Union pipefitters make furnace repairs for homeowners in need

October 3, 2018 by

Mel MacFarlane (L), a journey-level pipefitter with Local 455, and third-year apprentice Ben Woodis ran a service heck for St. Paul resident Mary Kujawa during the Heat’s On service day Sept. 29.

Some 200 union tradespeople spent their day off Saturday inspecting and repairing furnaces at no cost to senior, low-income and disabled homeowners across Minnesota.

Volunteers with Project Heat’s On, the service day launched in 1986 by unions and their signatory contractors, came from three Pipefitters locals: St. Paul- and Mankato-based Local 455, Rochester-based Local 6 and Minneapolis- and St. Cloud-based Local 539.

Together, union members prepared 140 home furnaces for winter, making repairs that will reduce energy costs and prevent heating failures.

“St. Paul Steamfitters/Pipefitters Local 455 started Heat’s On in 1986, and it has been an overwhelming success,” Local 455 Assistant Business Manager Tony Poole said. “The following year, Local 539 made it a joint effort.

“Since then our members have donated thousands of man-hours helping low-income residents in the metro area by inspecting and making repairs to their home heating systems. It has been great to give back to the community.”

Since the project’s inception, volunteers have donated more than 35,000 hours of labor – at a value of $3,841,975 – to 8,144 households through the Heat’s On program.

Mel MacFarlane, a journey-level pipefitter with Local 455, and third-year apprentice Ben Woodis ran a basic service and operations check for Mary Kujawa, who lives in St. Paul’s North End neighborhood.

Kujawa said she wanted to be sure her furnace would make it to the holidays, when she plans on hosting her children and more than 40 grandchildren. MacFarlane, in his fourth year as a Heat’s On volunteer, saw no red flags during his inspection.

“She’s going to be set for the heating season,” MacFarlane said. “If nothing else, we delivered some piece of mind here today – and a few moments of companionship.”

Heat’s On is a combined effort of Pipefitters unions and the Minnesota Mechanical Contractors Association, which provides materials and parts for repairs, as well as four Community Action Partnership agencies (Hennepin County, Ramsey and Washington Counties, Three Rivers, and Tri-County), which identify homeowners in need.

Learn more about Project Heat’s On at www.mnpipetrades.com/heatson.php.

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Building Trades invited, but unwelcome at Bonfe’s job fair

October 9, 2015 by
Shirts worn by Building Trades union members at Bonfe's employment open house.

Shirts worn by Building Trades union members at Bonfe’s employment open house.

Bonfe’s might want to consider a new recruiting strategy.

For the second year in a row, the non-union mechanical and electrical contractor invited members of area Building Trades unions to attend an open house for prospective employees. And just like last year, Bonfe’s recruiters spent most of the open house trying to keep union members out.

After receiving the invitations, a group of 11 unions teamed up to reserve a room at the Embassy Suites in Bloomington, where Bonfe’s held the open house Tuesday, looking to “piggyback” off the non-union contractor’s promotion.

“We just saw an opportunity where workers might be walking in and looking for jobs,” Ironworkers Local 512 representative Mike Loftus said.

Of course, Local 512 and other Building Trades unions offer more than just a job.

“This was an opportunity to reach people looking for a career,” Steve Dilger of the Minnesota Pipe Trades said. “We set the area standards in wages and benefits. Bonfe’s flat out doesn’t pay area-standard wages and benefits.”

Unfortunately, the Trades’ effort to offer job seekers a choice met stiff resistance.

First, the Embassy Suites gave the unions a room in a remote corner of the hotel. “You needed a highway map to get back there,” Bill Malecha of IBEW Local 110 said.

And when union members attempted to post signs with directions to their suite, hotel staff removed them.

“They told us we couldn’t have any signs up, told us we couldn’t hand out any literature,” Dilger said. “The police tried to tell us our shirts were picket signs. And we were told if we handed out business cards – even in the bar – we would be immediately asked to leave.

“They didn’t treat us very well, Embassy Suites included.”

Still, the unions succeeded in diverting much of Bonfe’s energy from recruiting new workers. And the police presence likely didn’t do much for the job fair’s ambience.

Bonfe’s once was among the Building Trades’ signatory contractors, but it decertified about six years ago. The company no longer hires union electricians, plumbers or sheet metal workers. Bonfe’s is completely non-union.

[To find a union electrical contractor in the Twin Cities, visit the IBEW’s Pro 5 Quality website. For a union plumbing or pipefitting contractor, check out the Minnesota Mechanical Contractors Association website.]

The group of Building Trades unions joining the effort included some crafts whose contractors don’t compete with Bonfe’s for labor: Ironworkers Local 512, Sheet Metal Workers Local 10, Heat & Frost Insulators Local 34, Roofers Local 96, Pipefitters Locals 455 and 539, Painters and Allied Trades District Council 82, Plumbers Locals 34 and 15, and Electrical Workers Local 110 and 292.

