Trades sponsor Women Building Minnesota info sessions

March 19, 2015 by

trades womanWomen considering a career in the construction industry can learn what it takes – and why it pays – to become a successful tradeswoman at two Women Building Minnesota information sessions next month.

Sponsored by the St. Paul and Minneapolis Building Trades councils, Women Building Minnesota is a registered apprenticeship program that offers women an opportunity to enter the high-demand specialty trades of plumbing, electrical work, sheet metal, iron work, pipefitting and sprinklerfitting.

Go to www.surveymonkey.com/s/womenbuildingmn to register for one of two four-hour information sessions:

  • April 13, 1 to 5 p.m., Dunwoody College of Technology cafeteria, 818 Dunwoody Blvd., Minneapolis (free parking).
  • April 15, 5 to 9 p.m., St. Paul College auditorium, 235 Marshall Ave., St. Paul (parking voucher available).

Enrollment is limited, and registration is required. Applicants must be 18 years old, possess a high-school diploma or GED, have reliable transportation and be drug-free.

For more information contact WBM Director Vicki Sandberg at 651-260-3432.

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

Mahtomedi forum to weigh all sides of Sandpiper debate

March 18, 2015 by

SanpiperMainlineRIP19Nov2014A forum in Mahtomedi next month will size up the proposed Sandpiper Pipeline, and all sides of the debate will be represented, including organized labor.

River Valley Action will sponsor the forum, entitled “Mixing Oil and Water? Perspectives on the Sandpiper Oil Pipeline,” from 7 to 8:30 p.m. April 13 at White Bear Unitarian Universalist Church, 328 Maple Street.

Sandpiper is Enbridge Energy’s proposed $2.5 oil pipeline across northern Minnesota, currently under review by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. If approved, the pipeline would link the oil-rich Bakken region of North Dakota with Superior, Wis. – and create an estimated 1,500 construction jobs.

The proposal has drawn opposition from some environmentalist groups, but the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council supports the pipeline, arguing it will ease congestion in the state’s rail system, reduce the risk of rail accidents in highly populated areas and boost northern Minnesota’s struggling economy.

At the forum, Deborah Pile of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission will provide an overview of the project and the review process, then moderate a discussion among panelists representing Enbridge Energy, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the environmental group Friends of the Headwaters and Local 49 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, a union supporting the project.

Following the panel discussion, attendees will be encouraged to contact decision makers and let them know of their concerns and expectations.

River Valley Action is a group for citizens of the St. Croix Valley area who value a healthy and informed civic community. The nonpartisan group is “associated with labor unions, nonprofit organizations and faith communities,” and it focuses on public policy at the state and local levels.

For more information go to www.RiverValleyAction.org.

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

Minnesota unions make case for Sandpiper oil pipeline

January 6, 2015 by
Phillip Wallace, a representative of the United Association of Pipeliners Local 798, testifies at the public hearing on the proposed Sandpiper project.

Phillip Wallace of the United Association of Pipeliners Local 798 weighs in on the proposed Sandpiper project.

A series of five public hearings on a proposed oil pipeline through Minnesota opened in St. Paul yesterday, and members of several Building Trades unions stepped forward to support the $2.5 billion venture, projected to create 1,500 construction jobs.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is collecting public testimony at sites across the state this week regarding the Sandpiper pipeline, which would transport crude oil from North Dakota’s booming Bakken region to terminals in Clearbrook and Superior, Wis.

Union members like David LaBorde of Duluth-based Teamsters Local 346 touted the jobs Sandpiper would create for northern Minnesota workers and the potential boost for the area’s struggling economy.

“The members (of Local 346) need this work,” LaBorde said. “In northern Minnesota we have a significant problem with getting good-paying jobs.”

Northern Minnesota isn’t the only area that would benefit from Sandpiper. Many supporters at the St. Paul hearing said Sandpiper would ease congestion in the state’s rail system and reduce the risk of accidents in highly populated areas. Three of four rail routes used to transport Bakken oil cross through the Twin Cities.

