Construction union celebrates new laws to keep ‘bad actors’ from cashing in on public subsidies

July 19, 2024 by

Eduardo Canales brought his daughter, Dariana, to the rally at Callisto Commons in Fridley. The development used Environmental StoneWorks, a contractor that Canales said misclassified him as an independent contractor when he installed stone veneers like the one visible at the Fridley site.

Members of the Laborers union (LIUNA) staged a demonstration June 24 outside a subsidized housing development in Fridley, publicly shaming a construction-supply company they allege has cheated both workers and taxpayers.

Environmental StoneWorks’ veneer product was on full display at the future site of Callisto Commons, a development along University Avenue Northeast where LIUNA members rallied with lawmakers and community supporters.

The action kept the heat on StoneWorks, which faces allegations of discrimination and worker misclassification. But the event also raised awareness of new laws passed this year by the labor-endorsed “trifecta” of state lawmakers, including new labor standards on subsidized housing projects and stiffer penalties for worker misclassification.

“This isn’t about a few bad actors,” Rep. Emma Greenman (D-Minneapolis) said. “This is about a business model that is about extracting from workers, extracting from taxpayers. The business model is what has to change.”

And it likely will, thanks to new laws requiring contractors on developments that access funds through the state’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit – like Callisto Commons in Fridley – to pay prevailing wages. Minnesota is the first state to tie prevailing wage to the tax credit.

Other measures now on the books will make it harder for contractors with a history of labor violations to bid on publicly subsidized projects, give state regulators new tools to shut down job sites where labor violations are occurring and create new penalties of up to $10,000 for employers that misclassify their workers as independent contractors.

LIUNA members from across the country, in the area for an organizing conference, joined the rally.

That’s what Eduardo Canales alleges happened on job sites where he installed Environmental StoneWorks’ product over a period of four years.

Although he worked exclusively as an installer for the firm, Canales said he was never classified as an employee by the firm. As an independent contractor, he was ineligible for workers’ compensation, collective bargaining rights and overtime pay – even in weeks when he worked 70 or more hours installing the stone veneer.

“It means if there is an accident and someone gets hurt on an Environmental StoneWorks project, it is my problem, not theirs,” Canales said through a Spanish language interpreter at the rally. “There was a guy who broke his foot working for Environmental StoneWorks, and instead of providing medical treatment, he said his boss terminated him.”

StoneWorks’ manufacturing facility, meanwhile, is the subject of a discrimination complaint filed with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. Angel Torres, who worked at the North Branch facility from 2009 until he was fired in December 2023, said the company offered two wage scales, one for immigrant workers and another, higher scale for those born in the U.S.

Torres, also using a language interpreter, told rally-goers that he complained to management that newly hired “American” workers were making $2 more per hour than immigrants who had been working at the plant for several years. “I believe that’s the reason I was fired from this company, for speaking up for the workers,” he said.

Angel Torres (L) said StoneWorks discriminated against immigrant workers at its North Branch manufacturing facility.

“The reason we came to this country is to better our lives for our families, but we should be treated with dignity like any other employees,” Torres added. “That’s why I came here to speak today, to ask the community to not be quiet. We need to speak up in order for things to change.”

On the construction worksite, at least, change appears to be coming.

Lucas Franco, a LIUNA researcher, said Minnesota’s new laws “will, we are confident, break the cycle of unscrupulous contractors and worker mistreatment on publicly funded projects.”

That’s no small slice of the construction industry, either.

An analysis published by NorthStar Policy Action in November 2023 found that $84 million of taxpayer subsidies went to affordable housing developments in Minnesota that used contractors tied to proven or alleged exploitation of workers. And that’s “just the tip of the iceberg,” author Jake Schwitzer said, noting that the Callisto Commons project was not named in the report.

“We’re here today because we know Minnesota can meet its affordable housing needs and development goals without sacrificing worker dignity and safety,” Franco said.

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

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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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49ers’ courses offer high schoolers ‘3-for-1’ credit opportunity

March 2, 2021 by

Local 49’s first-year apprentices earn anywhere from $24 to $34 per hour plus benefits, and receive their education at the union’s sprawling Hinckley training site, pictured above, at no charge.

Operating Engineers Local 49 is hoping a new partnership with Minnesota Virtual Academy will draw more high-school graduates into the union’s registered apprenticeship program – and help meet future demand for skilled, trained workers in the heavy-equipment industry.