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Water’s Off volunteers provide plumbing repairs for low-income homeowners

March 24, 2015 by
Local 34 members Gerald Keating (L) and Brett Sergot volunteered together during the Water's Off day of service March 21.

Local 34 members Gerald Keating (L) and Brett Sergot volunteered together during the Water’s Off day of service March 21.

“This is too good to be true,” Laurene Gruett said as Gerald Keating and Brett Sergot, members of St. Paul Plumbers Local 34, repaired the basement shower and kitchen sink in her North St. Paul home March 21. “What a blessing.”

Keating and Sergot were among 57 volunteers from Local 34 who participated in the annual Water’s Off day of service. St. Paul plumbers provided free service and repairs to 50 low-income, senior or disabled homeowners.

“Usually, it’s simple fixes that help people lower their water bill and keep their property from flooding,” Keating said. “It’s just a nice chance to give back.”

This marked the 21st consecutive year plumbers unions in Minnesota have teamed with their contractors, members of the Minnesota Mechanical Contractors Association, on the day of service. Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties helps identify homeowners who need plumbing assistance.

At Gruett’s house, that meant fixing a leaky shower base and adjusting the basement toilet, repairs Keating, in his fifth year of volunteering, and Sergot, in his 14th year, made easily. The two work for Chaska-based Dynamic Mechanical.

“This is about having a good hear,” Sergot said, “and doing work that needs to be done.”

Water’s Off started in the Twin Cities in 1994 and is now a national volunteer program.

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Volunteer pipefitters tune up furnaces for homeowners in need

October 16, 2014 by
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St. Paul Pipefitters Local 455 volunteers during HEAT’S ON 2014 included Soua Lee (L) and State Rep. Tim Mahoney. (submitted photo)

Volunteer members of St. Paul Pipefitters Local 455 serviced furnaces for low-income, elderly and disabled homeowners as part of the 29th annual HEAT’S ON day of service Sept. 27.

Area union contractors, members of the Minnesota Mechanical Contractors Association, supplied parts and vehicles to the effort, and 147 volunteers from Local 455 and other pipefitters locals provided the labor.

HEAT’S ON volunteers tuned-up or repaired 141 furnaces statewide, increasing homeowners’ safety and reducing their fuel costs. Volunteers also installed or maintained smoke detectors.

This year’s event provided assistance to homeowners in Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Cloud, Rochester and Mankato.

HEAT’S ON is a national program that started in the Twin Cities in 1986. Since then pipefitters in Minnesota have volunteered over 32,833 hours and assisted 7,588 homeowners at an estimated value of over $3.5 million.

Participating homeowners were selected with the help of local community human service organizations, including the Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties.

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When it comes to home improvement, skip the hassle, hire union

June 1, 2014 by

framing10In over your head on a home-improvement job? Whether it’s a leaky pipe or a kitchen remodel, your best bet for quality and value is a union contractor.

Fortunately, Building Trades unions and their signatory contractors are making it easier than ever to get a bid or a price quote on residential work. [For a list of links to union contractors in Minnesota, see the Buy Union page.]

Paul Berg, director of public relations and training for the Minnesota Mechanical Contractors Association, advised homeowners to know their limitations.

“Things can go wrong in a hurry, especially when you don’t know what you are doing,” Berg said. “Fixing a loose plumbing fitting can quickly turn into a watery basement. And if you want to repair your furnace we’d advise sticking to changing the furnace filter.”

The MMCA’s website, MinnesotaMCA.org, maintains a list of union contractors available to install or repair residential plumbing, heating and air conditioning systems. All contractors on the list are licensed, bonded and insured.

“Having these qualifications makes sure you don’t end up with larger problems than you started with,” Berg said.

Union contractors are able to guarantee quality work because they team with local Building Trades unions to invest in training, from their intensive apprenticeship programs to continuing education for journeymen.

Electrical Workers’ unions in the Twin Cities, for example, invest over $3 million per year into worker training, IBEW Local 110’s Jeff Anderson said.

“We put a lot of stock in training,” Anderson said. “Being on top of the new products, especially in the residential industry, where electrical code changes quite frequently, a guy really does have to pay attention, know the rules. And we do.”

Union contractors aren’t hiring “people who are just giving something a try,” Anderson added. Union tradespeople are invested in their careers, and they earn wages and benefits befitting that investment.

“With a union contractor you know that they are paying their employees a living wage, including benefits, that they are paying taxes, and are not illegally misclassifying their employees,” said Tracy Madden, communications director for the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters.

Madden pointed to several contractors that do residential carpentry work in the East Metro area: MLR, 612-328-7749; J&K Builders, Inc., 952-473-5033; Lemke & Sons LLC, 651-665-9477; Parkos Construction Co., 651-455-0031; Tim Lemke Construction, 651-602-9001; and Trudeau Construction, 651-450-1238.

The IBEW will soon roll out a new website, featuring the union’s five-year guarantee on all work, for local consumers seeking residential services.

In the meantime, Anderson said, homeowners can call his local for contractor referrals at 651-776-4239.

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