Trades push Royal Credit Union to ditch contractor accused of underpaying immigrant workers

June 1, 2022 by

Building Trades representatives join a protest outside Royal Credit Union in Inver Grove Heights.

Efforts to stop worker exploitation in the Twin Cities construction industry continued to gain momentum today, as construction unions called out Royal Credit Union for using an out-of-state masonry contractor accused by watchdog groups of underpaying immigrant laborers.

As the credit union cut the ribbon inside a newly acquired and refurbished branch in Inver Grove Heights, worker advocates set up a protest outside with signs, banners and an inflatable fat cat clutching a construction worker with one claw.

Unions accuse Eau Claire, Wis., contractor Stone Pro Concrete and Masonry of putting the squeeze on immigrants hired through the H-2B visa program, which allows employers to seek seasonal help when they are unable to hire enough U.S. workers.

The federal program requires employers to pay minimum wage rates based on the location and type of work performed. But after interviewing over a dozen H-2B visa holders on multiple Stone Pro job sites, representatives of the Laborers union (LIUNA) determined the contractor was underpaying workers by as much as $8 per hour.

“They bring on these workers as carpenter’s helpers, but they actually do concrete and masonry work, which is a totally different pay scale,” said Octavio Chung Bustamante, a marketing representative with LIUNA who has been investigating Stone Pro since 2019.

When Bustamante and other union representatives learned Stone Pro would be working on Royal’s new retail office in Little Canada, they took their findings to the credit union.

“We did reach out to Royal Credit Union on May 5,” Bustamante said. “We went to the branch manager in the St. Paul location, but we didn’t hear back.”

As a result, LIUNA and other unions active in the #NotOnMyWatch campaign decided to drop in on the ribbon cutting in Inver Grove Heights – and bring along their inflatable fat cat.

Organizers also circulated copies of anti-immigrant and Islamophobic Facebook content attributed to Stone Pro’s owner. Bustamante called it “hypocritical” for a company turning profits off immigrant labor – and contrary to Royal Credit Union’s stated values.

“It’s not about union or non-union,” Bustamante said. “It’s about making sure the industry is fair for everyone.”

The #NotOnMyWatch campaign brings together unions and community groups like Twin Cities worker center CTUL to identify cases of abuse and assist exploited workers in Minnesota’s construction industry.

“We’ve seen horrific abuse in this industry, from wage theft to dangerous working conditions,” CTUL Co-Director Merle Payne said. “So we’re calling on large developers and users like Royal Credit Union to take steps to use responsible contractors, to step up and make a difference.”

CTUL members who work in the multifamily residential construction industry launched a campaign last month to pressure large developers in the Twin Cities to partner with them in keeping wage theft, labor trafficking and other abuses off their job sites. They call it the Building Dignity and Respect program.

Organizers will announce the next steps in that campaign – including which contractors they will push to sign onto the new program – at a march and rally June 16, beginning at noon at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis.

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

Workers seek commitment from developers to build with ‘dignity and respect’

May 13, 2022 by

As allegations of wage theft continue to bubble up from the Twin Cities’ nonunion construction industry, a worker-led initiative aims to partner with developers to keep labor abuses off their job sites.

After months of behind-the-scenes planning and organizing, construction workers this week publicly invited local developers to join the Building Dignity and Respect (BDR) program and agree to uphold basic human-rights standards for everyone working on their projects, including workers employed by subcontractors.

Post-construction cleaning worker Daniel Sanchez estimates that he has lost over $110,000 to wage theft over 10 years working in the industry. He said layers of contractors and subcontractors should not shield developers from responsibility for abuses on their projects.

“Morally, developers have to be accountable for what’s happening on their job sites,” Sanchez said during an event to roll out the BDR program in Minneapolis yesterday. “We know we’re not going to change this industry by getting rid of just one subcontractor. Developers need to work with us to stop wage theft.”

Sanchez and other construction workers, who have been organizing with the local worker center CTUL, called out a handful of local developers by name, urging Doran Properties Group, MWF Properties, Solhem Companies, United Properties and YellowTree to come to the table with BDR now, before workers and their community allies ramp up the public pressure.

CTUL Co-Director Merle Payne said the campaign would target three large, multi-family construction developers – assuming they have not yet signed onto an agreement with the BDR – with a public action June 16. CTUL’s previous campaigns include a groundbreaking effort to pressure big-box retailers like Target and Best Buy take responsibility for the labor practices of its cleaning contractors.

