USW’s Parzino made a career of paper, politics and putting working folks first

March 2, 2018 by

Gerry Parzino at the District 11 offices in northeast Minneapolis.

Philip and Genevieve Parzino were working at Brown and Bigelow when they met in the 1920s. Eventually, they fell in love and married.

Their story may sound typical, but Genevieve and Philip were 12 and 13 years old when they met on that calendar factory floor. It’s a bit of family history their son Gerard never forgot as he pursued a 44-year career in the United Steelworkers Union, fighting to improve the lives of working people.

“Luckily, there were unions to change child labor laws,” he said. “Otherwise, I would have probably fallen into the same type of path.”

Instead, Gerry Parzino graduated from high school in 1974 and took a job at International Paper, where he became a member of St. Paul-based United Paperworkers International Union Local 264. (Today, it’s Steelworkers Local 264.)

Parzino served as the local’s secretary, vice president, president and business agent before taking a full-time job with Steelworkers District 11 almost 18 years ago. His focus there remained the paper industry, but Parzino rose through the ranks to become district sub-director for Minnesota and North Dakota.

Over that time, he and his wife, Joan, raised a family of three children, all of whom now have children of their own. Household chores are the only child labor any of them have ever known.

March 2 was Parzino’s last day on the job before retirement. He looked back on his career in this interview, edited for length and clarity.

UA: What’s your earliest memory, as a local agent or with the district, of tackling something big?

GP: Just after I was elected business agent in January 1995, the Waldorf paper mill’s contract was up, and the international staff wasn’t available to help much. I was a new business agent with 700-plus members at the plant – bigger than the whole local is now. That was a huge challenge, but we delivered that contract without a strike.

UA: It’s amazing to think the mill had more members then than the local does now. So much has changed in the industrial landscape here.

GP: I’ve gone through 10 permanent closures in the forest products industry, almost 1,100 members and families who’ve been affected. It’s just been devastating for families, and I’ve seen it more than any person would want to. Probably the most difficult was the Sartell local in 2012, with the explosion and fire (at the Verso Paper Mill) that burnt out of control for about 10 days. We lost a member in that fire; it was his first day back from a layoff recall. The combined loss of jobs and loss of life, that was really tough.

Parzino (L) showed a visitor from Denmark around the Waldorf paper mill in St. Paul during an international exchange event in 1995. (file photo)

UA: How are Steelworkers fighting back against job losses in the industry?

GP: We’ve been really proactive on illegal trade practices; we’ve won dozens and dozens of cases.

In 2015 we had a small group of workers who make a calcium carbonate slurry up in Cloquet, and their employer wanted to eliminate their pension and their rule of 90, cut their health care plan and give a zero wage increase. We had five guys that went on strike for four and a half months, and they brought that multinational corporation to its knees. It was a 100 percent successful strike, and those five workers stood for everybody in the industry.

UA: The international union also has been proactive in getting ready for inevitable greening of our global economy. How successful has that been?

GP: The bottom line is we really do have more in common, as labor and environmental groups, than we do in opposition. Steelworkers have always believed in strong health and safety, not only for ourselves but the communities we live and work in.

UA: A lot of these fights come back to political issues. Have you enjoyed that part of the job?

GP: I’ve always been politically active… Just take a look at what’s happened to our east, whether it’s Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky… We’d be long gone if it wasn’t for Gov. Dayton. Without his veto pen, we’d be in the same boat.

UA: What are Steelworkers seeing in those right-to-work states?

GP: Obviously, it’s going to affect our membership. When employers can use a divide-and-conquer strategy, it’s going to leak into the strength of our collective agreements. That’s basically the strategy behind right to work.

UA: What’s next for you?

GP: A lot of travel with my wife. Hunting, fishing, golfing. And grandkids.

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#NAW2016: State grant helps East Metro auto dealerships reinvigorate apprenticeship program

November 18, 2016 by

International_Association_Of_Machinists_and_Aerospace_Workers_logo1Car dealerships in the East Metro long have offered registered apprenticeship training opportunities to their mechanics, but the number of journey-level workers graduating from the program has declined in recent years.

Looking to shift that trend into reverse, East Metro dealerships, state regulators and representatives of the Machinists union met with technical college faculty and Minnesota AFL-CIO staff this fall and, together, developed a plan to reinvigorate the apprenticeship program – and back it up with some state grant dollars.

“We’re piloting a program, we hope, that some dealerships will take advantage of,” Machinists District 77 representative Rick Ryan said.

Automotive apprentices have struggled in recent years to reach the 144 hours of training required under federal apprenticeship standards. Most cite difficulty in finding courses that are accessible, given their work commitments, or relevant to the work they do.

Dealerships, meanwhile, have been willing to shrug off the training requirements, bumping employees up to journey-level wages after they meet their on-the-job training threshold.

Some 30-plus mechanics in the East Metro are “on the cusp of getting a journeyperson’s card, but could not get the classes to complete it,” Todd Dahlstrom of the Minnesota AFL-CIO said. By reaching out to MnSCU, “we’ve been able to design a class structure that gets them the training they need and want so they can compete that apprenticeship and walk out with that card.”

Completing the apprenticeship is important, Ryan said. “That journeyperson’s card means you’re at the top of your trade,” he said. “It gives our employers a stronger, better employee to do the work and remain competitive.”

The program is modeled after the Industrial Manufacturing Technician apprenticeship program expanding statewide. It’s an example, Dahlstrom said, of how staff at the Minnesota AFL-CIO can help employers and unions access training funds, even when the IMT doesn’t apply.