At the start of this school year, instructors from Local 49 began teaching for-credit courses open to high-school students statewide through the online, public school’s Destinations Career Academy.

Fifty-three students signed up in the first semester, and interest in the program has only grown since then. This semester 117 students from 66 school districts in 39 counties are enrolled, with notably high participation among girls.

“I think there really is an appetite not only from students but from parents and schools to really provide a relevant, meaningful career opportunity,” said Jenny Winkelaar, Local 49’s director of workforce and development. “Most schools who learn about it are promoting it because they don’t have the resources to operate this kind of pathway on their own.”

Like other career-pathway programs in the construction trades, Local 49’s courses introduce students to work in the industry, with a focus on concepts and skills that will prepare them for success as an apprentice heavy-equipment operator.

Offerings include construction exploration, basic grade and construction math, and construction-equipment maintenance and fundamentals. A prep course for getting a commercial driver’s license is in the works for next fall.

Triple the credit

But what makes Local 49’s partnership with Minnesota Virtual Academy unique among pre-apprenticeship programs is the potential to earn credit not just toward high school graduation, but also toward a post-secondary degree and journey-level certification. Minnesota Virtual School’s Leslie Lewandowski called it a “three-for-one” deal.

“They get high school elective credit, college credit and also credit toward their registered apprenticeship program if they sign on with a signatory contractor,” she said.

That’s a draw for students like Cole Snidarich, who was among the high schoolers enrolled in first-semester courses.

“The courses were a great opportunity for me to learn if I would be interested in a career in the construction field,” he said. “I would definitely recommend these courses for other high school kids considering working in the construction industry.”

Enrollment is open to students from any school district in the state. They can participate from anywhere they find an internet connection, at any time and at no cost to the student.

Rich Krohn, an instructor for the program, said he has enjoyed introducing students to careers operating the heavy equipment that builds communities.

“Fourteen weeks into the class and I still get comments from my students saying what a great experience it has been,” Krohn said. “I encourage all high-school students to sign up for the class and see what a career as an operating engineer has to offer.”

Virtual, with a hands-on twist

In addition to online classes, students participating in Local 49’s course will have opportunities to try out the union’s heavy equipment simulators, putting the concepts they learn in the classroom to the test. Winkelaar said COVID-19 has put in-person events on hold for now, but the union and its industry partners are working on plans to stage hands-on learning events across the state.

That level of investment shows just how serious Local 49 and its signatory contractors are about recruiting the next generation of heavy-equipment operators. For the Minnesota Virtual Academy, the program is an opportunity to showcase a career with good wages and benefits that many students might not otherwise consider.

Local 49’s first-year apprentices earn anywhere from $24 to $34 per hour plus benefits, and they receive their training at the union’s sprawling Hinckley facility at no charge.

“As we’re looking at pathways we want to offer students, we want them to be in high-demand jobs, so we’re spending our resources on career paths that warrant the investment,” Lewandowski said. “There’s need in this industry.”

“Historically, we have known that unless you knew somebody in the industry or came from a rural area, you might not have a lot knowledge about what opportunities look like in the heavy-equipment operating industry,” Winkelaar added.

Making an informed choice is an important first step, said Tom McCrossan, a contractor who sits on the Local 49 apprenticeship board.

“It is critical that students in high school learn about our industry early to see that this industry has many career pathways to different areas in the construction field,” he said. “Taking these courses gives students a great foundation for being a heavy equipment operator as well as other facets of our industry.”

Learn more

• Visit local49.org/operating-engineers-career-pathway-program.

• School districts interested in arranging a virtual meeting with Lewandowski and Winkelaar to discuss the program should email llewandowski [at] mnva [dot] org or jwinkelaar [at] local49 [dot] org.

Filed Under: Politics, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , ,

As GOP plays politics with infrastructure bill, tradespeople warn their jobs hang in balance

July 21, 2020 by

Fred Livingston, a member of LIUNA Local 563, speaks at a Capitol press conference on the bonding bill.

If Minnesota lawmakers treated their jobs as seriously as the state’s union tradespeople treat theirs, Gov. Tim Walz would be signing a bonding bill this week.

That’s the message Minnesota’s Building and Construction Trades unions brought to the Capitol in St. Paul today, hours after legislators adjourned a second special session without investing in infrastructure and local jobs.