“Housing developers in the Twin Cities are at a crossroads,” Payne said. “On one path, they can choose to ensure basic dignity and respect for the workers who develop their projects and who build our cities either by signing into the BDR program or by using 100% union labor. On the other path, developers can continue business as usual, maintaining an industry with rampant wage theft, dangerous working conditions and, at the extreme, labor trafficking.”

An advisory council assembled by county attorneys in Ramsey and Hennepin counties earlier this year approved a report estimating that wage theft costs construction workers over $3 million in wages each year, and diverts over $11 million from Social Security and Medicare funds.

While prosecutors and state regulators have begun stepping up efforts to hold contractors accountable, the BDR program is setting out to stop wage theft before it happens.

Developers that participate in BDR would sign a legally binding agreement to protect workers on their projects from wage theft, physical and sexual abuse and human trafficking, and to provide them with safe working conditions and fair pay.

The BDR Standards Council would provide education to workers about their rights and protections, and monitor participating developers’ job sites to ensure compliance.

“If a contractor refuses to maintain compliance, they will no longer be able to work for developers that participate in the Building Dignity and Respect program,” said Doug Mork, executive director of the Standards Council.

The program follows what’s known as the “Worker-driven Social Responsibility model,” which agricultural workers in Florida successfully used to raise standards in an industry with similarly murky relationships between landowners, labor brokers, contractors and workers.

CTUL member Pedro Carbajal, a painter on local construction sites, was among local workers who traveled to Florida for a firsthand look at how the model works.

“If they can do it there, we can do it here,” he said. “We may work in different industries – farm work and construction – but what unites us is the cause, what unites us is the suffering we’ve lived. And together, we can change this.”

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Wilfs’ company turned deaf ear to warnings of wage theft at Viking Lakes development

May 10, 2022 by

Abel Susteito speaks at a Capitol press conference about his experience with wage theft on the Viking Lakes apartment project in Eagan.

Tradespeople who worked on the Viking Lakes luxury apartments in Eagan went public last week with accusations of wage theft on the project, owned and developed by the same family that owns the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings.

Worker advocacy groups, including the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters (NCSRCC), pinned responsibility for the alleged labor abuses on the Wilfs, whose company, MV Ventures, ignored the groups’ repeated warnings that subcontractors awarded work on the project had a track record of labor violations and dishonesty.

“MV Ventures is a Wilf-family company. MV Ventures develops the project, hires the subcontractors and has control of the project from start to finish,” Carpenters General Council Burt Johnson said. “They are responsible.”

The union said it has heard from more than 40 workers on the Viking Lakes project who said they were not paid what they were owed, and two workers at a Capitol press conference May 5 confirmed reporting the wage theft to Minnesota’s Department of Labor and Industry.

But any civil or criminal penalties resulting from an investigation are likely to fall on the subcontractors, prompting calls from community leaders for the Wilfs and MV Ventures to do the right thing now.

Veronica Mendez Moore, co-director of the Twin Cities-based worker center CTUL, said MV Ventures should meet with unions to resolve the allegations stemming from Viking Lakes, and sign a pledge with the Building Dignity and Respect Standards Council requiring all contractors on its developments to uphold basic labor standards.

Javier Mendez Velasco speaks to reporters about his experience installing siding at the Viking Lakes apartments.

Mendez Moore also noted the Wilfs benefited from nearly half a billion dollars in public subsidies to build the Vikings’ new stadium in Minneapolis.

“This is a family that needs to be held to a higher standard,” she said. “They need to partner with the community to better ensure standards for all of the people in our city.”

‘Constantly tired’

Despite working for different subcontractors, Javier Mendez Velasco and Abel Susteito described similar labor standards on the 261-unit, luxury apartment project at Viking Lakes. Both said they were paid wages lower than what they were initially promised, with no overtime or holiday pay and no vacation or health insurance benefits.

That was a standard arrangement, Mendez Velasco said, at subcontractors like Advantage Construction and Property Maintenance and Construction (PMC), which employed him to do siding work on the Wilf family’s Eagan development site. In over three years with Advantage and PMC, Mendez Velasco said he never received overtime pay, despite working six or seven days per week, sometimes from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

“We were constantly tired, but our boss wasn’t understanding,” Mendez Velasco said through a Spanish-language interpreter. “He would never help us out.”

