Unions’ pre-apprenticeship program puts more Minnesotans on path to construction careers

May 9, 2022 by

The Building Strong Communities program holds a graduation ceremony. (photo by Vince Muzik)

Thirty-five Minnesotans are a big step closer to family-sustaining careers in the unionized construction industry after graduating from the Building Strong Communities program last week.

Elected officials, union leaders, employers and family members gathered for a ceremony May 5 at North Hennepin Community College to recognize graduates of the pre-apprenticeship program for women, veterans and people from racial and ethnic minority groups.

“You have the opportunity to be able to provide for your families, to make a meaningful contribution to society, to our cities, to our state, and you have much to be proud of,” Labor Commissioner Roslyn Robertson told graduates. “It is my honor to be able to witness this day.”

Funded and administered by the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council, Building Strong Communities is part of unions’ ongoing effort to increase community awareness of career opportunities in their industry.

“None of this is possible without the strong support of the Building and Construction Trades,” said Aaron Koski, workforce manager at the Met Council. “So thank you, unions.”

The 12-week course, offered each spring, provides an overview of the different crafts that make up the construction industry, using a Multi Core Craft Curriculum developed by unions, hands-on training at union apprenticeship centers and tours of union construction sites.

Graduates Isabelle Schultz and Dwayne Douglas take the stage during the ceremony.

Participants also take eight weeks of virtual classes in construction career readiness at North Hennepin, followed by four weeks of training to build up emotional intelligence, a skillset industry experts have identified as key to overcoming challenges new workers often encounter on the jobsite.

“You really learned how to control your emotions and not give people your remote,” 2022 graduate Isabelle Schultz said. “And if you are in control of your remote, then no one can control your emotions.”

Graduates completed the course just in time for the start of summer construction season, and Schultz, who will begin an apprenticeship with Operating Engineers Local 49 and Lunda Construction, was among several who had already signed on to begin working for local union contractors.

“This opportunity has opened my eyes to a whole new experience,” said Dwayne Douglas, set to begin an apprenticeship with Laborers Local 563 and Lunda after graduation. “To be a part of a training like this means everything in the world. This is something that is going to be beneficial for me and beneficial for my family for the rest of my life.”

Building Strong Communities Program Manager Thomas Scott said the work of “helping to make our construction industry in Minnesota more reflective of all our communities throughout the state” does not end with graduation. Each graduate has selected an advocate to provide mentorship and support over the next year.

“The goal is to stay in the industry and for the individual to experience everything that motivated him or her to choose the construction industry in the first place,” Scott said. “Our community advocates will continue to work with graduates … so that they have a strong support when things get rough.”

Joe Fowler, president of the state Building Trades council, welcomed graduates into the union family.

“As you look to begin your new careers, know that you’re entering a family of brothers and sisters who stand up for each other,” Fowler said. “And just remember that solidarity is key to making sure that you’re successful, and it’s key to making sure that our unions continue to thrive and are successful as well.”

Learn more about Building Strong Communities at buildingstrong.org.

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Minnesota Building Trades on path to becoming Yellow Ribbon organization

February 25, 2022 by

Tom Simonet (L), chair of the Minnesota ESGR, joins Building Trades Council President Joe Fowler at the table during a signing ceremony.

The Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council redoubled its commitment to recruiting military members and veterans into careers in the union trades this week, taking the first step toward becoming a Yellow Ribbon Company.

The council of 15 craft unions, representing over 70,000 Minnesota tradespeople, held a signing ceremony Wednesday with Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a federal program that promotes cooperation between National Guard members and their civilian employers.

President Joe Fowler, a member of LIUNA Local 563, signed an agreement on behalf of the council pledging to stand beside those who serve their country in the National Guard and follow all laws related to their employment.

Signing the agreement is the first official step in becoming a Yellow Ribbon Company. Minnesota’s 84 Yellow Ribbon employers have been formally recognized for their support of military employees and local communities to benefit service members, veterans and military families.

“We know we can make a meaningful difference as a Yellow Ribbon organization,” Fowler said in remarks to government officials, Building Trades leaders and representatives of the Guard who attended the ceremony. “This is another landmark in our efforts to do intentional outreach to women, BIPOC communities and our military members, veterans and their families.”

Prior to the signing ceremony, which was held at the Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 82 hall in Little Canada, Fowler and other members of the Building Trades’ steering committee spent the day meeting with officials from ESGR, the state Department of Veterans Affairs, county veterans-services officers and other agencies, assembling an action plan to meet the criteria of a Yellow Ribbon Company.

Annette Kuyper, director of military outreach for Beyond the Yellow Ribbon in Minnesota, said participating employers commit to three principles:

  • Hiring members of the Guard, military veterans and their spouses.
  • Supporting those workers in their civilian and military careers.
  • Joining military-support efforts in the community.

Local Building Trades unions already have proven themselves eager to serve military families, Kuyper said, remembering an interaction with Fowler last November.

