The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
Maria Meza watched intently as Robbie Luukkonen, a journeyman member of Bricklayers Local 1, installed ceramic tile onto a makeshift practice wall. When Luukkonen had finished the demonstration, Meza picked up the tools and tried tiling for herself. This is the way Meza, who graduated from St. Paul Johnson High School in the spring, learns […]
Attention muscle-car enthusiasts and family-fun seekers: Mark Saturday, Aug. 9 on your calendars. That’s when local Carpenters unions, for the third consecutive year, will host a vintage car show to benefit their food shelf. Hot-rod owners will compete for 10 best-in-show trophies, and the first 50 vintage cars to arrive at the event will receive […]
In over your head on a home-improvement job? Whether it’s a leaky pipe or a kitchen remodel, your best bet for quality and value is a union contractor. Fortunately, Building Trades unions and their signatory contractors are making it easier than ever to get a bid or a price quote on residential work. [For a […]
Public construction projects in Minnesota are awarded to the “lowest responsible bidder,” according to state law. But how do public agencies distinguish which bidders are responsible? It’s a question the state’s Building Trades unions want answered during the 2014 legislative session. With lawmakers likely to pass a bonding bill containing roughly $1 billion in infrastructure […]
This headline from The Union Advocate’s Feb. 16, 1939 edition immediately caught our eye: “Assembly Opposed To Defining Beer As Intoxicating.” Turns out, the headline was a bit misleading. The article reported that St. Paul’s central labor body, the Trades and Labor Assembly, passed a resolution opposing a bill before the Minnesota Legislature to define […]
Muscle-car enthusiasts and family-fun seekers alike will want to mark Saturday, Aug. 10, on their calendars. That’s when local Carpenters unions, for the second consecutive year, will host a vintage car show to benefit their food shelf. Hot-rods owners will compete for 10 best-in-show trophies, and the first 40 vintage cars to arrive at the […]
More than 30 workers in St. Paul threw a monkey wrench into Montgomery Ward’s holiday-shopping rush Dec. 6, 1937, walking off the job after management at the mail-order company’s University Avenue plant refused to negotiate with their elected union representative, Warehouse Employees Local 20,297. The picket line drew 300 supporters on the strike’s first day, […]