Susteito hung drywall at Viking Lakes from November 2020 to August 2021 as an employee of Absolute Drywall, a company local unions have been calling out for several years, pointing to past citations for child labor, misclassification of workers and failure to pay overtime. The state Labor Department also found that Absolute Drywall submitted false and misleading claims in response to an investigation.

“I want to ask the Department of Labor to keep fighting for our rights, and for better pay for us,” Susteito said at the press conference.

Carpenters union official Adam Duininck says he and others suggested ways the Wilfs’ company could prevent wage theft on the Viking Lakes project. “Our suggestions just were not taken seriously,” he said.

Profit before public interest

Advocates for construction workers say exploitation is baked into the industry’s business model, with layers of contractors, subcontractors and labor brokers that insulate developers like the Wilfs from responsibility for working conditions and standards on their projects.

Immigrant workers are particularly vulnerable.

“We came here to work, and we have our own dreams. But we were taken advantage of,” Mendez Velasco said. “As immigrant workers we are taken advantage of for our hard work, for our dedication, but also because we don’t have the knowledge and the available resources.”

Union representatives warned the Wilfs’ development company, MV Ventures, about their subcontractors’ checkered background “ad nauseam,” according to Adam Duininck, NCSRCC’s director of government affairs. He said the union also urged the developer to be proactive in preventing wage theft.

“We suggested a number of ways to get ahead of wage theft, including jobsite monitoring and working with outside groups to monitor payroll,” Duininck said. “Our suggestions just were not taken seriously.”

As a result, workers like Susteito, Mendez Velasco and dozens of others are still waiting to be made whole for their work building luxury apartments that are now renting at prices between $1,600 and $2,245 per month.

“These workers take great risk when they come forward and talk to the public about what’s going on,” Johnson said. “We need to believe them.”

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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.”

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

Roofers local’s new secretary-treasurer breaks ground as first woman elected to office

July 21, 2021 by

July has been a winning month for Samantha Schanus.

The journey-level roofer from Mora was among four Tradeswomen Heroes award winners named this month by North America’s Building Trades Unions. The monthly award highlights outstanding achievement within the ranks of the Building Trades’ affiliate unions.

And just days after receiving the honor, Schanus was sworn in as the new secretary-treasurer of Roofers Local 96, becoming the first woman to serve as an officer of the local union since its founding in 1929.

“It definitely shows we are a diverse local, and everyone’s equal,” Schanus said, pausing for an interview during her lunch break on a job at Fairmont Elementary School last month. “Anybody can hold a position, as long as they can do the job. To me, it’s a special position to be in, to have that title.”

Schanus, 30, reflected on her accomplishments since joining the Roofers union five years ago – and some of the challenges she faced along the way – in this interview, which has been lightly edited for space and content.

UA: Congratulations on the award. How did you find out you’d won?

SS: Local 96 nominated me, and they only told me after the nomination had already been sent in. Honestly, it was a privilege to be nominated, and it was even more exciting I was chosen. I never really thought that all the things I was trying to do were all that recognizable, and it was nice to know people saw the effort I put in.

UA: How did you decide to join Local 96 and pursue a roofing career?

SS: I tried out all different kinds of trades through a pre-apprenticeship program. I initially wanted to be a Laborer, but at the time they didn’t need me. So I called the Roofers.

I liked the brotherhood, and I especially liked the work. It was awesome to be physical and active and hands on.

UA: What was the reaction of family and friends to your decision?

SS: My dad wasn’t very happy. He’s a 49er (operating engineer) and wanted me to do something less invasive on my body like he does. And I think he wanted me to be a part of his working life, too. But after he could tell I enjoyed the work, he was happy for me. He was proud. Nobody ever discouraged me from working construction.

UA: How many other women typically are on the job site with you?

SS: I’m pretty much always the only one, and it’s been that way for the last two or three years. I’ve only worked with one woman before. There are days when it would be nice to have someone I could relate to other than the guys, but for the most part they’ve been very kind. I’ve had a couple incidents, but I’ve made some good friendships, good relationships too.

UA: Looking back, is there a moment when you knew you’d made it as a roofer?

