Union members say ‘thanks for the work’ on Hastings Bridge

When the new Hastings Bridge, which carries U.S. Highway 61 across the Mississippi River, opens all four lanes to vehicles tomorrow after two years of construction, traffic-weary residents won’t be the only ones celebrating. Union members who built the $130 million bridge are joining in ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremonies, and one union joined their contractors […]

Harry Melander: Building builders, growing our economy

Drive to just about any region in our State. Look up or down, and you will see: “We are back.” You see new mining opportunities on the Iron Range and housing developments in our urban core. You see expansion of our medical center in Rochester and new investments in our regional transit system. All are […]

State’s transportation needs can’t wait, coalition warns

Support for transportation and transit investments among state lawmakers this session appears lukewarm at best, and that baffles Rep. Alice Hausman. “With all the grumbling and complaining about roads and potholes, you wouldn’t think funding transportation would be this hard,” the DFLer from St. Paul said. Hausman, who chairs the House Capital Investment Committee, joined […]

Union housing trust invests in St. Paul development project

The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust announced Dec. 19 it would commit $23.5 million toward constructing the West Side Flats Apartments, a $31 million mixed-use development on the edge of downtown St. Paul. The project is expected to generate 160 union construction jobs at a time when unemployment in the industry remains high. The HIT is […]

Politics take center stage at state Building Trades convention

One by one, DFL state lawmakers took the podium on the opening day of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council’s annual convention July 19-20 in St. Cloud. Invariably, each offered his own variation on three common themes: • DFLers salvaged the 2012 legislative session by providing the votes – or the veto power – […]

It’s ‘Game Day’ for Vikings stadium

A game-day atmosphere filled the Capitol rotunda today, as the Minnesota Vikings staged a pep rally with fans, union members and current and former players. They urged state lawmakers to pass a bill funding construction of a new stadium in Minneapolis – and creating an estimated 13,000 jobs. Vikings fans dressed in purple jerseys mingled […]

Unions give stadium, bonding bills one last push before House vote Monday

Union members swarmed the Minnesota Capitol today in a last-ditch effort to drum up support among lawmakers for two bills that, together, would create tens of thousands of jobs for union members in the struggling construction trades. The bills – one to build and repair the state’s infrastructure and another to finance construction of a new […]

With time running out at the Capitol, unions plan rally for jobs

Before adjourning the 2012 legislative session, Minnesota lawmakers could act on a pair of bills that, if passed, would create nearly 50,000 family-sustaining jobs. But on Tuesday it appeared Republican majorities in the House and Senate were more preoccupied with saving their own. By law, the session must adjourn by May 21. That means the […]

On Workers Memorial Day, unions remember the fallen

In Workers Memorial Day ceremonies held across the country April 27 to 30, union members paused to remember the men and women who died on the job or as a result of work-related injury or disease in the previous year. In St. Paul, Building Trades unions from the Twin Cities metro area held a ceremony […]