The new pipeline would enable parent company Enbridge to transport 225,000 barrels per day from the Bakken to its Clearbrook terminal, and 375,000 barrels per day from Clearbrook to Superior. That’s oil that might otherwise travel through Minnesota by train.

“It’s more hazardous to transport that oil by rail and truck than by pipeline,” said Mike Ratka, a Laborers Union member from Foley who has worked on multiple pipeline projects. “It’s a win-win situation.”

The proposed Sandpiper route through northern Minnesota.

The proposed Sandpiper route through northern Minnesota.

Sandpiper also would yield about $25 million in property taxes annually for local governments in Minnesota, according to Enbridge. And increased domestic oil production helps keep fuel prices down and reduces the country’s reliance on less stable foreign sources, supporters noted.

Some opponents of the pipeline worried that Sandpiper’s 616-mile route passes too close to the headwaters of the Mississippi River and poses a threat to Minnesota’s “Lakes Region,” including Cass and Crow Wing counties. Others argued construction of the pipeline would contribute to climate change.

But Matt Duncombe, a skilled pipeliner from East Grand Forks, said pipelines are the safest means of transporting crude oil because Enbridge, its contractors and their employees make safety their top priority during construction.

“Enbridge does more to set and enforce high quality and safety standards, in my experience, than any other pipeline owner I’ve worked for,” Duncombe said, noting the company’s use of third-party inspectors to monitor safety during construction.

Supporters of the pipeline wore stickers to the public hearing.

Supporters of the pipeline wore stickers to the public hearing.

Duncombe, a member of Laborers Local 563, said he received pipeline-specific, hands-on training at the union’s Lino Lakes facility – training he has since used as a laborer and foreman on the environmental crew during pipeline construction projects.

“Our top priority on the environmental crew is protection of wetlands and waterways,” Duncombe said. “The measures we installed included silt fences, hay bales, water logs, and berms, which are designed to contain runoff or prevent soil erosion. At the end of a project, our work included seeding and mulching to restore vegetation.”

Members of Operating Engineers Local 49, the Pipefitters union and other labor unions were scheduled to provide testimony at the hearing as well. They appeared before Judge Eric Lipman, a specialist in dispute resolution with the state’s Office of Administrative Hearings.

In April, Lipman will present the PUC with a report based on evidence and testimony gathered during public hearings across the state and a “trial-type hearing” later this month. People unable to attend a public hearing can offer their input using the PUC’s online forum, “Speak Up!“

The five-member commission is expected to issue a decision on approval of the Sandpiper pipeline in June.

“This isn’t the labor community against the environmental community,” said Harry Melander, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council. “This is a needed update of a vital pipeline that the State of Minnesota and the region will benefit from.”

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

Forum to consider East Metro’s transportation issues

November 19, 2014 by
Abby Tomasek wore a cardboard light-rail costume to the ribbon cutting. She and other activists used the event as an opportunity to sign transit-users up for MoveMN, an advocacy group pushing broad investments in the state's transportation infrastructure.

MoveMN, an advocacy group pushing broad investments in the state’s transportation infrastructure, engaged riders on the opening day of Green Line light-rail service. The group’s field director, Bethany Winkels, will participate in a forum on East Metro transportation issues Dec. 7.

What can East Metro residents do to increase their access to effective transportation, and what should lawmakers do about the issue when the Legislature convenes in next year? That’s the topic of a free, public program in Oakdale next month.

  • What: “Getting There from Here: Transportation Challenges in the East Metro
  • When: 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9
  • Where: Guardian Angels Church, Peter O’Neill Hall, 8260 4th St. N., Oakdale (off I-94 and Radio Drive)

Dr. David Schultz, professor of political science at Hamline University, will moderate a panel discussion with Jan Lucke, Washington County’s transportation planning manager; Harry Melander, president of the Minnesota Building & Construction Trades Council and Metropolitan Council member; and Bethany Winkels, field director of Move MN, a transportation advocacy group.