SS: After my first job at a school in Eden Prairie. It took us three months to finish it and was definitely one of the worst jobs I’ve been on. It had all different kinds of personalities, I guess you’d say. I had days when I didn’t know whether to cry or quit. When I made it through that all on my own, that’s when I knew I would be making a career out of this.

UA: What do you like about working union?

SS: I like the teamwork. I like the physical, hands-on work of constructing something.

With the brotherhood, I like just knowing somebody has your back. Unions make a big difference that a lot of people don’t realize. Union wages set everyone else’s wages. Union benefits create a competitive market, so the employers who aren’t union have to do better.

It’s nice to be behind the scenes in making things better for people who aren’t in the union – and for the current brothers and sisters I have.

UA: Is that why you wanted to run for office?

SS: I always wanted to be more involved. I asked somebody to nominate me, and, low and behold, I got the position. I couldn’t have done it without all the people on the crew that helped me out, that were on my side.

UA: What would you tell other women considering a career path like yours?

SS: Don’t get discouraged until you make it to the end of your worst day. Then you can make a decision if you want to stick it out or not. It’s hard in construction. You’re going to get a lot of negativity and a lot of BS, but it can also be rewarding, too.

Filed Under: Labor Voices Tagged With: , , , , ,

Labor trafficker’s victims speak out, pointing to need for reform

January 17, 2020 by

Ricardo Batres (Hennepin County photo)

Notorious wage broker Ricardo Batres, who pleaded guilty to felony charges of labor trafficking and insurance fraud in November, received a nine-month sentence in Hennepin County district court Wednesday.

The sentencing brought to a close the first labor trafficking case to emerge from Minnesota’s construction industry. But worker advocates, armed with the findings of an alarming new report, warn that unless the industry makes some fundamental changes, it’s unlikely to be the last.

Judge Lois Conroy did not stray from the terms of a plea agreement Batres reached with prosecutors last year, but the proceeding did give his victims an opportunity to put their stories on record.

“I fear those connected with Mr. Batres,” one of his former workers, identified by the initials “YIB,” said in a statement read by a victim’s advocate. “I am always fearful. I feel like everyone is my enemy. I did not anticipate this experience in Minnesota.”

“YIB” was one of four former employees who provided the court with statements. They said Batres made them work long hours to keep their housing, which the trafficker arranged, or to pay off debts, which the trafficker held.

Some said they were not paid in full for hours they worked. Others described working through the pain of jobsite injuries, often in unsafe conditions.

“Death was very close to us,” one victim said.

When a spinal injury sustained by victim “JZL” became too serious to work through, Batres instructed the worker to give false information to medical providers, so Batres could avoid liability. In his statement, “JZL” said his family “lived in constant fear” because Batres “threatened to kill us if I reported him to authorities.”

“He treats people worse than animals,” another victim said. “He does not have a conscience.”

Twin Cities construction workers joined the “March for Dignity and Respect,” sponsored by CTUL, in Minneapolis just over a year ago.

An industry in crisis

The testimony of Batres’ victims echoed findings of a new report by the Worker-driven Social Responsibility (WSR) Network, which warns of a “human rights crisis” on local non-union construction sites.

Released last month, “Building Dignity and Respect: The Case for Worker-driven Social Responsibility in the Twin Cities Construction Industry” draws from surveys of 76 metro-area residents who have worked a wide range of construction jobs.

CTUL, a Twin Cities worker center and human rights organization, conducted the surveys last winter, gathering information about wages, benefits, training, workplace safety and more.

Nearly half of workers reported being cheated out of wages they were owed. Many said their employers failed to tack overtime premiums onto their wage rates. Others said they were paid less than minimum wage, were forced to work through legally required breaks or had hours shaved off their time cards.

The report also calls into question safety protocols on local non-union sites. Nearly half of those surveyed said they had not received safety training before beginning work, and 44% reported not getting proper safety equipment from an employer.

Three in 10 workers surveyed said they had been hurt on the job at some point, and most workers who reported getting hurt said their employer failed to cover medical expenses or compensate them for lost wages.

Meanwhile, a third of workers surveyed said they wouldn’t voice their concerns about safety, wage theft or other abuses to supervisors for fear of retaliation, whether it be losing their job or being blacklisted, deported or kicked out of employer-provided housing.

Tip of the iceberg

While Batres’ conviction breaks new ground, advocacy groups like CTUL and local construction unions warn Batres is not the only bad actor in town. CTUL is currently investigating four other labor trafficking cases, with dozens of Twin Cities workers involved, according to the WSR Network report.

