting booth, hosted by the Finishing Trades Institute, Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 82’s training arm.

“I think I did OK, but I probably could have done better,” the third-year apprentice laughed. “I think I over-sprayed it a little.”

But Plumbers Local 34 apprentice Karen Severson joked that she “might switch trades” after climbing into the excavator that Operating Engineers Local 49 parked inside the Pipefitters’ training hall, challenging participants to pick up and transfer a flagpole from one road cone to another. “That was fun,” Severson said.

WBS was founded in 2017 to recognize and promote the achievements of women in union construction trades. WBS hosts an annual awards ceremony, an apprenticeship photo contest and other events.

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

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Updated prevailing wage standards ‘a tremendous win’ for tradespeople

June 10, 2024 by

Sen. Tina Smith (R) and Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman announced new prevailing wage standards in Minnesota.

The Labor Department has updated federal prevailing wage standards in Minnesota, a move local Building Trades unions hailed as critical to ensuring that the tradespeople working on historic infrastructure investments passed during President Joe Biden’s first term are paid fairly and consistently.

Tom Dicklich, executive director of the Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades Council, called the Wage and Hour Division’s announcement “a tremendous win for the working women and men of Minnesota.”

“The implementation of new prevailing wage standards will provide our workers with the financial security they deserve and ensure that our construction projects are carried out by skilled, fairly compensated professionals,” Dicklich said. “We’re excited to see the tangible benefits this will bring to our communities.”

Under the new standards, the prevailing wage rates applied to federally funded building, highway and heavy construction projects will be the same as the state’s prevailing wage rates.

Minnesota’s prevailing wage rates better reflect the labor costs incurred by responsible contractors, like unions’ signatory contractors, Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman said at a press conference May 31 at the St. Paul Labor Center.

Looman, who served as executive director of the Minnesota Building Trades council before accepting a post in the Biden administration, said the change to federal rates here is part of the “most comprehensive review” of prevailing wage standards undertaken at the Labor Department in “more than 40 years.”

“The new prevailing wage standards will ensure that workers on federally funded projects are compensated fairly, reflecting the true value of their labor,” Looman said. “This initiative will help close wage gaps and set a higher standard for transparency and fairness in the construction industry.”

Under the Davis Bacon Act, contractors carrying out most federal building projects are required to pay the local “prevailing wage” – an hourly rate, plus benefits – determined by the Labor Department. Many states and municipalities also have their own prevailing wage standards.

Prevailing wage laws ensure that workers on publicly funded construction projects are paid wages that reflect area standards – and prevent low-road contractors from squeezing workers’ pay in order to win a public bid.

The Wage and Hour Division announcement comes at a time when billions of additional dollars are being invested in Minnesota under two of Biden’s signature legislative achievements, the bipartisan infrastructure law and the CHIPS and Science Act.

Sen. Tina Smith, who joined Looman at the event, said the new prevailing wage standards add to Biden’s record as “the most pro-worker administration” in her lifetime. Smith ran down a list of pro-worker advancements since Biden took office, from expanding eligibility for overtime pay to banning noncompete agreements.

But the change will also benefit construction employers, she said, by streamlining the bidding process and ensuring greater fairness and transparency.

“This is a significant step in ensuring fair wages and consistency for our workers on federally funded construction projects,” Smith said. “From boosting American manufacturing and construction through unprecedented infrastructure investments to improving wage transparency for workers and contractors in Minnesota, we are making historic progress in supporting our workers and strengthening our labor unions.”

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

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Construction wage theft back on MN lawmakers’ agenda

March 17, 2023 by

Alvaro Chavez (L), a member of CTUL, testifies in support of the Construction Worker Wage Protection Act, authored by Rep. Sandra Feist (R).

Construction firms in Minnesota would bear greater legal responsibility for the labor practices of their subcontractors under legislation introduced by DFL lawmakers last month.

Building Trades unions and worker advocacy groups say the measure is necessary in the wake of reported abuses on non-union construction sites, most notably the Viking Lakes development in Eagan, where last year 40-plus workers alleged being cheated out of over $100,000 in combined wages.

Under the proposed Construction Worker Wage Protection Act, tradespeople hired by a subcontractor or labor broker would be empowered to seek unpaid wages from the larger contractors responsible for bringing their boss onto the jobsite.

Advocates say holding so-called “upstream” contractors accountable will create a much-needed incentive to do business with responsible subcontractors. The measure would also give construction firms legal authority to request payroll information from their subcontractors, so they can avoid liability.

