After pandemic hiatus, Plumbers union brings back Water’s Off service day

April 25, 2022 by

Brett Bernhjelm and Julia Kunze pause for a photo with Dave Hallis, a disabled Navy veteran whose Maplewood home needed plumbing repairs. Bernhjelm is a military veteran, too, having served six years in the Minnesota National Guard.

Dave Hallis’ kitchen drain needed more than a quick fix, and caulking in the disabled Navy veteran’s roll-in shower had begun to separate.

So when Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties called Hallis in March to see if he could use some free plumbing repairs, the timing couldn’t have been better.

Hallis was one of 25 Twin Cities homeowners who received free service through local union plumbers’ annual Water’s Off service initiative March 26.

“I’ve had a couple plumbers come in, but it would just continue leaking,” said Hallis, who lives in a Maplewood mobile home. “Without this help, these repairs wouldn’t be getting done because financially I am strapped. I was worried it would create more damage because hardwood floors and water don’t mix.”

Making the repairs in Hallis’ home were two volunteer members of St. Paul Plumbers Local 34, Brett Bernhjelm and Julia Kunze. They replaced the leaking pipes beneath Hallis’ kitchen sink, recaulked his shower and did a walk-through inspection of the rest of his home’s plumbing.

“It’s a good thing it’s getting fixed today,” said Bernhjelm, a 19-year member of Local 34. “The band-aids that had been put on were not going to work.”

Since Water’s Off started in 1991, union plumbers have donated more than 13,000 hours of skilled labor, at a value of over $2 million. Their contractors, members of the Minnesota Mechanical Contractors Association and the Metro Plumbing Heating and Cooling Contractors, pick up the cost of parts and other supplies.

“Giving back to our communities is one of our core union principles, so once we identified the problem, we knew we needed to help,” said David Ybarra, president of the Minnesota Pipe Trades Association.

“By providing free plumbing repairs and inspections, this program not only saves these homeowners money, it lifts a weight off their shoulders and brings the community together,” said Marcia Paulson of Community Action Partnership.

For Kunze, a third-year apprentice, it was her first time volunteering with Water’s Off, which had been canceled in each of the previous two years because of the pandemic. She said it won’t be her last.

“I just like to give back to the community, especially for a veteran who has fought for our country,” Kunze said. “It’s an amazing honor.”

Bernhjelm is a veteran too, having served six years in the Minnesota National Guard. He and Hallis shared a laugh when Hallis successfully guessed which branch of the military Bernhjelm had served.

“I got the feeling you were an Army man,” Hallis said.

Those are the connections, for Bernhjelm, that make volunteering with Water’s Off worthwhile.

“Other people don’t have the training to fix things that we, as union plumbers, can easily fix,” Bernhjelm said. “And it’s great to run into people like David. He served us, and it’s an honor to be able to serve him.”

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

Cutting-edge geothermal system keeps Local 455 training center cool

April 4, 2022 by

Tony Poole, St. Paul Steamfitters and Pipefitters Local 455’s business manager, explains how a geothermal system cools the union’s Apprenticeship Training Center in St. Paul.

At its Apprenticeship Training Center in St. Paul, Steamfitters and Pipefitters Local 455 prepares the next generation of union members to work in a changing energy landscape. But the union’s training center itself stands as a testament to the potential for emerging energy technologies to create jobs in the pipe trades for generations to come.

Last summer, Local 455 used a newly installed, cutting-edge geothermal system to cool the facility, located off L’Orient Street and Maryland Avenue. Despite running on a limited capacity while ironing out some mechanical issues, the new system cut the union’s cooling costs by 85%, according to an analysis facilitated by Xcel Energy.

“We think it’s probably going to be the future of cooling,” Local 455 Business Manager Tony Poole said. “It virtually provides our building with free air conditioning. The only costs that we pay are for the electricity to run the pumps that cycle water through the building.”

Poole projected the union will recover the costs of installing the geothermal system within seven years of bringing it online.

“We were looking to promote clean-energy projects that pipefitters and steamfitters work on, so we decided to put a geothermal energy system into our training center and showcase it,” Poole said. “It’s good for reducing greenhouse gases and emissions, but it’s also good to promote the work we do in the clean-energy field.”

Initially, Local 455 considered a traditional geothermal system that would have required digging some 70 wells on the property – at the temporary expense of parking space.