“Construction workers put in long, hard, exhausting hours, and we get the job done well,” said Fred Livingston, a former Marine who joined Laborers Local 563 after reentering civilian life. “We take our jobs very seriously.

“My brothers and sisters and their families hope lawmakers come back to the table, sit down, roll their sleeves up and do whatever is required to get this bonding bill passed … so we don’t have to tell our families we lost our jobs.”

Infrastructure bonding bills authorize the state to borrow money for investments in local water-and-sewer systems, roads, bridges and public buildings. It is traditionally a priority for lawmakers during even-numbered years like 2020, when they are not working on the biennial state budget.

Bonding, however, requires support from two-thirds of the House and Senate, and this year Republican lawmakers have used the measure as a bargaining chip in efforts to force Walz to call off the state of emergency he’s declared to respond quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Led by Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, House Republicans held firm to that stance early this morning. They voted in lockstep to block a package of more than $1 billion in local projects that would have created an estimated 12,000 jobs and generated $3 billion in economic impact, according to an analysis by the Building Trades.

Jason George, business manager of Operating Engineers Local 49, said Daudt and his caucus “chose to fight with the governor instead of creating good jobs in Minnesota. That’s just something I don’t understand.”

The political standoff comes at a delicate time for both the construction industry and the state’s economy, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause uncertainty.

Employment in Minnesota’s construction industry has remained steady so far during the pandemic, union leaders at the Capitol said, but there are signs of trouble ahead.

Minnesota Pipe Trades President David Ybarra said several significant projects have been delayed or canceled since the economic downturn, while design and engineering firms warn of a slowdown in demand for their services.

“It goes without saying that if architects and engineers are not seeing projects, our members will be without work eventually,” Ybarra said.

State lawmakers may get yet another crack at the infrastructure bill in August, when Walz would need to call the Legislature back into session to extend his emergency powers.

That gives union tradespeople a glimmer of hope their representatives may finally do the job right – even if it’s not done on time.

Keoudon Yang, an apprentice with the Electrical Workers union, said it’s “unfortunate that state leadership, in these challenging times, will not do their part.”

“This has been one of the most uncertain years and our future feels unpredictable at best,” Carpenters Local 930 apprentice Benjamin Statz added. “We need the Legislature to do their part and chart a strong path forward for young trades workers.”

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Trades-backed alliance ramps up recruitment as MN’s construction industry booms

May 16, 2018 by

A union-backed initiative to recruit more women and people of color into construction careers is hoping a new website will amplify its marketing push and help ease the industry’s stubborn labor shortage.

The Construction Careers Pathways Alliance, which brings together Building Trades unions, contractors, apprenticeship programs and other groups, revamped its website, constructioncareers.org, last month, adding dynamic photos, videos and graphics that designers hope will stand out on social media platforms popular with millennials.

The aim is to get young people “to really start looking at construction as a very viable career choice, with good wages and good benefits to sustain themselves and their family members,” said Pat Wagner, founding executive director of the Construction Careers Foundation, which oversees the initiative.

The website touts year-round opportunities available to young people looking to explore a career in the trades, including two summer programs on the horizon.

  • The MN Trades Academy is a paid internship available to selected Twin Cities high schoolers, who visit apprenticeship training centers and complete projects related to specific crafts.
  • Kids at Work, a summer program for students in grades 4 through 9, offers a crash course in STEM activities, presented within the context of the construction industry.

These summer programs complement the Career Pathways initiative’s year-round work with school districts across the state to bring construction concepts back into the classroom. Thirteen school districts have partnered with the alliance to add the “multi-craft curriculum,” a Building Trades-endorsed program, to their tech-ed courses.

Construction classes “have been lost from the high school curriculum, whether it’s due to financial constraints or a shift in focus to four-year college degrees,” Wagner said.

Sparking a student’s interest in construction is just the first step, she added. The adults in a student’s life often turn out to be the tougher sell.

Pat Wagner

“You can see the light in their eyes when they get hooked,” Wagner said. “But we need to reach young people early on so the discussions can start at home concerning their future.”

The construction industry in Minnesota, however, is ripe with career opportunities.

In a survey taken last year by the Associated General Contractors, 90 percent of Minnesota contractors who responded said they anticipated hiring craftspeople in the next 12 months. Three-quarters said they expected it to be as hard or harder to find qualified applicants.