The program also will include time for the audience to ask panelists questions, offer ideas and take action to ensure legislative progress in 2015.

The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

For more information, visit www.RiverValleyAction.org.

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

Union contractor McGough recognized for outreach to military families

August 21, 2014 by
Veterans and their families who work at McGough join Gov. Mark Dayton during the Yellow Ribbon Company proclamation ceremony.

Veterans and their families who work at McGough join Gov. Mark Dayton during the Yellow Ribbon Company proclamation ceremony in White Bear Lake.

Minnesota’s construction industry has its first Yellow Ribbon Company, and it’s a union contractor headquartered in St. Paul.

In a ceremony yesterday at McGough’s warehouse in White Bear Lake, Gov. Mark Dayton delivered a proclamation making the general contracting firm part of a select group of employers recognized for their exemplary support of Minnesota’s active military members, veterans and their families.

“The men and women of the Minnesota National Guard, other U.S. Forces and their families have earned our admiration and appreciation,” Dayton said. “They have also earned our continuing assistance. I thank McGough for joining nearly 300 Yellow Ribbon cities, counties and businesses who have committed to support our Minnesota heroes when they return home.”

Tim McGough, the company’s executive vice president, said it was humbling to be recognized by the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program.

“Whatever small thing we can do as a firm for our service members doesn’t begin to scratch the surface when you consider the immeasurable sacrifice they have made for our country,” McGough said.

Forty companies statewide have achieved the Yellow Ribbon designation, which recognizes companies’ past accomplishments and ongoing efforts in support of military families. To be considered, McGough presented the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program with a detailed action plan for outreach to veterans seeking jobs, as well as support for service members and their families during deployment.

Veterans in the crowd are recognized during the Yellow Ribbon Company proclamation ceremony.

Veterans in the crowd are recognized during the Yellow Ribbon Company proclamation ceremony.

McGough Chief Operating Officer Brad Wood said 10 percent of the company’s employees are veterans.

One of them, Lt. Col. Bill Scherling of the Minnesota National Guard, emceed the proclamation ceremony. Scherling was deployed to the Middle East twice in the last five years. McGough employees, Wood said, mailed care packages to Scherling and offered support to his family in Minnesota, cooking meals and helping with chores around the house.

It’s one example of why the State of Minnesota recognized McGough as a Yellow Ribbon Company. But hiring and supporting veterans like Scherling is not just the right thing to do, Wood said. It’s good for the company, too.

“Veterans bring rich skills and valuable real-world experience to the job,” Wood said. “They have a good work ethic, they are committed and they are great leaders.”

Many veterans working at McGough transitioned into civilian careers by entering apprenticeship programs offered by Building Trades unions, Minnesota National Guard Gen. Richard Nash said.

“I know this company well, and they truly value their employees,” Nash said. “They are veterans, and they are union craftsmen and craftswomen.”

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

At convention, Trades build momentum for 2014 election push

August 1, 2014 by
Jessica Looman, an assistant commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, addresses Building Trades delegates.

Jessica Looman, an assistant commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, addresses Building Trades delegates.

ROCHESTER – With two new stadiums in the works and $1 billion in new state infrastructure investments – as well as jobs-creating regional improvements like the Destination Medical Center here – the Building Trades unions in Minnesota are riding a wave of momentum.

That momentum is at stake in elections up and down the Nov. 4 ballot, speakers warned delegates to the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council’s annual convention at the Kahler Hotel this week.

“With less than 100 days before the election, it becomes an anxious time,” Council President Harry Melander said. “We have made great progress, and to go backwards would be a shame.”

At the top of Building Trades unions’ agenda this year, Melander said, is re-electing Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton. In an address to delegates yesterday, the labor-endorsed DFLer listed his credentials for re-election, including new investments in education and infrastructure, 159,000 new jobs statewide and the first increase in Minnesota’s minimum wage in a decade.

