Unions hold vigil for workers exposed to COVID-19

May 2, 2020 by

Lisa Weed of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota speaks at a vigil on the Capitol steps. Social distancing behind her are (L to R) UFCW Local 663’s Paul Crandall, the Firefighters’ Chris Parsons, MN AFL-CIO’s Bill McCarthy and MNA’s Mary Turner.

One thousand votive candles flickered on the steps of the State Capitol last night, a tribute to Minnesota’s essential workers who have fallen ill with COVID-19.

“To workers who have contracted COVID, this is for you,” Minnesota Nurses Association President Mary Turner said, opening the candlelight vigil as the sun set in St. Paul.

Statistics show health care workers make up about 18% of Minnesota’s 5,000-plus COVID-19 cases. Shortages of personal protective equipment nationwide have only increased the risks faced by people working in hospitals, nursing homes and other health services.

“Our members are fearful,” said Lisa Weed, executive vice president of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, which represents more than 35,000 health care and long-term care workers across the state. “We as one Minnesota have a responsibility to make sure health care workers are not being put in harm’s way, as well as the residents and patients they care for.”

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But the coronavirus has spread in other industries, too. More than 20 meatpacking plants nationwide have been forced to halt production, including Worthington’s JBS pork processing facility, where over 200 employees have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a report in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

Warehouse workers, retail clerks, transit operators, child care providers, corrections officers – the list of essential workers at high risk of being exposed to the pandemic is long.

Unions representing many essential workers in Minnesota – including United Food and Commercial Workers Local 663, which represents workers at the Worthington plant – took part in the vigil, which fell on International Workers Day, appropriately enough.

Local 663 Secretary-Treasurer Paul Crandall said at least 400 members of his union had contracted COVID-19. Chris Parsons of the Minnesota Professional Firefighters Association said lack of PPE creates a common fear among everyone who works with the public.

“The greatest fear among all of us is that we will bring (COVID-19) home to our families,” Parsons said.

Union leaders at the vigil said the best way members the public can help keep frontline workers safe is to follow state guidelines designed to contain the virus.

“Right now the best way we can prevent the increased spread of this illness is to stay at home,” Parsons said.

But Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy, head of the state’s largest labor federation, acknowledged those measures have created hardship for people working in industries like hospitality and leisure, who are making an “extraordinary sacrifice” during the pandemic response.

“As we pause this evening to recognize workers who have suffered and, in some cases, even died from COVID-19, we owe them action,” McCarthy said. “We owe it … to them not to simply focus on when we can reopen the economy, but rather how we can reopen it to ensure the health and safety of working people.”

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Builders past, present honored for work on Minnesota’s Capitol

August 22, 2017 by

Renee Gisch brought her grandchildren to the Capitol so they could see the restoration work she and hundreds of other tradespeople did over the last four years. Nearby, Daniel Reibestein and his mother, Donna, paid tribute to the work his great grandfather put into the landmark building’s original construction more than a century ago.

Construction workers past and present were honored Aug. 13 at the Capitol, part of a weekend-long grand reopening of the building after a four-year, $310 million restoration project.

State lawmakers, including Gov. Mark Dayton, praised union tradespeople for their work on the renovation project, which revitalized the Cass Gilbert-designed structure built from 1896 to 1905.

Renee Gisch showed off a shirt distributed to tradespeople who logged hours on the renovation.
Laborers Local 563 member Dave Chell worked 18 months on the renovation.
Daniel Reibestein showed a photo of his great grandfather Arnold, a stonecutter.
Descendents of stonecutter John Kuettel printed t-shirts for the dedication of a plaque honoring the Capitol’s original builders.
A new plaque in the Capitol basement honors six workers killed during construction of the Capitol.
Gov. Dayton praised workers who logged a combined 1.4 million hours on the Capitol renovation.

“It was really amazing to see the personal pride in everybody’s eyes as they worked on this building,” project architect Kimberly Sandbulte said. “A lot of what is here is personal handwork of the craftsmen from 100 years ago, and everybody working on this building really wanted to honor and preserve that history and that legacy.”