“If you’ve got an apprenticeship program or specific training that your employees need, we can help you find the dollars to pay for it,” Dahlstrom said. “We have a track record of success doing it, and we’re here to help.”

Want to learn more?

  • Find a list of union dealerships in the East Metro at iam77.org/shops.html
  • Call Dahlstrom to discuss training opportunities or the IMT apprenticeship program: 651-227-7647.
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Unions, environmental groups brace for lame-duck fight over Trans Pacific pact

October 27, 2016 by

call-congress-today-to-stop-tpp_blog_post_fullwidthOn the night of the third presidential debate, a small group of activists gathered inside a union hall in Minneapolis, but their focus was not on the outcome of the 2016 election. It was on what might happen between Nov. 8 and the inauguration, specifically when it comes to trade.

President Obama is expected to make one last-ditch attempt to push the sprawling, NAFTA-style Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement through Congress during the “lame-duck” session, possibly as soon as this month.

If that happens, fair-trade activists will be ready to push back.

Already, more than 90 organizations, including the AFL-CIO, are planning to flood the congressional switchboard Nov. 16 with phone calls in opposition to the TPP. Two weeks later, unions and labor federations from across the country will lobby together in Washington, D.C., making their final case against the deal, which “would be incredibly devastating to working people here and across the globe,” Kayla Berg of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition told activists.

The meeting in Minneapolis, sponsored by the state’s Industrial Union Council, drew representatives of environmental and student groups, offering a glimpse of the broad-based opposition to the TPP, which was negotiated in secret by 12 member nations with Pacific borders.

Six of those 12 countries – Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Vietnam, Chile and Brunei – have low-wage economies. Labor unions have expressed concern that the agreement will only hasten the outsourcing of U.S. jobs and further the exploitation of workers in developing countries.

Unions also point to weak – or nonexistent – protections for workers who seek to organize in several TPP countries. It’s a complaint echoed by the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations, which point to equally weak environmental regulations.

Another shared concern: Extra- judicial “corporate courts” created by the TPP would empower global firms to fight local or state regulations they view as “barriers to trade,” including consumer protection laws, land-use regulations or buy-local procurement practices.

In fact, if TPP passes, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and other federal agencies would be forced to treat bidders from every TPP country as if they were U.S. bidders when making purchasing decisions.

It’s no surprise so many citizen groups are taking on the fight against the TPP, Machinists union representative Rick Ryan said. The only question, he said, is whether activists can ensure a victory that kills the TPP and, potentially, changes the way future trade deals are negotiated.

“We need to bring these groups together to build the power to stop TPP,” Ryan said. “Instead of fighting individual fights, we need to fight one big fight.”

For more information on the TPP, go to www.citizen.org/TPP.

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In Minnesota, apprenticeship model expanding to other industries

June 26, 2015 by

Apprenticeship has long been the backbone of the Building Trades unions. Their on-the-job training programs put workers on a path to family-sustaining careers while ensuring union contractors have access to the highly skilled labor pool they need to remain competitive.

It’s a win-win model.

Now, with a push from the federal government, unions and employers in other industries are looking to emulate it.

Minnesota is one of three states where the AFL-CIO’s Working for America Institute, armed with a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, is promoting a registered apprenticeship program for industrial manufacturing workers. It’s an 18-month, 3,000-hour training course that employers can access at no cost to boost their workers’ skills.

Several Minnesota manufacturers are warming up to the idea of partnering with a union on an apprenticeship course, program coordinator Jerome Balsimo said.

“Employers have said to us, ‘This is a recruiting tool,’” Balsimo said. “‘There are four or five other manufacturers right next to us, but I’m the manufacturer that has the apprenticeship program, wage increase and industry-recognized certifications when you finish. Come work for us.’”

Among those employers is Baldinger Bakery in St. Paul. After being approached by its workers’ union, BCTGM Local 22, Baldinger agreed to install the Industrial Manufacturing Technician apprenticeship program, which will launch later this year.

The company, which manufactures buns for McDonald’s and other restaurants, recently relocated to a “rebuilt, high-tech facility” on Phalen Boulevard, Local 22 President Ron Mohrland said. Management viewed the apprenticeship program as an opportunity to ensure workers’ skills keep pace.

Much of the training curriculum is standardized, with MnSCU faculty facilitating. But Baldinger is able to customize many aspects to meet the plant’s needs.

“There’s a basic education that these guys are getting, but the plant is helping write the program to what needs to be taught specifically at our facility,” Mohrland said.

About one-third of the 60-plus union members working in the facility are expected to participate, from new hires to more experienced factory workers. Apprentices will get paid for the time they spend in classroom or on-the-job training, and when they complete the program, they will add seven industry-recognized credentials and certifications to their resumes – not to mention the $1.50 per hour raise.

“They’re going to go from walking in the door as a helper to the very top scale, something called a bakery processor,” Mohrland said. “That’s somebody who can pretty much walk in there can do anything – from minor maintenance to running the machines all around the facility.”

Industrial unions like the BCTGM aren’t the only ones eying apprenticeship opportunities as an added value to union membership. Todd Dahlstrom, the Minnesota AFL-CIO’s organizing and growth director, said another federal grant is in the works to boost health care workers’ skills and wages via apprenticeship.

“The union does grievances, the union does arbitration, the union negotiates contracts – all fundamental things that are very, very important. But they’re not always tangible to a new employee,” Dahlstrom said.

“If workers understand that they get their training and certificate for that training through a program their union has helped develop and offer, you get workers on the front end and give them a stronger union identity.”

– Interested in the Industrial Manufacturing Technician apprenticeship? Contact program coordinator Jerome Balsimo at 651-335-2896 or Jbalsimo@mnaflcio.org.

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