“Compliance would finally be incentivized,” the Carpenters union’s Adam Duininck told members of the House Labor Committee during a hearing on the bill March 2.

Minnesota Building Trades unions lobbied to pass the nation’s strongest wage theft legislation four years ago, but Duininck and other labor leaders say the new law has not deterred developers and general contractors, like the Wilf family’s MV Ventures, from turning a blind eye to wage theft on their projects.

A report approved by Ramsey and Hennepin county attorneys last year found “rampant wage theft” in the non-union construction industry, estimating that employers in those two counties steal over $3 million in wages each year and divert over $11 million from Social Security and Medicare funds by misclassifying employees as independent contractors or paying in cash.

During the committee hearing March 2, Alvaro Chavez, with assistance from a Spanish language interpreter, explained to lawmakers how he witnessed the wage-theft model firsthand. After working for several weeks framing the bottom floor of a multifamily development in St. Paul, Chavez said, he and his crew abruptly learned they were being replaced for the project’s next phase.

“They never paid us for the work we had already done,” Chavez said. “When the supervisor of our group called the owner of the company, Strong Framing, who was a subcontractor on this project, he wouldn’t answer the phone.”

Chavez and other members of the crew approached the local worker center CTUL for assistance recovering their lost wages. Their first call was to the project’s developer, Yellow Tree.

“They told us they had contracted with U.S. Framing to do the work and we should call them,” Chavez said. “When we called U.S. Framing, they told us they contracted with Strong Framing, the company of the person who was no longer taking our calls.

“None of these companies wanted to take responsibility for paying our wages.”

Dan McConnell, president of the Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades Council, said that responsibility rightly belongs to those with most control over the construction site. “Managing a project and making sure everybody gets paid is literally what owners pay a general contractor to do,” he said.

But too often, by the time workers like Chavez discover they have been cheated out of their wages, it’s too late to hold their immediate employer accountable, Simon Trautmann, a labor attorney and member of the Richfield City Council, told lawmakers.

“You’ll have the subcontractor who has an LLC with zero assets,” Trautmann said. “That creates a policy problem where there is literally no money and literally nobody (to hold) accountable. This is a business model.”

Members of the House Labor Committee voted to advance the measure, House File 1859. Its companion bill, Senate File 1988, has so far passed through two committees.

“The bottom line is if you control the worksite, then you can prevent wage theft,” said Rep. Sandra Feist (D-New Brighton), the bill’s lead author in the House. “We want to level the playing field so ethical business practices can win the day, and they’re not going to be underbid by unethical subcontractors.”

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HealthPartners member? Former Trades leader seeks your vote in board election

October 25, 2022 by

Harry Melander

Longtime union leader Harry Melander is hoping to give working people a voice on the HealthPartners board of directors.

Melander, who retired as president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council last year, is one of four candidates running for three open seats on the 16-member board, which oversees the largest consumer-governed health care organization in the U.S.

Over 1 million participants in HealthPartners’ coverage plans are eligible to vote in the election, including tens of thousands of union members. But it has been over two decades, Melander said, since organized labor has had a voice on the board.

“With so many participants from our Building Trades unions, our public employee unions and beyond, I think labor needs to have a voice at the table,” Melander said.

HealthPartners planned to mail ballots and voting instructions to eligible voters by the end of October. Participants can cast their ballots by mail or online through Nov. 28.

Melander and other finalists for the board seats went through a five-step vetting process, including interviews with CEO Andrea Walsh and current board members.

Melander, a longtime member of the Carpenters union, served as executive secretary of the St. Paul Building Trades Council for a decade. During that time, he led efforts to expand the Building Trades’ outreach to communities underrepresented in their unions, including women, people of color and veterans.

“The mission of HealthPartners and its focus on health care for all, no matter your economic status or zip code, goes deep within my beliefs,” Melander said. “During my career at the Building Trades, improving diversity, equity and inclusion was part of its mission, and those efforts continue today. Diversity of thought, work and opportunities within an organization is the recipe for success.”

Melander remains heavily involved in the community during his retirement.

He is vice president of the Twin City Housing Development Corporation and a board member of the Minnesota Housing Partnership and the Union Bank and Trust. For over 20 years, he has chaired the Washington County Board of Adjustment and Appeals.

Previously, he served as chair of the Metropolitan Council and as vice chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

Melander said his approach to civic leadership is collaborative and open-minded. “You listen, and you learn,” he said. “And you hope that by working with other leaders, you can make some recommendations that deliver practical results.”