But those accomplishments, the governor acknowledged, would not have been possible without DFL majorities in the Legislature. He noted the change in atmosphere at the Capitol since voters ousted Republican majorities in the House and Senate two years into his first term as governor.

“I hope to come back, obviously, but I don’t want to come back with a Republican House of Representatives,” Dayton said, adding that it would mean “gridlock, deadlock and other budget showdown.”

“We need to keep moving ahead, and that’s going to mean a DFL house and a DFL governor because everything we’ve accomplished can be reversed.”

Gov. Mark Dayton greets Building Trades delegates at their annual convention.

Gov. Mark Dayton greets Building Trades delegates at their annual convention.

Challenges remain

As successful as Dayton and DFL lawmakers have been in bringing Minnesota’s economy back, Dayton noted that only half of the construction-industry jobs lost during the Great Recession have been recovered. Making needed investments in transportation and transit, he said, will keep the industry on the right path.

“There’s no avoiding the responsibility we have for deciding whether we want a better transportation system, the same one or something that’s going to continue to get worse,” Dayton said. “It’s going to take $6 billion just to keep things where they are now.”

The governor also reminded delegates that he was the last line of defense against efforts to undermine prevailing wage, which ensures fair pay for workers on public construction projects. That effort died in the Legislature, as did efforts to undermine collective bargaining via a Right to Work constitutional amendment. But both remain alive among Dayton’s challengers, Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson warned.

Knutson gave a glimpse of Republican candidates vying to take Dayton’s place. All four major candidates said in a radio debate yesterday that they support “unsafe, unfair and unnecessary” Right to Work legislation, she noted.

“Jeff Johnson goes even farther,” Knutson added. “In a debate a couple days ago he said he wants to change prevailing wage laws. And a few months ago he told a group of activists he wants to ‘go all Scott Walker’ on Minnesota. I don’t know exactly what that means, but I know it’s not good.”

Hearing from both sides

Although the lineup of speakers was heavy on DFLers, two Republican state senators, Dave Senjem and Carla Nelson, whose district includes Rochester, made a pitch to Building Trades delegates as well.

“Your jobs cannot be – they should not be – a partisan issue,” Nelson said. “Construction jobs lead our economic recovery. Your industry is one of the largest growth segments in the Minnesota workforce, and we anticipate that will continue.”

In a show of bipartisan support for the Trades, the Senate voted 59-0 last spring to pass a new law that ensures firms working on public construction projects have a track record of obeying prevailing-wage, overtime and other labor laws.

“Minnesota is the only place in America where a responsible contracting law exists statewide,” Melander said.

Senjem also noted bipartisan support for bonding bills, the Minnesota Vikings stadium and the Destination Medical Center, a $6 billion investment, backed by public and private funds, that will transform the Mayo Clinic and downtown Rochester – and create thousands of construction jobs.

Senjem also recalled that as a majority leader in the Senate two years ago, he “took that Right To Work bill, and we put it in the drawer.”

“We didn’t need that kind of Minnesota,” he said. “We can work together. We don’t need that kind of conflict. It doesn’t get you anywhere.”

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

An engine for economic growth, Green Line opens to big crowds

June 20, 2014 by
City, county, state and federal funding made the Green Line a reality, and elected officials from all four levels of government helped cut the ribbon at the Green Line's Opening Day celebration outside Union Depot. (UA photo by Mike Weerts)

City, county, state and federal funding made the Green Line a reality, and elected officials from all four levels of government helped cut the ribbon at the Green Line’s Opening Day celebration outside Union Depot. (UA photo by Mike Weerts)

Minnesotans celebrated the opening of Metro Transit’s Green Line with ribbon-cuttings, neighborhood-centric events and more than 107,000 free rides June 14-15. But there was more to celebrate than the long-anticipated arrival of a sleek, new transit option between the Twin Cities’ downtown areas.

Jobs – and plenty of them – were also reason to celebrate.

Construction of the $957 million light-rail line, with 9.8 miles of new track and 18 new stations, created more than 5,500 construction jobs, and payroll expenses for the project exceeded $252 million. Additionally, Metro Transit hired 200 operators and maintenance workers for the Green Line, according to the Metropolitan Council.