Celebrating the originals

It was fitting, then, that descendants of some of those workers were on hand for the ceremony.

Research into the Capitol’s original builders, spearheaded by the University of Minnesota’s Labor Education Service, dug up information on over 600 workers and provided the basis for a documentary film, website and curriculum.

The curriculum, in turn, prompted eighth-grade students in Owatonna to lobby their legislators for a plaque – unveiled at the end of the Aug. 13 Capitol ceremony – honoring six workers killed on the jobsite during construction.

Daniel and Donna Reibestein were among about 100 descendants who turned out for the unveiling. Daniel eagerly shared a photo of his great grandfather Arnold Reibestein, as well as a copy of a payroll ledger showing the stonecutter earned $5 in overtime wages on the project.

Descendants of another original builder, John Kuettel, organized a family reunion around the Capitol ceremony, printing t-shirts with the stonecutter’s image displayed on the back. Some 70 family members attended, Kuettel’s grandson, Norb Adelmann, said, including “a lot of cousins I hadn’t met before.”

“This building is really important to everyone in Minnesota, but it has a special place in the memories and the hearts of the descendants of the builders,” said Randy Croce, the “Who Built Our Capitol?” project director.

Once in a lifetime

The renovation project created 1.4 million hours of work for tradespeople – and posed some unique challenges, JE Dunn Construction’s Jeff Callinan said.

“We marvel and we look at the fine art, and we look at the stained glass and we look at the stone carving – and that’s all magnificent work, incredible,” he said. “But putting modern day systems into a 1905 building is not easy.

“So the electricians and the plumbers and the sheet metal workers and the tile setters – the work they did to pack the systems seamlessly into this Cass Gilbert gem is in itself a marvel.”

Several speakers also celebrated the project for ensuring the people working on the statehouse reflected the demographic makeup of the state. Contractors and Building Trades unions successfully met a 40 percent benchmark for hiring women and minority tradespeople on the project.

“There were a lot of women – and that’s what we need,” said Gisch, a member of Operating Engineers Local 49 who worked nine months on the project. “We had artists, stone workers, a lot of women in there. They do detailed work, and they do it well – better, you could say.”

Gisch and other workers who attended the ceremony spoke of an added sense of pride that comes with working on the Capitol – even for one worker from Wisconsin.

Dave Chell, a member of Laborers Local 563, drove to St. Paul from Grantsburg to work on the renovation. For 18 months he worked chopping holes in the Capitol’s stone to make way for a new ventilation system.

“This job was special even though I’m from Wisconsin,” Chell said. “Just to be part of it was amazing.”

“Projects like this are ones that you drive by and talk to your children and grandchildren about,” Minnesota Building Trades President Harry Melander said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for those of us who work in the Building Trades.”

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Fundraising push supports Nellie Stone Johnson bust in Capitol

December 2, 2014 by
Nellie Stone Johnson had a distinguished record of public service in support of the advancement of minority concerns, the rights of workers and equal opportunities for all people.

Nellie Stone Johnson had a distinguished record of public service in support of the advancement of minority concerns, the rights of workers and equal opportunities for all people.

Nellie Stone Johnson, the Minnesota-born labor and civil-rights activist, left a legacy of “firsts.” Now, Minnesotans have an opportunity to add to that legacy by making Johnson the first woman, first African American and first labor leader honored with a bust in the State Capitol.

The Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton last session authorized honoring Johnson with a bust in a prominent spot in the Capitol. But the project is contingent upon supporters independently raising enough money to draw $30,000 in matching funds from the state to pay for the sculpture.

A group of labor activists has taken up the fundraising effort. To contribute, send a check to “NSJ Capitol Fund” to Union Bank and Trust, 312 Central Ave. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414.

Rep. Joe Mullery of Minneapolis spearheaded efforts to win approval and funding for the bust.