Learn more about the board election at healthpartners.com.

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Women Building Success celebrates tradeswomen at awards ceremony

June 3, 2022 by

WBS award winners, L to R, include (back) Claire Boeke, Karin Dahlin, Dani Moss, Rosey Grab, (front) Marissa Goodsky, Brittney Bray and Robin Chuhel.

Union tradeswomen and labor leaders gathered June 1 in White Bear Lake for the Women Building Success Awards, a celebration of local apprentices, journey workers and advocates for women pursuing careers in the construction trades.

Women Building Success (WBS) is a Minnesota organization founded in 2017 to recognize and promote the achievements of women in union construction trades. The awards ceremony is among its biggest events of the year, said Barb Pecks, a WBS board member and member of the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters.

“We do have amazing women out there, and we definitely don’t recognize them often enough,” said Pecks, who emceed the ceremony.

In a recorded video, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar congratulated the 44 women nominated for WBS awards, and she praised WBS and local construction unions for their ongoing efforts to support tradeswomen and make the unionized construction industry a more welcoming place for women to work.

“When our tradeswomen succeed, our economy succeeds,” Klobuchar said. “And when our economy succeeds, America succeeds.”

WBS board members honor Terri Stave with a Lifetime Achievement award. Pictured (L to R) are Barry Davies, Carrie Robles, Barb Pecks, Stave, Jenny Winkelaar and Jennifer Mudge.

Lifetime Achievement

WBS presented a Lifetime Achievement award to Terri Stave, a retired member, instructor and officer with Elevator Constructors Local 9 who serves on the WBS Board of Directors.

Throughout her career, Stave was a trailblazer both within Local 9 and the International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC). In 2016, she became the first woman sworn in as business agent of an IUEC local, and she was one of two women who attended the union’s international convention that year. She recently became the first female member to retire out of Local 9.

“When I started as a 19-year-old, and I just went to work, kept my head down and went home,” Stave said. But after attending the Tradeswomen Build Nations conference in 2014 and finding only four other elevator constructors, she said, “I decided we’ve got to do something about this.”

Stave started a Facebook group for women in the IUEC, which has grown to nearly 300 members and provides support and connections to organizations like Tradeswomen Build Nations.

IBEW 110 Business Manager Jamie McNamara introduces Advocate of the Year Robin Chuhel (L).

Advocate of the Year

Robin Chuhel of St. Paul-based Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 110 received the Advocate of the Year award, with honorable mention going to Rosey Grab, an apprentice with Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 49.

Chuhel, an Air Force veteran, joined Local 110 in 1994, and she is a union steward in her current job with the St. Paul Public Schools, “a place for her to recruit, train and help retain as many women in our field as possible,” Local 110 Business Manager Jamie McNamara said.

Chuhel also has served nearly 20 years in a leadership role with the union’s apprenticeship program, often advocating for better pay and benefits for apprentices, McNamara said.

“When Robin would engage apprentices who were women, she would take them under her wing, advising, protecting and teaching the apprentices like they were her own family,” McNamara said. “She has not only taught the women in our local how to be better in our industry, she has taught the whole industry how to be better for women.”

Journey Workers of the Year Marissa Goodsky holds her award during a photo with Local 633 Business Manager Dave Schutta and her sister Alexa.

Journey Worker of the Year

Marissa Goodsky, a member of Cement Masons Local 633, received Journey Worker of the Year honors, with honorable mention going to Brittney Bray of IUOE Local 49.

Goodsky is a graduate of Local 633’s summer training program, offered in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Transportation since 2010, that introduces young workers from area tribal nations to careers in the concrete and cement industry.

Goodsky “stood out in that program with her energy and attention to detail,” Local 633 Business Manager Dave Schutta said, and in 2015 she began an apprenticeship with the local. Now, she serves as an instructor in the very program that introduced her to the union.

“She’s come full circle,” Schutta said. “What a mentor she’s going to be.”

Apprentice of the Year

Karin Dahlin of Minneapolis St. Cloud Pipefitters Local 539 was named Apprentice of the Year. The overwhelming number of outstanding apprentices nominated for the award prompted WBS to name two honorable mention winners: Dani Moss of Laborers (LIUNA) Local 563 and Claire Boeke of the Carpenters.

In addition to the award, winners in each category received a $300 honorarium and a set of Milwaukee tools. Honorable mention recipients received $100 honorariums.