The project created work for members of Building Trades unions during an otherwise lean period for the construction industry, as investment capital dried up and development ground to a halt following the financial collapse of 2008.

“It was a blessing that it happened during a time when the construction industry saw unemployment at levels it hasn’t seen since the Great Depression,” Harry Melander, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council, said.

But job creation isn’t confined to the Green Line’s rear-view mirror.

Riders looking out the train’s windows are likely to see scaffolding, cranes and other heavy equipment, signs of the private development that has been popping up along the Central Corridor since the Green Line since got the green light five years ago.

The Met Council predicts employment along the line will grow by more than 90,000 jobs over the next 16 years. Already, more than 100 projects have been built, are under construction or are in the planning phase along the Green Line. Together, the developments account for more than $2.5 billion in job-creating private investments.

“The development we’ve seen so far only marks the beginning of new opportunities in the Central Corridor,” Met Council Chair Sue Haigh said. “For decades to come, the Green Line will be a catalyst for employment and economic growth along its 11-mile route.”

In that regard the Green Line is an example of the “ripple effect” that makes transit a particularly effective public investment. Every dollar a community invests in public transportation brings approximately $4 in economic returns, according to the American Public Transit Association.

The nonpartisan organization also found that, in a study conducted between 2006 and 2011, residential property values performed 42 percent better, on average, if they were located near public transportation.

The Green Line also provided training opportunities that helped introduce young workers to careers in the Building Trades.

The Laborers District Council of Minnesota and North Dakota, for example, integrated a new, eight-hour course, “Introduction to Light Rail Construction,” into the curriculum at its Lino Lakes-based training center. Todd Pufahl, council president, said the $250,000 investment ensures the union and its contractors are ready to tackle transit investments coming down the pike.

“The Green Line will do great things for commuters and the communities it runs through,” said Pufahl. “We are also anxious and ready to get going on the Southwest Corridor project. Our skilled Construction Craft Laborers are skilled and ready to help improve quality of life and transportation choices for all of us.”

Abby Tomasek wore a cardboard light-rail costume to the ribbon cutting. She and other activists used the event as an opportunity to sign transit-users up for MoveMN, an advocacy group pushing broad investments in the state's transportation infrastructure.

Abby Tomasek wore a cardboard light-rail costume to the ribbon cutting. She and other activists used the event as an opportunity to sign transit-users up for MoveMN, an advocacy group pushing broad investments in the state’s transportation infrastructure.

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

Unions: Dayton, DFL legislators delivered for working families

May 23, 2014 by
Surrounded by legislative supporters and members of the Raise the Wage Coalition, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton signed a bill increasing the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2016 – and indexing it to inflation.

Surrounded by legislative supporters and members of the Raise the Wage Coalition, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton signed a bill increasing the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2016 – and indexing it to inflation.

Progress is what Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton promised he’d deliver if given pro-worker majorities in the Legislature.

Progress on job creation, better schools, economic justice and budget stability is what Dayton and House DFLers will point to when they campaign for re-election this fall.

In the 2014 session, Dayton and legislators picked up where they left off last year, adding to their already-lengthy list of accomplishments for Minnesota’s working families, union leaders said.

“Minnesotans expected results when they put the DFL in charge of state government, and our elected leaders have delivered,” Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson said. “Jobs are increasing, wages are going up, we’re investing in schools and our taxes are fairer.”

Before adjourning the session ahead of schedule May 16, lawmakers passed the first increase to the state’s minimum wage in a decade, and they agreed to invest $1 billion in job-creating infrastructure projects – both top priorities for the state’s unions heading into the 2014 session.

But those accomplishments represent the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the full list of gains for working families.

“This biennium has been the greatest session for middle class and working Minnesotans since the Minnesota Miracle of the 1970s,” said Eliot Seide, executive director of AFSCME Council 5, a union of 43,000 public-service workers. “We showed working people that state government can improve their lives.”