At Batres’ sentencing, the worker center submitted a community impact statement into the record, warning the non-union construction industry creates incentives for contractors like Batres to “cut costs on the backs of workers.”

“Large developers and finance behind those developers have learned that they can put downward pressure on contractors on their projects to build the projects as quickly and cheaply as possible,” the statement reads. “This has led to extreme fragmentation in the industry, with multiple layers of sub-contractors competing to offer the cheapest rates possible.

“The effect is that the one who gets the contract is the one who has figured out the most creative ways to skirt labor laws in order to put in a competitive bid.”

Moving forward

Fragmentation and transience may be facts of life for people working at the bottom of construction labor chain, but unsafe conditions, wage theft and abuse don’t have to be.

The report calls for a new, worker-driven model to hold Twin Cities developers and contractors accountable – and to stop traffickers like Batres before they get a toehold in the market.

The approach involves getting decision-makers at the top of the labor-contracting chain to enter a legally binding, standard-setting agreement with a human rights organization.

Similar structures have improved conditions for workers in other highly fractured contracting chains worldwide, CTUL Co-Director Merle Payne said. After years of organizing by tomato workers, corporate buyers and growers entered into a WSR structure – the Fair Food Standards Council – that monitors compliance with a set of unique standards in the Florida fields.

“This model will work effectively in a sector where the real power is so many tiers away from you as a worker,” Payne said. “It creates accountability through the entire structure by ensuring the people at the top are taking responsibility to ensure their profits are not made off of severe exploitation.”

Building dignity and respect

Workers organizing with CTUL already have launched a campaign to make the WSR model a reality.

They want large developers and general contractors in the Twin Cities to participate in the Building Dignity and Respect Standards Council. The council, Payne said, would establish and monitor a code of conduct that participants would require their subcontractors to uphold at every strata of the labor chain.

Additionally, the council would educate workers about their rights and make it easy for workers to report any violations without fear of retaliation. Any employer found to have violated the code of conduct would face swift, meaningful consequences.

While Batres’ victims waited months for their day in court, in the Florida tomato fields, where workers now have access to a complaint hotline, most disputes are resolved in less than two weeks, according to the Fair Foods Standards Council.

“It really demonstrates the power of what this model can be,” Payne said. “When you have workers themselves empowered to enforce their standards, suddenly you have thousands of monitoring agents on the ground … making sure there are no violations in the first place.

“That’s deep enforcement, and that’s what this model builds. When that happens, in something like this case, Ricardo Batres does not exist.”

Filed Under: Organizing, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Twin Cities workers launch campaign to stop construction industry abuses

December 18, 2018 by

Supporters of the “March for Dignity and Respect” make their way down Lake Street in Minneapolis’ Uptown neighborhood.

With a dramatic rally in the streets of south Minneapolis today, Twin Cities construction workers launched a new movement to improve labor standards in their industry and guarantee dignity for all workers.

“I don’t want to see any more injustice in construction,” Yimer Iriarte said at the start of a rush-hour march along Lake Street in Uptown. “We’re tired of seeing our brothers and sisters tired or hurt because of the way these contractors act.”

Iriarte is part of a group of local construction workers – mostly from residential projects – who began organizing with the Twin Cities-based worker center CTUL two years ago.

CTUL’s efforts to document abuses in the industry led to the arrest of a local construction contractor in September on criminal charges. The case exposed serious problems – wage theft, dangerous working conditions, labor trafficking – that are rampant in the industry’s web of contractors and subcontractors, workers allege.

Yimer Iriarte speaks at a rally before the march, alongside CTUL’s Veronica Mendez Moore.

Iriarte said he experienced wage theft and trafficking firsthand when a contractor refused to pay him and other immigrant workers for their labor.

“We were promised so many things that didn’t happen, and in the end we were threatened with immigration,” Iriarte said. “And I know it’s not just me.”

To raise industry standards, CTUL’s construction members are taking cues from local janitors, who recently won major improvements in the retail cleaning industry after a 6-year-long fight.

Janitors won by pressuring big-box chains like Target and Best Buy to sign Responsible Contractor Agreements, guaranteeing janitors employed by the store’s cleaning contractors have safe working conditions and a voice on the job.