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Unions honor fallen tradespeople on Workers Memorial Day

April 28, 2022 by

Twin Cities Building Trades councils observed Workers Memorial Day with a ceremony on the Capitol grounds today, remembering union tradespeople who died from workplace injuries and illnesses over the past year and rededicating their organizations to the cause of safer worksites.

“Every worker, regardless of their language, their gender, their skin color, their age or their citizenship status, has the right to be safe and healthy on the job,” Minnesota Labor and Industry Commissioner Roslyn Robertson said in remarks during the ceremony, held in the Workers Memorial Garden.

Standing along a stone memorial wall, union leaders and family members held 12 white crosses with the names of fallen union members: Neil Boser of Laborers Local 563; Gerald Peterson, Eric Raddatz, Dean Sinwell and Robert Vogelsberg of Operating Engineers Local 49; Duane Peterson, Craig Hansen, Robert Winczewski and Eric Dennis of Glaziers and Glassworkers Local 1324; George Kisel and Gary Newman of Heat and Frost Insulators Local 34; and Donald Hopper of Painters Local 1962.

Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council President Joe Fowler chimed a bell as each name was read over the loudspeaker, and a black sash was draped over each cross.

Another cross held the name of longtime Carpenters union member and volunteer Darrell Ray, who died April 19. Ray was a fixture of the trades’ Workers Memorial Day ceremonies, usually as the person ringing the memorial bell.

Ramsey County Commissioner Jim McDonough, a longtime member of Glaziers Local 1324, encouraged those gathered to imagine a Workers Memorial Day when that bell remains silent and “there are no more crosses” marking the deaths of construction workers.

“Memorials like this remind us of the work that’s yet to be done,” McDonough said. “And who’s going to do that work if it’s not you and me standing together in solidarity?”

Labor Commissioner Roslyn Robertson speaks during the Workers Memorial Day observance.

Robertson said upholding labor rights is an important part of making sure workplaces are safe.

“We must listen to the voice of the workers because it’s those workers who really know how to do their jobs safely,” she said. “We have to encourage those workers to be able to stand up when they see unsafe practices taking place.”

The annual day of reflection comes each year on April 28, the anniversary of the creation of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 1971. Across the country and throughout the world, working people pause to remember workplace fatalities and commit to improving safety on the job.

An annual report from the AFL-CIO, “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect,” found that U.S. workplaces have much room for improvement when it comes to safety. Using 2020 employment data, the report found that hazardous working conditions led to 340 deaths every day that year, a rate of 3.4 fatalities per 100,000 workers.

The fatality rate was three times higher in the construction industry in 2020, and nearly four times higher among transportation and warehouse workers. More than a third of fatalities occurred among workers ages 55 and over.

Cohlton Boser (L) and Talyre Boser hold a cross for their father, Neil Boser, a member of Laborers Local 563 who died in a workplace accident last August.

Minnesota saw 67 workplace fatalities in 2020, according to the AFL-CIO report; 28 came as a result of transportation incidents.

Overall, employers reported nearly 3.2 million work-related injuries and illnesses in 2020, according to the report, and musculoskeletal disorders continued to make up the largest portion injuries, at 21%.

Latino and Black workers remained at greater risk of dying on the job than other workers, the report found.

Researchers also said underreporting of workplace injuries and illnesses is widespread, estimating the true tally of work-related injuries and illnesses at between 5.4 million and 8.1 million each year.

The AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, is calling on both OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to enact stronger job safety and health protections, for Congress to increase resources for job safety agencies and for workers to have a real voice on safety and health in our workplaces without the fear of retaliation or intimidation.

“That’s tens of thousands of families losing a parent, a child, a sibling, every single year,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said. “Latino and Black workers specifically remain at greater risk of dying on the job than all workers. That is, frankly, unacceptable.”

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Report: Union construction sites draw fewer safety violations

December 13, 2021 by

A new analysis of Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) inspections at construction jobsites in nine midwestern states backs up what unionized tradespeople have long been saying.

Union jobsites are safer jobsites.

The report, released Nov. 30 by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute (ILEPI) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Project for Middle Class Renewal, found that unionized construction workers were exposed to 34% fewer health and safety violations in 2019 than their nonunion counterparts.

“With our nation readying at least $1.2 trillion in new infrastructure investments, it is vital to understand safety trends in construction because it is one of our economy’s most physically demanding and dangerous occupations,” study co-author Frank Manzo IV, director of the ILEPI, said. “The data makes clear that the unionized side of the construction industry is producing vastly superior outcomes.”