Recognizing the need to restock the pipeline of tradespeople, state lawmakers allotted funds two years ago to support Construction Career Pathways’ work to bring people from non-traditional backgrounds into the trades.

Unions, too, have been critical in supporting the initiative. It’s not often labor and management groups wholeheartedly agree on anything, which indicates just how serious the industry is about preparing the next generation of tradespeople for work.

“We’re really looking at a changing workforce, an aging workforce,” Wagner said. “We are in need of educating individuals of color, the immigrant population and young women. That is our future workforce, and we are reaching out to them.”

Change will take time, but the foundation’s work already has had an impact. Since 2017 over 7,000 students from 170 schools statewide attended or participated in a program sponsored by alliance. Female students accounted for 32 percent of those participants; 74 percent came from underrepresented communities.

“We need to provide young people with exposure and hands-on experiences,” Wagner said. “If young people have that experience, they tend to learn that it’s not their hands, it’s their minds and their passion and creativity that they are using.”

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Community Ed offers courses in labor history, construction careers

January 10, 2018 by

Want to learn more about local labor history? Looking to explore career opportunities in the construction trades? These two labor-related courses are among the St. Paul Public Schools’ lineup of Community Ed offerings this winter.

Peter Rachleff, a retired Macalester professor and co-director of the East Side Freedom Library, will teach “The Labor Movement and the Struggle for Democracy in Minnesota” on Tuesday nights, Feb. 13 to March 20, at the historic Carnegie library, located at 1105 Greenbrier St. Registration cost is $53.

The course description promises a survey of how Minnesota workers – “native born and immigrant, women and men, skilled and unskilled, blue collar and white collar, people of color and white” – have organized over the last 150 years for political power and a collective voice on the job.

“Learn how they struggled for citizenship and the right to vote; demanded the right to organize and engage in collective bargaining; organized unions to protect their rights at work; and organized politically to shape public policy.”

People entering the labor force – or considering a career change – will get an overview of opportunities in the construction trades at a one-day course Feb. 27, taught by Don Mullin, executive secretary of the St. Paul Building and Construction Trades Council. The session will cover coursework and skills needed for different trades, expectations, insurance, work cycles and more.

“Choosing a Career in the Trades” will meet from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the St. Paul Community Ed offices, 1780 W. 7th St. It’s open to ages 16 and up. Cost of registration is $7.

Filed Under: Community Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Construction of St. Paul soccer stadium gets vertical

November 28, 2017 by

Construction workers and local officials joined in Minnesota United’s “beam signing” ceremony Nov. 21.

Union tradespeople hoisted the first beam of St. Paul’s new professional soccer stadium Nov. 21, after a ceremony that drew local officials, Minnesota United executives and club sponsors to the Midway construction site.

General contractor Mortenson Construction broke ground on the 346,000-square-foot site in June. Since then, workers have completed most of the excavation and foundation work, removing 200,000 cubic yards of dirt and pouring 10,500 yards of concrete.

Now, workers will begin erecting nearly 50 tons of steel, most of it fabricated at a facility in Wisconsin.

Minnesota United celebrated the new phase of construction work on its $200 million future home with last week’s “beam signing” ceremony. Club employees, elected officials, union representatives, construction workers and other stakeholders took turns autographing one of the columns.

Mortenson officials at the ceremony said the stadium build is proceeding on schedule. They expect it to take about 20 months to complete.

Scott Johnson, a business agent with Ironworkers Local 512, signed one of Allianz Field’s columns.

“I think that the progress of the stadium has been inspiring, and that there have been a lot of people working hard,” Mortenson’s Greg Huber said in an interview with Minnesota United’s official website. “We’ve been working 10-hour days, six days a week, on critical path work. So there have been a lot of folks – a lot of women and men – who have been working very, very hard, long hours, to get us to this point.”

A project labor agreement (PLA) negotiated with the St. Paul Building and Construction Trades Council covers all present and future construction work on Allianz Field. PLA’s establish terms and conditions for construction employees and contractors on a project, from wages and benefits to overtime pay, grievance procedures and more.

By setting terms and conditions at the outset, project owners make their labor costs more predictable, weed out irresponsible bidders and ensure labor peace with local unions for the entirety of the project. Several studies show projects built under PLA’s are more likely to be completed on time, within budget and with quality construction.