Construction workers want large developers in the Twin Cities area to meet a similar demand: participation in the “Dignity and Respect Standards Council.” The council establish higher standards in the industry, and it would  create a process for monitoring construction sites to ensure all subcontractors are in compliance.

Workers first target is a big one: Lennar Homes. A nationwide firm, Lennar is the Twin Cities’ largest home-builder, and it stands to gain even more work under the City of Minneapolis’ ambitious new rezoning initiative, Minneapolis 2040.

According to CTUL, Lennar has seen a litany of reported abuses on its projects locally and across the country, including the labor trafficking charges filed in Hennepin County earlier this year and a jobsite fatality in Lakeville in 2016.

During the march along Lake Street, CTUL members stopped at a Wells Fargo branch to point out the bank’s history of lending to Lennar despite the allegations stemming from its projects.

And the march involved a bit of street theater. Actors performed an updated take on a centuries-old tradition throughout Spanish Central America, “Las Posadas.” The story alludes to Mary and Joseph’s difficult journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of a warm place to stay the night, with an emphasis on its moral and political message.

The march drew over 100 people, including representatives of the Carpenters, Laborers and other Building Trades unions, who stood in solidarity with CTUL members.

Filed Under: Organizing Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Ken Peterson: Apprenticeship training meets workforce needs of today and tomorrow

November 5, 2015 by
Minnesota DLI Commissioner Ken Peterson

Minnesota DLI Commissioner Ken Peterson

Minnesota’s workforce is experiencing tremendous transition. Thousands of our experienced baby boomers are retiring, while many employers are seeking a workforce capable of meeting increased levels of skill to operate new technologies with precision.

An emerging, yet familiar, pathway for some employers to successfully bridge that gap is registered apprenticeship programs.

Registered apprenticeship programs have been referred to as “the other four-year degree” in Minnesota since they began in 1939. Through apprenticeship, Minnesotans have built careers — without debt — by combining paid on-the-job training with focused classroom education. Both at the workplace and in class, training is customized to meet employers’ needs.

As apprentices learn more they earn more and at the end of their apprenticeship they receive a state-issued, industry-recognized credential. Plus, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, a fully proficient worker who completes an apprenticeship earns about $50,000 each year.

Today, there are more than 11,000 registered apprentices in Minnesota. Three-fourths of them are in the construction trades, such as carpenters, laborers and electricians. These programs, financed by employers and unions, have a long history of providing high-caliber job preparation. They are also increasingly diverse, with women and racial minorities now accounting for more than 25 percent of construction apprentices.

Using the same “earn while you learn” model, the state of Minnesota hopes to expand registered apprenticeship opportunities in other industries during the next five years.

A new Minnesota Apprenticeship Initiative will be one way to expand those opportunities. More than 800 individuals, working for 100 employers around the state, will participate in newly registered apprenticeship programs in 29 high-growth occupations in advanced manufacturing, agriculture, health care, information technology and transportation. Everyone who completes a program will receive a credential that demonstrates they possess the skills needed for success in their field. The initiative is federally funded, but will be administered by state agencies.

Another program, the Minnesota PIPELINE Project, provides grants to employers for dual-training in an occupation for which their industry has designed competency standards. The work must be done in collaboration with a training provider and be in one of four industries: advanced manufacturing, agriculture, health care or information technology.

Large and small manufacturers, health care facilities, auto dealers and others have found that registered apprenticeships offer employer-driven solutions to help them recruit, train and retain highly skilled employees. They are good for employers, workers and Minnesota’s future.

For more information about registered apprenticeship programs, call the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry at 1-800-342-5354 or visit www.dli.mn.gov.

Ken Peterson, commissioner of Minnesota’s Department of Labor and Industry, wrote this column for Apprenticeship Week, observed Nov. 2-8 as proclaimed by Gov. Mark Dayton and the U.S. Department of Labor.

Filed Under: Labor Voices Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

With boost from WESA, training program puts women on path to apprenticeship

June 24, 2015 by
Analise Adams is among the first 18 women to complete Women Building MN, a pre-apprenticeship program supported by grant funds included in the Women’s Economic Security Act.

Analise Adams is among the first 18 women to complete Women Building MN, a pre-apprenticeship program supported by grant funds included in the Women’s Economic Security Act.