In Minnesota, OSHA inspectors found 40% fewer violations per inspection on union worksites than they did on nonunion sites in 2019. Violations turned up, on average, 5% less frequently on union sites.

The union advantage

Local union leaders said the study points to an often-overlooked advantage of their construction model. Union members have a voice over their working conditions and, when they need to speak up about unsafe conditions, the protections of a union contract.

“When you walk on a union jobsite you know that safety is not just a buzzword or toolbox talk,” said Chris Peltier, a business agent for LIUNA Local 563. “We can have confidence knowing that every contractor on site has provided all of their employees with the best resources in the industry and quality training. We know that every worker on the jobsite shares the same culture and has the same goal – that every worker returns home to their families safe and sound at the end of the day.”

Adam Duininck, director of government affairs for the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, said construction unions “make it a priority to work together with our contractors, developers and members to prevent workplace injuries and ensure members return home safely to their families at the end of each workday.”

Safety is a cornerstone of union training programs, too. Unions and their signatory contractors partner to sponsor, develop and administer world-class apprenticeship programs in Minnesota and across North America.

“We start by providing new apprentices with OSHA training and continue to provide more advanced safety education throughout our members’ careers,” Duininck said.

A public cost of unsafe sites

In conducting their analysis, researchers examined data on more than 37,000 OSHA inspections conducted in 2019. They found that union jobsites were 19% less likely to have any health and safety violations. The number of violations per inspection was 34% lower on union jobsites.

Robert Bruno, a professor at the University of Illinois and co-author of the study, said the lax health and safety practices more prevalent on nonunion construction sites put workers at risk and increase strain on the workers’ compensation system.

“Construction worksites with OSHA violations are more likely to suffer workplace injuries, which can impose billions of dollars per year in added burdens on businesses and state workers’ compensation systems,” Bruno said. “Employers that take preventative and proactive steps to lower the risk of injuries and illnesses experience greater levels of output on the jobsite, and ultimately save money for both themselves and taxpayers.”

Attack unions, undermine safety

The difference between violation rates on union and nonunion jobsites was notably greater in Michigan (49%), Wisconsin (59%) and Indiana (64%), states where Republican lawmakers have repealed prevailing wage and passed right-to-work laws in recent years.

Prevailing-wage laws require employees working on state-funded projects to be paid wage rates comparable to those paid for similar work in the region. With a prevailing wage built into all bids, contractors bidding for public projects compete on skill, productivity and other factors – not on who can scrape together the cheapest workforce.

“A safe workplace is filled with workers and an employer that puts safety before profits, something we rarely see on nonunion worksites,” said Duininck.

The report makes clear, authors said, that measures to weaken unions and their collective bargaining power come at a potentially steep cost.

“Safety problems are not just a threat to the health of the construction workforce our nation needs right now, they impose real burdens that hurt productivity, shrink output and increase costs,” Bruno said. “The data is very clear: embracing the institutions that correlate with better safety outcomes in physically demanding occupations can be a win-win-win for workers, businesses, and taxpayers alike.”

Apprenticeship is key

To promote safer construction worksites across the country, the researchers suggest that policymakers seek to promote institutionalized training and high safety standards with prevailing wage laws, responsible bidder ordinances, project labor agreements and the repeal of so-called “right-to-work” laws, which have been linked to weaker apprenticeship systems in previous research.

“Registered apprenticeships aren’t just attaching workers to middle-class construction careers, they are training workers in industrywide best practices for operating heavy machinery, working with hazardous materials, and avoiding preventable accidents on the jobsite,” Manzo added. “There is no doubt that this work isn’t just paying off from the standpoint of reducing fatalities, but also from the standpoint of preventing the very health and safety violations cause these tragedies.”

Matt Johnson, a senior instructor at the Laborers’ Training Center in Lino Lakes, said workers who make the jump from non-union firms to his union apprenticeship program often tell him they wish they would have had his safety training when they worked non-union.

“I love being able to pass on the knowledge that I have learned over the course of my years working and help others prevent mistakes that I myself have made,” said Johnson, who worked in the field as a construction Laborer for nearly 18 years before going to work as an instructor.

“Unfortunately there’s a misconception for a lot of owners that safety training costs more money than it is worth,” Johnson added. “I see it differently. Work injuries not only cause bodily harm, they also cost money, and we can help prevent that with good training.”

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