Allianz Field will hold close to 19,400 fans at capacity. The stadium is scheduled to host its first match in March 2019.

Filed Under: Community, Union Events Tagged With: , , ,

Builders past, present honored for work on Minnesota’s Capitol

August 22, 2017 by

Renee Gisch brought her grandchildren to the Capitol so they could see the restoration work she and hundreds of other tradespeople did over the last four years. Nearby, Daniel Reibestein and his mother, Donna, paid tribute to the work his great grandfather put into the landmark building’s original construction more than a century ago.

Construction workers past and present were honored Aug. 13 at the Capitol, part of a weekend-long grand reopening of the building after a four-year, $310 million restoration project.

State lawmakers, including Gov. Mark Dayton, praised union tradespeople for their work on the renovation project, which revitalized the Cass Gilbert-designed structure built from 1896 to 1905.

Renee Gisch showed off a shirt distributed to tradespeople who logged hours on the renovation.
Laborers Local 563 member Dave Chell worked 18 months on the renovation.
Daniel Reibestein showed a photo of his great grandfather Arnold, a stonecutter.
Descendents of stonecutter John Kuettel printed t-shirts for the dedication of a plaque honoring the Capitol’s original builders.
A new plaque in the Capitol basement honors six workers killed during construction of the Capitol.
Gov. Dayton praised workers who logged a combined 1.4 million hours on the Capitol renovation.

“It was really amazing to see the personal pride in everybody’s eyes as they worked on this building,” project architect Kimberly Sandbulte said. “A lot of what is here is personal handwork of the craftsmen from 100 years ago, and everybody working on this building really wanted to honor and preserve that history and that legacy.”

Celebrating the originals

It was fitting, then, that descendants of some of those workers were on hand for the ceremony.

Research into the Capitol’s original builders, spearheaded by the University of Minnesota’s Labor Education Service, dug up information on over 600 workers and provided the basis for a documentary film, website and curriculum.

The curriculum, in turn, prompted eighth-grade students in Owatonna to lobby their legislators for a plaque – unveiled at the end of the Aug. 13 Capitol ceremony – honoring six workers killed on the jobsite during construction.

Daniel and Donna Reibestein were among about 100 descendants who turned out for the unveiling. Daniel eagerly shared a photo of his great grandfather Arnold Reibestein, as well as a copy of a payroll ledger showing the stonecutter earned $5 in overtime wages on the project.

Descendants of another original builder, John Kuettel, organized a family reunion around the Capitol ceremony, printing t-shirts with the stonecutter’s image displayed on the back. Some 70 family members attended, Kuettel’s grandson, Norb Adelmann, said, including “a lot of cousins I hadn’t met before.”

“This building is really important to everyone in Minnesota, but it has a special place in the memories and the hearts of the descendants of the builders,” said Randy Croce, the “Who Built Our Capitol?” project director.

Once in a lifetime

The renovation project created 1.4 million hours of work for tradespeople – and posed some unique challenges, JE Dunn Construction’s Jeff Callinan said.

“We marvel and we look at the fine art, and we look at the stained glass and we look at the stone carving – and that’s all magnificent work, incredible,” he said. “But putting modern day systems into a 1905 building is not easy.

“So the electricians and the plumbers and the sheet metal workers and the tile setters – the work they did to pack the systems seamlessly into this Cass Gilbert gem is in itself a marvel.”

Several speakers also celebrated the project for ensuring the people working on the statehouse reflected the demographic makeup of the state. Contractors and Building Trades unions successfully met a 40 percent benchmark for hiring women and minority tradespeople on the project.

“There were a lot of women – and that’s what we need,” said Gisch, a member of Operating Engineers Local 49 who worked nine months on the project. “We had artists, stone workers, a lot of women in there. They do detailed work, and they do it well – better, you could say.”

Gisch and other workers who attended the ceremony spoke of an added sense of pride that comes with working on the Capitol – even for one worker from Wisconsin.

Dave Chell, a member of Laborers Local 563, drove to St. Paul from Grantsburg to work on the renovation. For 18 months he worked chopping holes in the Capitol’s stone to make way for a new ventilation system.

“This job was special even though I’m from Wisconsin,” Chell said. “Just to be part of it was amazing.”