 

Analise Adams, a 22-year-old from Minneapolis, was working in a Linden Hills childcare center two months ago. When her aunt, a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, told her about a free training opportunity for women considering careers in construction, Adams decided to take a chance.

She quit her childcare job and enrolled in the two-week course.

The risk paid off. Within two weeks of completing the training May 22, Adams had a job as a pre-apprentice electrician with Egan Construction. Working on the contractor’s road crew, Adams helps take down streetlights and pull wire from beneath street level.

“They said my shovel would become my new best friend, and it has,” Adams said during a break from working on a road-construction project around Snelling and University Avenues in St. Paul. “We’re doing a lot of digging.”

Not that she would trade digging for diapers.

“Childcare wasn’t paying the bills. It wasn’t a career. It wasn’t where I wanted to go in life,” Adams said. “This is something I can work for years and years, for life.”

That’s the idea behind Women Building MN, the new pre-apprenticeship program getting women like Adams on track to a middle-class career by way of the Building Trades’ registered apprenticeship programs.

Breaking the mold

Men traditionally have dominated the ranks of apprenticeship programs in Minnesota, and it remains so today. Just 654 of the state’s 9,661 registered apprentices are females, or about 7 percent. But the number of women in apprenticeship programs has doubled over the last 10 years. It’s a trend policymakers, construction firms and Building Trades unions want to continue – at a faster pace.

“There’s a need to diversify the industry,” Building MN Coordinator Vicki Sandberg said. “A lot of women still don’t even think of construction as a career choice.”

The challenge of attracting more women to Building Trades apprenticeships is about more than achieving diversity, though. Industry experts anticipate a shortage of skilled workers in the coming years, according to Jessica Looman, deputy commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.

Apprenticeship programs took in fewer applicants after the economic downturn as work slowed and opportunities for paid, on-the-job training – the basis of apprenticeship – grew scarce. “Now that work is back, we’re realizing we didn’t bring in enough people to be ready to do the work on the journey level, and we need to make up for lost time,” Looman said.

A looming “retirement boom” makes the need to recruit new workers even more urgent. Most workers in the construction trades are between 48 and 58. “That means they’re going to be retiring anywhere between the next year and the next 20 years,” Looman said.

Making registered apprenticeship opportunities attractive to women, veterans and people of color is an essential step toward meeting contractors’ demand for skilled labor in the coming years. “The Trades are taking a huge leadership initiative, and they really should be applauded and congratulated for the hard work they’re doing in bringing apprenticeship to more people,” Looman said.

Adams says other members of her crew "do an amazing job of teaching as they go."

Adams says other members of her crew “do an amazing job of teaching as they go.”

Designed for women

Women Building MN is based on curriculum developed by Build MN, a two-week crash course and placement program developed by Twin Cities Building Trades unions and their contractors in 2004 to attract non-traditional applicants to their apprenticeship programs.

The Women’s Economic Security Act, passed by state lawmakers last year, provided grant funding for an offshoot focused on women. The training includes an introduction to several crafts, from pipefitting to electrical work. Participants visit training centers operated by local unions, where staff set up demonstrations and hands-on activities.

“With 18 women in the class, we would go into these training centers and overpower the whole thing,” Adams said. “It was just all women. They’re not used to that.”

The course also included seminars on working in male-dominated environments, the culture of the construction industry, the apprenticeship career model and so-called “soft skills” – what to wear, what tools to bring, how to stay safe and more.

Women Building MN will graduate three classes this summer, each with up to 24 women enrolled. And for the first time, Build MN will track graduates’ progress with a mentoring program coordinated by the Minnesota AFL-CIO and the U of M’s Labor Education Service, connecting apprentices with journey-level workers.

Jerome Balsimo, a program coordinator with the AFL-CIO, said having a mentor “helps you deal with some of the issues that come up on the job, things you can’t teach in those two weeks. You need someone who has been through those battles.”

The mentoring program is also supported with funds from the WESA grant, which put a premium on apprentice retention. “We know if we can get people to stay after their first year of registered apprenticeship, their success rate in completing is significantly higher,” Looman said. “People who stay for a second and third year are the people who are going to make a career of it, and we want to help them get through that second and third year.”

‘Who cares if it’s hard?’

Already, the program is paying dividends for Adams, who is soaking up as much knowledge as she can before, she hopes, becoming an IBEW apprentice in the fall.