“I believe she not only deserves to be in the Capitol for her actions, but that a bust of her will be a symbol of all of the Minnesotans like her who have made contributions to our state,” Mullery said. “There is no bust of a woman. There is no bust of an African-American Minnesotan. There is no bust of a leader in the fight for worker’s rights.

“I think her bust will have great meaning for all these Minnesotans, especially for young kids who visit the Capitol and see someone like them or has a meaning to them.”

Johnson, born in Lakeville in 1905, distinguished herself not only as a labor and civil-rights leader, but as a business owner, an elected official and a fierce advocate for public education as well.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Johnson rose to prominent roles within two labor unions. She was elected the first woman vice-president of the Minnesota Culinary Council and the first woman vice-president of Local 665 Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union.

Johnson won a seat on the Minneapolis Library Board in 1945, becoming the first black person elected to citywide office. Later in life, she served as a trustee of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities.

A scholarship fund bearing her name provides assistance to racial minority union members and their families attending MnSCU schools.

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With support from bonding bill, MN Workers Memorial Garden nears completion

June 17, 2014 by

web.WorkerMemGarden-tallThe $1 billion package of public infrastructure investments approved by state lawmakers earlier this year includes $250,000 for a mural and other improvements that will complete the Minnesota Workers Memorial Garden in St. Paul.

Construction of the memorial, located near the intersection of 12th and Cedar in the southeast corner of the Capitol grounds, wrapped up more than four years ago, and the structure was officially dedicated in August 2010.

But earlier appropriations from the Legislature, combined with more than $130,000 in contributions from individuals and unions, were not enough to adorn the flowing, wall-like structure with more than a pair of inscriptions.

Fortunately, supporters never stopped lobbying lawmakers to finish the job, most notably former Minnesota AFL-CIO President David Roe, who will turn 90 this fall.

“This wouldn’t have happened if David didn’t have the drive and tenacity to keep this in front of decision makers,” Minnesota Building & Construction Trades Council President Harry Melander said. “It’s been 15 years of dedication to the cause.”

Roe, who served as a statewide labor leader until retiring in 1985, conceived the idea to build a workers memorial 15 years ago, along with the late Russ Fridley, former director of the Minnesota Historical Society.

The two men spearheaded private fundraising and lobbying efforts, and their work will be acknowledged with a plaque in front of the memorial. The plaque includes a favorite quote shared by Roe and Fridley: “They are not gone, we just do not see them.”

Melander will co-chair a committee charged with overseeing work on the mural with Roe’s daughter Judy Grudem and Louise Sundin, former president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers.

The guiding principle for the muralists will be simple. “This memorial remembers those people who went to work, but, unfortunately, didn’t make it home,” Melander said.

Since its dedication four years ago, the Workers Memorial Garden has served as the site of Building Trades unions’ ceremonies on Workers Memorial Day, and the memorial adds to an impressive array of previously dedicated memorials on the Capitol grounds.

“There’s no other state that has allocated as many areas as Minnesota has to memorials. It’s fantastic,” Roe said. “There isn’t anything like it in the United States, and, for goodness sake, there ought to be a memorial for those who have died building Minnesota.”

The memorial is not limited in scope to any trade or profession, but dedicated to any worker killed in the course of doing his or her job, Roe said. Donations poured in from unions and crafts of all kinds, including public employee units, teachers’ unions, industrial unions and labor councils.

Several other individuals, Roe said, had a hand in realizing the vision for a workers memorial, including former House Speaker Harry Sieben, lobbyist Harry Fleming and Dick Anfang, the former president of the state Building Trades Council.

Judy Grudem served as treasurer for fundraising around the Workers Memorial Garden. She and Harry Melander (R) will serve on a committee to guide artists who will complete the memorial wall with a ceramic mural. Grudem's father, David Roe, conceived the idea for a memorial 15 years ago.

Judy Grudem served as treasurer for fundraising around the Workers Memorial Garden. She and Harry Melander (R) will serve on a committee to guide artists who will complete the memorial wall with a ceramic mural. Grudem’s father, David Roe, conceived the idea for a memorial 15 years ago.

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