“We were getting holiday bags all throughout Minnesota to military families who needed budget-stretcher meal boxes and turkeys,” Kuyper said. “At the last minute we had a couple volunteers who were COVID positive. I made one call to Joe, and he had volunteers bringing supplies to Mankato and Duluth within hours.

“This is what it truly means to be a Yellow Ribbon organization.”

Construction unions, their contractors and their joint apprenticeship training programs have a track record of outreach to military families, too. The Helmets to Hardhats program has connected over 40,000 U.S. military veterans nationwide with union apprenticeship programs, which are the first step toward family-sustaining jobs in the construction industry.

Minnesota National Guard Major General Shawn Manke joins the signing ceremony.

“That’s 40,000 men and women whose lives changed, or family’s trajectories changed for the better,” said Bill Mulcrone, Midwest regional director of Helmets to Hardhats. “The contractors are getting quality workers, and our unions are getting better members.”

Several speakers at the ceremony emphasized the natural partnership between Building Trades unions and the U.S. military. Both Fowler and Major Gen. Shawn Manke, senior leader of the Minnesota National Guard, noted that many union tradespeople serve as citizen soldiers.

By becoming a Yellow Ribbon Company, Manke said, the Building Trades Council will create more opportunities for Guard members to “take their military-acquired skills into the civilian sector” – and vice versa.

“We have a number of soldiers and airmen who serve in our organization and in the Trades, and have completed military and occupational skill training specifically focused on horizontal and vertical construction, plumbing, electrical and HVAC,” Manke said.

“Support of organizations like the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council is crucial to employees as we make sure that our service members are well trained for whatever mission they may be asked to perform, from our federal mission overseas to our state mission here,” he added. “Your commitment to the men and women of our organization is admirable and certainly appreciated.”

Tom Simonet, chair of the Minnesota ESGR, said the Building Trades’ support would make a difference for Minnesota’s National Guard soldiers – and for Minnesota’s construction industry as a whole.

“When I go out to the (Guard) units, one of the things I do is encourage them to look at who has signed a statement of support,” Simonet said. “And what they bring to you is a level of loyalty, dedication and knowledge that outweighs anything else.”

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Leadership changes, but Trades’ focus remains on building careers, communities

July 22, 2021 by

The Crow Wing County VFW color guard installs the colors at the start of the Building Trades convention.

A new president gaveled the 75th convention of the Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades Council to order at Madden’s on Gull Lake today, as delegates unanimously affirmed their Executive Board in electing Laborers Local 563 Business Manager Joe Fowler to lead the statewide organization.  

President Emeritus Harry Melander, who retired in June after 12 years leading the council, administered the oath of office to Fowler and other executive officers as one of the convention’s first orders of business. 

“I will give it my all to advocate the just cause of organized construction labor in the state of Minnesota,” Fowler said, thanking delegates for their support.  

While the leadership of the organization has changed – it’s the first convention for newly hired Executive Director Tom Dicklich, too – the Building Trades Council’s work remains focused on fostering family-sustaining, high-quality job opportunities for tradespeople across the state. 

In practice, Fowler said, that means recruiting new workers – particularly veterans and workers from underrepresented communities – into unions’ registered apprenticeship programs to keep up with the industry’s demand for skilled labor. It means organizing to end mistreatment of workers on non-union construction sites, where wage theft, employee misclassification and labor trafficking are too common. And it means opposing right-to-work laws and attacks on prevailing wage at the Capitol. 

Gov. Tim Walz greets delegates to the convention.

By most of those measures, Minnesota’s Building Trades unions have fared better than their counterparts in other Midwest states, and Fowler said the reason for that is unity. 

“Sticking together and showing solidarity is what sets us apart from other organizations that would like to see us and organized labor as a whole fail, and that will never happen,” he said. “If we do not have solidarity, we do not have a strong Building Trades, and in Minnesota that is just not an option.” 

The Trades have worked in recent years to attract bipartisan support for their agenda at the State Capitol, and that support was on display in the string of guest speakers who lined up to take the podium today. Mayors, state legislators, agency commissioners, members of Congress and Gov. Tim Walz all touted their work in support of union tradespeople. 

Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, a Republican whose district includes the Gull Lake area, told delegates his caucus, unlike Republicans in states like Wisconsin, won’t advance measures to undermine collective bargaining or attack prevailing wage. 

“Times are changing,” Gazelka said. “We’re the ones that are fighting for the mining jobs, whether it’s copper-nickel or taconite mining. We’re the ones standing up for the pipelines.” 

But Walz warned against politicians who frame a “false choice” when it comes to energy policy and mining. He said his administration is determined not to “cut corners,” but has moved projects like the Polymet mine through the permitting and review processes quickly. It is Senate Republicans’ move to force out his head of the state’s Pollution Control Agency, Walz said, that has slowed that process down. 

Joe Fowler, business manager of Laborers Local 563, is the new president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council.