• Wages going up

The minimum-wage increase – to $9.50 per hour by 2016, with indexing to ensure it keeps up with inflation – means more than 350,000 Minnesotans will see a raise. But Dayton and the DFL Legislature also passed wage increases targeted at workers in the health care industry.

Nursing home workers will see their first wage increase in four years. Lawmakers also approved a 5 percent rate increase for community-based providers of in-home health care, stipulating that 80 percent of the increase must go to workers.

The rate hike drew praise from members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, the union that, thanks to legislation passed in 2013, is working to organize home care workers into a statewide bargaining unit.

The Legislature’s failure to raise the provider rate for in-home health services – it increased by just 3.4 percent from 2003 to 2012 – has been a rallying cry for home health workers looking to organize and gain a stronger voice at the Capitol.

“I’ve seen firsthand how recent funding levels have made life harder for health care workers and the people we serve,” Brooklyn Park home-care worker Shaquonica Johnson said. “This increase is only a beginning, but starting to make up for years of low funding will help to cut back on staff turnover and bring stability to the field.”

capitol• Better schools, safer schools

In 2013 lawmakers made a $525 million investment in the state’s public school districts, guaranteeing statewide access to all-day kindergarten. They also paid back more than $2 billion borrowed from districts in a gimmick to balance the state budget during the previous biennium, when Republicans controlled the Legislature.

With funding stabilized, lawmakers moved in 2014 to make schools safer, passing the Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act. It strengthens the state’s anti-bullying laws, which had been among the nation’s weakest, and provides more training to prepare school employees for dealing with bullying.

The statewide educators’ union, Education Minnesota, lobbied legislators to pass the law, as did Local 284 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents school employees.

“Come fall, more educators will have a clear understanding of how to help their students when bullying occurs,” Education Minnesota President Denise Specht said. “They will have access to the resources and training they need to help students feel safe. And that means fewer students will come to school in fear and instead feel valued and ready to learn.”

• Leveling the playing field for women

Signed into law on Mother’s Day, the labor-backed Women’s Economic Security Act expands unpaid leave under the Minnesota Parental Leave Act from six to 12 weeks, and it makes it easier for mothers to stay in the workforce by providing new accommodations for pregnant and nursing workers.

The new law also takes measures to close the pay gap between women and men, including a provision requiring large employers seeking state contracts over $500,000 to prove they are paying men and women equally for doing the same job.

• What didn’t lawmakers accomplish?

Transportation is the most pressing issue left unaddressed by Dayton and the DFL majorities, union leaders acknowledged. Needed investments and the state’s roads, bridges and transit systems stayed on the back burner at the Capitol in 2013 and 2014.

“That’s the next deal,” Harry Melander, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council, said. “How do we provide a funding mechanism for transportation and transit that take us through the middle part of the 21st century? That’s going to be our next big challenge.”

Will Dayton and DFL House members have an opportunity to take up that challenge in 2015? Knutson pledged an all-out effort to see them re-elected.

“Union members will be working hard in the coming months to ensure that Gov. Dayton and a DFL legislative majority return to continue the work of building a better Minnesota,” she said.

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

For Building Trades, state’s infrastructure investments mean ‘millions of work hours’

May 22, 2014 by

buildingtrades-logoUtilizing the first state budget surplus in seven years, state legislators pushed the value of a package of public infrastructure investments passed during the 2014 Legislative Session to over $1 billion.

Gov. Mark Dayton signed off on the construction bill May 20, green-lighting projects across the state that will create “millions of work hours” for union members in the coming years, according to Harry Melander, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council.

“Minnesota taxpayers are very well served by these investments, which provide needed asset preservation and create opportunities for the Building Trades community,” Melander said. “By funding major civic centers in Greater Minnesota and the Lewis and Clark water pipeline in the southwest part of the state, present leadership is doing what’s right not only for the Metro but for Greater Minnesota.”