“I can’t do everything that they’re doing, but the guys on my crew do an amazing job of teaching as they go,” she said. “You have to be willing to go and get it and do the work. Put your foot in it. Who cares if it’s hard work? The whole point of a job is to work hard.

“Yeah, I’m going to have to get down in the mud, and I’m going to have to shovel. I’m going to have to do all of the work the guys are doing. It’s not any different. It’s just I’m a chick, and I’m doing it.”

Filed Under: Organizing, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Summer internships introduce St. Paul teens to construction careers

July 16, 2013 by
UnderConstruction interns (L to R) Andy Johnson, Ger Yang and Marcus Byington saw materials for a new garage in Frogtown.

UnderConstruction interns (L to R) Andy Johnson, Ger Yang and Marcus Byington saw materials for a new garage in Frogtown.

A crew of 12 UnderConstruction interns arrived at a vacant lot in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood before 9 a.m. today. Their task was to build a garage from the ground up, and within two hours the structure had begun taking shape.

The concrete foundation had settled. The framework was up. Interns were taking turns shingling the roof in pairs.

Crouching low to nail a strip of siding onto the garage’s exterior, 17-year-old Sapphire Thompson looked up from her hammer and beamed with pride.

Sapphire Thompson (near) and Pheng Lee nail siding to the garage.

Sapphire Thompson (near) and Pheng Lee nail siding to the garage.

“At first I didn’t believe it. I was like, ‘Are we really going to build a garage?’” the incoming senior at St. Paul Johnson High School said. “But look at this. We’re going to do it.”

Thompson is one of 23 students working as UnderConstruction interns this summer. In its ninth year, the program introduces urban teens, many from minority communities, to careers in the construction trades.

During the eight-week, paid internship, participants receive training in OSHA 10 safety compliance, financial literacy, physical fitness (“making sure they’re limber and nobody gets hurt,” program coordinator Ethan Laubach said with a chuckle) and so-called “soft skills” for employment – time management, communication and the like.

“About 60 percent of this program is work-related skills,” Laubach said. “We’re teaching the construction stuff, but it’s also about how to have a job.”

The curriculum brings interns to several union jobsites and training facilities, including Sheet Metal Workers Local 10, Painters Local 61, Ironworkers Local 512 and the Laborers. A panel of professionals from the management side of the industry talks to interns as well.

The goal, Laubach said, is to get young adults thinking about careers they might not hear about from their guidance counselors or family members.

“Young people don’t get enough exposure to these kind of career options now,” Laubach said. “Schools are pushing people toward college. This is a great way to try things out and get exposed to an industry that offers a wide range of jobs.”

UnderConstruction also exposes the industry to potential hires – or apprentices – from backgrounds currently underrepresented. Laubach launched the program 10 years ago in an attempt to “help the industry absorb people who are not like most people already in the industry, and to get adults in the industry thinking about the emerging workforce.”

It’s working. UnderConstruction boasts a number “graduates” who have gone on to successful careers in construction, including the first Hmong-American project manager in the country – a woman, no less – and a handful of union journeymen.

Aaron Lindsley (left) and Philip Norris apply shingles to the garage roof.

Aaron Lindsley (left) and Philip Norris apply shingles to the garage roof.

Thompson, one of three female interns in the UnderConstruction program this summer, is using the experience to prepare herself for another male-dominated career path. After graduation next spring, Thompson plans to enlist in the military.

“I get picked on sometimes – ‘Let a man handle that!’ – but I like to prove I can do it, and I will do it,” Thompson said. “This kind of gets me set up for what I’m going to have to overcome in the military too.”

A big reason for UnderConstruction’s success is the partnerships Laubach has developed with construction firms like Kraus Anderson, PCL, McGough and Mortenson, as well as agencies like the Department of Labor and Industry and the Frogtown Community Development Corporation.

The vacant lot where Thompson other interns erected a garage today is owned by the Frogtown CDC. Blocks away, another UnderConstruction crew tackled an improvement project at the CDC’s headquarters.

For Marcus Byington, a 15-year-old from St. Paul, the vacant lot provided a first taste of what it’s like to work on a construction jobsite.

“It’s hands on. I love that,” Byington said. “It’s so visual. Putting hammer to nail – you can’t do that on paper. I like the hands-on learning.”

For more information on UnderConstruction, or to find out how your union can get involved in supporting the curriculum, go to the project’s Facebook page.

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