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

It wasn’t gold, silver or bronze, but there was plenty of metal in play during the Trade Games Challenge at St. Paul Pipefitters Local 455’s training center Nov. 21. Hosted by Women Building Success (WBS) to celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, the friendly, hands-on competition drew nearly 200 participants in its second year. “This event has […]

Minnesota apprentice wins Insulators union’s international skills contest

If insulating were an Olympic event, Jordan Haller would be heading to Paris this summer.

#NAW2016: Minnesota’s Building Trades apprentices earn paychecks while mastering their craft

  When Joe Odell’s friends plan to go out on Friday nights, he usually takes a pass. It’s not that the 23-year-old from Monticello is no fun, but Odell has someplace important to be early on Saturday mornings: Heat and Frost Insulators Local 34’s training center in St. Paul. Odell is one of the 11,000-plus […]

In Forest Lake, Electrical Workers picket City Hall construction site

FOREST LAKE – Construction of a new City Hall in this northeast suburb slowed to a snail’s pace yesterday, as members of Local 110 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers erected a picket line to protest the city’s use of an electrical contractor that, members say, undermines area standards for wages and benefits. Efforts to […]

Trades remember the fallen, renew call for safety in Workers Memorial Day ceremony

The Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council held its annual Workers Memorial Day observance last Friday, honoring nine union workers who died over the previous year as a result of workplace injuries or illnesses. The ceremony, held at the Workers Memorial Garden on the State Capitol grounds, included remarks from St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, […]