For the East Metro, the infrastructure bill provides funding to renovate the Palace Theater downtown St. Paul and for improvements to the Children’s Museum.

Catholic Charities received $6 million to expand and renovate the Dorothy Day Center, a homeless shelter downtown St. Paul. The development may result in demolition of the St. Paul Labor & Professional Centre, the longtime “house of labor” located across the street from Dorothy Day and the home of several union offices, including the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation.

Policy victories

In addition to the infrastructure bill, the Trades successfully pushed a pair of policy measures signed into law this year.

One establishes minimum requirements contractors must meet in order to bid for work on publicly funded projects. Criteria include compliance with the state’s prevailing-wage laws and its requirements regarding workers compensation and unemployment insurance.

“It will make sure contractors that have cheated won’t be able to participate in publicly funded jobs for a three-year period,” Melander said. “It will be another vehicle to ensure compliance when workers are entitled to prevailing wages.”

Lawmakers also made permanent a pilot program begun two years ago, requiring contractors to register with the Department of Labor and Industry.

The initiative has been successful in preventing the misclassification of workers, North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters Political Director Kyle Makarios said.

“This legislation aims to crack down on the shadowy part of the construction industry, where workers are paid cash or paid off the books or misclassified as ‘independent contractors’ so the employer can avoid paying taxes, Social Security, workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance,” Makarios said.

“If someone is working for you, you have to pay them as an employee unless, in fact, they own their own business or act like a business.”

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

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

April 28, 2014 by

web.wmd2014-aThe 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, who renewed the call for safe workplaces and good jobs for all workers.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman delivers remarks during the Building Trades' Workers Memorial Day ceremony.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman delivers remarks during the Building Trades’ Workers Memorial Day ceremony.

“Today we remember those we have lost, but we must remember every day those that are on the site who we must protect,” Coleman said, “so that when they leave home in the morning, they have every assurance that they will come home that night.”

“It is not possible to eliminate all risk” from construction jobs, Coleman added; “but it is possible to reduce unnecessary risk.”

The mayor pointed specifically to the loss of John Valek, a 61-year-old member of Operating Engineers Local 49, who died Sept. 10, 2013 during demolition work on the site of the new St. Paul Saints baseball park downtown.

Building Trades leaders draped black scarves across white crosses bearing the names of Valek and other workers remembered during the ceremony Friday. A bell rang out once as each worker’s name was read.

Two other members of Local 49 were remembered during the ceremony: Jesse Grimsley, 31, who died Aug. 13 in a bulldozer accident, and Corey Lewellin, 34, who died Oct. 21 in a crane accident.

Michael Dalsin, 49, a member of Sheet Metal Workers Local 10 who died in a fall March 31, 2014 was included in the remembrance ceremony, as were five workers who died from workplace-related illnesses over the previous year. They included:

• Art Rossbach, 71, a member of Pipefitters Local 455 who died Aug. 7 of mesothelioma.

• Theodore Schmitz, 74, a member of Local 455 who died Aug. 6 of asbestosis.

• Elmer R. Skaaden, 86, a member of Heat and Frost Insulators Local 34 who died April 22, 2013 of asbestosis.

• John W. Phillips, 78, a member of Local 34 who died Jan. 18 of lung cancer.

• Alan Crepeau, 70, a member of Local 34 who died Jan. 28 of lung cancer.

Workers Memorial Day observances are continue across the country and throughout the world today, the annual day of reflection on workplace fatalities and safety on the job.

In 2012, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4,383 workers were killed by traumatic injuries, down from 4,693 deaths reported the previous year. An estimated 50,000 to 60,000 more workers died from occupational diseases in 2012.

Minnesota saw 70 workplace fatalities in 2012, 15th lowest among states.

Operating Engineers Local 49 member John Valek died last fall during work on the new ballpark downtown St. Paul.

Operating Engineers Local 49 member John Valek died last fall during work on the new ballpark downtown St. Paul.

Filed Under: Union Events Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
«Previous Page
Next Page»