“They’re playing games with your jobs,” Walz said. “They’re playing games with a process that now works. This isn’t about me picking winners or losers, it’s about following the science, following the law and following the process.  

“We did all those things. And we’re a long ways down that process on the Polymet mine, but it’s pretty damn hard to go back to an agency when that commissioner is no longer there.” 

DFL lawmakers also called out Republicans for bailing on the Building Trades-backed refinery safety measure during the special session last month.  

The measure, which would have required skilled laborers at sensitive petroleum facilities complete a registered apprenticeship program, gained steam after Marathon replaced local, union contractors at its St. Paul Park refinery with workers from out-of-state, non-union contractors. It passed the DFL-controlled House but was stripped from the Senate jobs bill after more than a dozen Republicans who originally voted to advance the measure withdrew their support. 

Rep. Rob Ecklund, a DFLer from International Falls, said the vote revealed who is “standing with labor not just when it’s politically convenient, but all of the time.” 

A diplomatic Fowler sought to cool the political rhetoric, insisting the council, under his leadership, “will always be nonpartisan in the sense that we support those who support us and who understand labor is always on the side of the worker.” 

There were some issues on which everyone in the room could agree, including a renewed state investment in Helmets to Hardhats, which has successfully introduced thousands of military veterans to career opportunities in the union trades. Justin Ross, a former Marine who heads the statewide initiative, said 840 Minnesota veterans have enrolled in unions’ apprenticeship programs over the last three years after accessing the program.

President Emeritus Harry Melander (L) congratulates Secretary Treasurer Craig Olson after swearing in the officers.

“I know firsthand what it can be like returning from military service,” Ross said. “I spent over five years bouncing from job to job, trying college a couple times. It wasn’t until I found my way into an apprenticeship program with Sheet Metal Workers Local 10 that I really found a home.” 

Another point of universal agreement: appreciation for Melander’s leadership during the 12 years he served as president of the council. Walz presented the president emeritus with a plaque declaring today Harry Melander Day in Minnesota. 

In characteristically brief remarks, Melander assured delegates their organization is in good hands, and left them with a few words of wisdom. 

“Teach the trade; honor the craft,” he said. “Just remember that. Teach the trade to the young people, and honor the craft amongst ourselves. And thank you for the privilege of serving the last 12 years.” 

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Unions move quickly to keep tradespeople safe on jobsites

April 28, 2020 by

St. Paul Pipefitters Local 455 delivered gang boxes filled with cleaning supplies and protective gear – and, yes, toilet paper – to its larger job sites last month. Smaller sites received supplies as well. “We want these job sites to stay open,” Business Manager Tony Poole said. “The best way to have our members continue to work is to keep them safe.”

 

Minnesota’s construction industry has not shut down during the pandemic, but it’s not business as usual on the job site either, as local Building Trades unions and their contractors make adjustments to prevent the virus’ spread and keep tradespeople healthy.

“Any time you work construction, there’s high risk involved. These are risky jobs,” Pipefitters Local 455 Business Manager Tony Poole said. “But this virus, it definitely changes the game.”

The outbreak prompted Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to declare a state of emergency in March, closing most public gathering places and ordering businesses to allow their employees to work from home if possible.

For tradespeople, of course, it’s not.

Construction unions worked with the governor to get their industry on the “essential services” list, allowing work to continue. Now, unions are working to give their members the tools they need to stay safe as they continue building the state’s critical infrastructure.

That starts with education.

The Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council has created a page on its website with an evolving list of resources on the virus and best practices for preventing its spread on the job site. Most craft unions also maintain COVID-19 resources on their local websites.

“We’re sending out communications through our website constantly, just about every day, with CDC recommendations and information about COVID,” Poole said. “And we’re sending mass texts to all members when something is particularly important.”

Unions also are working with their contractors to incorporate best practices into the workflow, LIUNA Local 563 Business Manager Joe Fowler said.

“We’ve been really working with the contractors on social distancing,” Fowler said. “Providing more sanitization stations. Requiring workers to break separately. Forgoing toolbox talks every morning, or doing them weekly instead of daily.”

In some cases, unions are supplying needed equipment to their members directly. Local 455 delivered gang boxes stocked with hand sanitizer, soap, disinfectant cleaner, paper towels, toilet paper, gloves, N-95 masks and more to several large jobsites across the east metro, after hearing from workers concerned about sanitation.

“If you’re working around somebody who’s not wearing a glove, and you’ve got to work on that same piece of equipment?” Poole said. “We want our members to be able to disinfect what they feel they need to disinfect. Rather than wait, the local took it upon itself to supply some of these sites with what our people need.”

Union leaders are taking COVID-19 – and their members’ concerns about the pandemic – seriously, Fowler added.

“We want to keep people working, but we don’t want any of our members working in an environment that they feel is unsafe,” he said. “If they feel that way, they need to reach out. We’re still open for business.”

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