“Projects like this are ones that you drive by and talk to your children and grandchildren about,” Minnesota Building Trades President Harry Melander said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for those of us who work in the Building Trades.”

Filed Under: Union Events Tagged With: , , , , ,

With Lowertown development, union pension fund invests in Building Trades workers

September 16, 2016 by
Workers at 333 on the Park, a new housing development in Lowertown St. Paul, enjoy a lunch catered by the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust.

Workers at 333 on the Park, a new housing development in Lowertown St. Paul, enjoy a lunch catered by the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust.

The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust treated the men and women working to redevelop a property in St. Paul’s Lowertown district to lunch Aug. 31, highlighting the trust’s unique approach to investing union pension funds in union-built construction projects.

The development, 333 on the Park, is transforming an eight-story office building, originally constructed in 1913, into an apartment building with 134 market-rate units. HIT, which pools together union pension funds, has invested $27.7 million in the $42 million project.

Upon completion, 333 on the Park will have generated an estimated 190 jobs for members of the St. Paul Building and Construction Trades.

About 120 people attended the appreciation lunch last month, including construction workers, HIT staff and representatives of unions, general contractor Frana Companies and management company Timberland Partners.

“The Housing Investment Trust is pleased to partner with the men and women of the St. Paul building trades to rehabilitate 333 on the Park by investing their pension capital in their community,” HIT Chief Operating Officer Ted Chandler told attendees.

Situated adjacent to Mears Park and two blocks from the Mississippi River, 333 on the Park will offer residents easy access to recreation, transit, shopping and employment options. It’s connected to the Saint Paul skyway system, and the Metro Transit’s Green Line runs right past the property.

Don Mullin, executive secretary of the St. Paul Building Trades, said the development would both create jobs and increase housing options in the area.

web-333park-eatinbg“This is a good example of investing union pension dollars to create construction jobs with health care and retirement benefits, and at the same time benefiting the community at large,” Mullin said. “It’s a win-win scenario for St. Paul residents, the HIT, and the St. Paul Building Trades.”

“It’s good to come to a job with quality people and work, giving the company a high-quality product,” Jerry Grobe, a member of Cement Masons Local 633 who’s working on the HIT project, said.

The development of 333 on the Park brings the HIT’s total investment in St. Paul to $139 million on 10 projects since 1991. The trust has invested a total of $564 million in 42 projects in the Twin Cities over that time, building or preserving 6,500 housing units and creating an estimated 5,075 union construction jobs, as well as approximately 6,775 jobs across other industries.

“We look forward to working with HIT on its next project,” IBEW Local 110 Business Manager Jamie McNamara said.

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Union job fair coming to St. Paul’s East Side April 14

April 6, 2016 by

JobAndResourceFairFlyer-1Take the first step toward a career in construction, manufacturing, government, health care, hospitality or retail at the Union Job and Resource Fair April 14 at the East Side Freedom Library.

Employers and union representatives at the event will provide information to both ready-to-hire job seekers and young people exploring their career options. Interpreters will be available to assist non-English speakers.

The job fair will run from 3 to 7 p.m. at the independent library, located at 1105 Greenbrier St. in St. Paul. It’s free and open to the public.

Co-sponsors include the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, St. Paul Building and Construction Trades Council and other union groups, as well as cultural organizations, employment service agencies, the City of St. Paul, and district councils representing the East Side.

Daud Mohamed, director of community outreach for the Ka Joog organization, said the job fair’s focus on good-paying union jobs, many of which offer “earn-while-you-learn” training opportunities, “makes it stand out as particularly worthwhile to attend.”

“Unions built the American middle class, and a union job remains the best way for working people to secure livable wages and decent health and retirement benefits,” said Bobby Kasper, president of the 50,000-member Saint Paul RLF.

“As a labor movement, we need to raise awareness about the value of a union contract, especially among immigrant communities and young workers,” Kasper added. “This job fair is an exciting opportunity to extend our outreach and build new relationships on the East Side, and we’re proud to be a part of it.”

José Santos Jr., who works with jobseekers at the nonprofit Merrick Community Services, said most job fairs take place in “far-flung parts of the Metro Area.”

“It’s great to have more of this kind of event on the East Side, in Payne-Phalen,” he said.

For more information about the Union Job and Resource Fair, contact Peter Rachleff at the East Side Freedom Library: 651-230-3294 or rachleff@macalester.edu.

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