Instead, the union connected with a Minnesota-based company that has pioneered a new kind of geothermal technology, one that embeds a heat exchanger into the aquifer. The pump cycles 52-degree water into a hydraulic cooling system throughout building.

Water enters the training center’s cooling system at 52 degrees and typically exits a degree or two warmer.

Just four wells are enough to cool the 100,000-square-foot facility.

“We’re not taking any water out of the aquifer,” Poole explained. “We’re just using the temperature of the water in the aquifer to cool the water coming in the building.”

The technology is so new that Local 455 needed a variance from Minnesota’s Department of Health before installing it. The union hopes that data collected from the site will help determine whether the geothermal system becomes part of the state’s regular permitting process.

“This is the first building of its kind to use this technology in the world that we’re aware of,” Poole said. “We wanted to be on the forefront of this, and we are.”

The local union isn’t being shy about showing off its new system, either. Local 455 welcomes local and state officials and politicians to tour the facility and learn more about the hydraulic cooling system – in the hopes that the pipe-heavy geothermal approach gets more attention as lawmakers look to invest in and encourage green energy solutions.

“Everybody talks about wind, everybody talks about solar because those are things people can see and understand,” Poole said. “People need to be talking about geothermal, and things like carbon capture and clean hydrogen. Our members want to hear elected officials talking about those technologies.

“All the piping throughout this building is what we work with every day as pipefitters.”

The geothermal cooling system may be just the start of a clean-energy makeover at Local 455’s training hall. Poole said the union has already removed 26 natural-gas-powered rooftop cooling units, installed when the building opened in 2015. That frees up space for a new kind of heating system.

“We’re actually working on quotes with a contractor right now to get thermal solar panels for our roof,” Poole said. “The technology puts a coil inside the thermal panel, which heats the water, and it could supplement the heat from our boilers.”

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

Unions, contractors provide plumbing repairs to homeowners in need

April 12, 2018 by

Union volunteers working on St. Paul’s East Side include (L to R) Forrest Callahan (Local 34), Curtiss Cross (Local 15), Sara Gysbers (15), Tasha Lawrence (34), Jack Lawrence (15) and Stuart Kane.

Union plumbers and contractors held their annual “Water’s Off” service day Saturday, providing free repairs and inspections to low-income, elderly and disabled homeowners in the Twin Cities and Rochester.

More than 100 volunteers provided no-charge service to about 75 homeowners this year.

Minnesota apprentices and journey-level plumbers have given up more than 11,000 volunteer hours since “Water’s Off” began in 1994, providing over $1.5 million worth of repairs to 3,500 households statewide.

Union contractors, meanwhile, provide replacement parts at no cost to the homeowners.

In addition to helping those in need, “Water’s Off” boosts water conservation efforts in the region – a driving motivation behind the project’s founding 24 years ago. After working with utility companies, Minnesota Pipe Trades President David Ybarra recalled, union plumbers found that those who could least afford plumbing services were the same homeowners with the largest water bills.

“Giving back to our communities is one of our core union principles, so once we identified the problem, we knew we needed to help,” Ybarra said.

The program developed in Minnesota now serves as a model for other volunteer programs across the country.

Plumbers Local 34 apprentices gather for a photo before Water’s Off 2018.

 

St. Paul Plumbers Local 34 turned out nearly as many apprentices (33) as journey-level members (49) this year – an encouraging sign for the future of the program. Together, they provided repairs to 24 homeowners in the East Metro.

“These volunteers aren’t just fixing a leaky toilet,” said Marcia Paulson, the program manager for Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties, which identifies homeowners in need of assistance. “They’re saving money for homeowners and showing that someone’s looking out for them.”

Filed Under: Community Tagged With: , , , ,

Volunteer Pipefitters keep heat on for homeowners in need

October 2, 2017 by

Local 455’s Maria Pinzon and Christopher Kristenson repair a Frogtown homeowner’s furnace.

Over 100 low-income, elderly and disabled homeowners in Minnesota received free furnace repairs and inspections Saturday, thanks to union pipefitters and their contractors.

Project Heat’s On, in it’s 31st year, drew volunteers from local unions in St. Paul, Minneapolis, Rochester and St. Cloud. In the Twin Cities, 90 members of St. Paul Pipefitters Local 455 joined the effort, as did 80 members of Minneapolis-based Local 539.

Pipefitters like Maria Pinzon and Christopher Kristenson, fifth-year apprentices with Local 455, traveled in teams to homes, where they repaired minor furnace problems, replaced smoke detectors and checked for dangerous heat-related health conditions.

“We do a lot of simple things that people aren’t able to do because they are elderly or busy in life,” Pinzon said. “It can really make a world of difference and possibly save a life.”

At a breakfast banquet before the volunteer event, union leaders and elected officials, including Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, thanked pipefitters for their work – and for raising awareness about the importance of keeping home-heating systems in good repair.

Among the causes of home fires in Minnesota, heating systems recently dropped from second-most common to third, A.J. Neis, a fire inspections supervisor with the City of St. Paul, told volunteers.

“The needle is moving in the right direction, and that’s because of the work you guys are doing,” he said.

 

Since its launch in 1986, Heat’s On volunteers have donated more than 34,000 hours of skilled labor, providing more than $3.7 million worth of repairs to 7,869 Minnesota households.

“There is a definite need for this service in our community,” said Greg Rottach, energy conservation construction manager with Community Action of Ramsey and Washington Counties, a nonprofit agency that identifies homeowners for Heat’s On assistance. “For our participating households, knowing that you have safe and adequate heat for the winter is quite a relief.”

For Pinzon and Kristenson, the first stop of the day was a home in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood. After tuning up the furnace and replacing a condensate drain line, they headed for another home in the city’s North End.

“I have family members that struggle in similar situations,” Kristenson said. “It was a good opportunity for me to give back.”

Pipefitters from Locals 455 and 539 gather for a photo after the Heat’s On breakfast banquet.

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

Union volunteers provide Clinton, Sanders with boots on the ground in Minnesota

March 1, 2016 by
Left: Laborers President Terry O'Sullivan rallies a crowd of Hillary Clinton volunteers. Right: Bernie Sanders thanks members of the Minnesota Nurses Association for their support.

Left: Laborers President Terry O’Sullivan rallies a crowd of Hillary Clinton volunteers in Little Canada. Right: Bernie Sanders thanks members of the Minnesota Nurses Association for their support.

 

Energized by the prospect of keeping a pro-labor president in the White House, union volunteers in Minnesota are hitting the streets, working the phones and planning a major presence at tonight’s precinct caucuses, one of 14 Super Tuesday nominating contests nationwide.

[Click here to learn how to participate in the caucus process. Click here to learn where you caucus.]

While their enthusiasm may be shared, not all union activists agree when it comes to the best candidate for the job.

Members of AFSCME, the Carpenters, LIUNA, the Painters, the Pipe Trades, the Service Employees and other unions rallied in support of Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton in Little Canada on Saturday, with nearly 100 volunteers fanning out to knock on doors across the metro area.

 

LIUNA General President Terry O’Sullivan
Members of IUPAT get a primer in door-knocking.
Union members rally in support of Hillary Clinton at the IUPAT hall in Little Canada.
SEIU volunteers map out a door-knocking route.
AFSCME Council 5 volunteers hit the streets for Hillary Clinton.
Carpenters cheer a speech by U.S. Rep. Tim Walz at the Clinton rally.

 

Although Clinton has drawn an overwhelming majority of union endorsements, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has garnered support from National Nurses United and the Communication Workers of America, and both unions have mobilized their own network of volunteers in advance of tonight’s caucuses.

CWA members have been holding phone banks for weeks, and members of the Minnesota Nurses Association spent the days running up to tonight’s caucuses riding the “Bernie Bus” across the state, urging people to caucus for Sanders.

Differences in style and substance

Clinton’s union supporters point to their candidate’s extensive resume as a public servant, as well as her results-oriented approach. Sanders’ backers tout the senator’s independence and his fiery, populist message.

SEIU President Mary Kay Henry (R) knocks doors in support of Hillary Clinton with Local 284 member Nate Mathias and SEIU Healthcare MN member Robin Pikala (L).

SEIU President Mary Kay Henry (R) knocks doors in support of Hillary Clinton with Local 284 member Nate Mathias and SEIU Healthcare MN member Robin Pikala (L).

Nate Mathias, a pre-kindergarten teacher from Plymouth and member of SEIU Local 284, said he initially gravitated toward Sanders. But on Saturday, he knocked doors on St. Paul’s east side with SEIU President Mary Kay Henry, rounding up support for Clinton.

“I love a lot of the things Bernie is saying, but Hillary Clinton is a bit more of a pragmatist,” Mathias said. “I just think she has more of the experience and political savvy we need in a candidate.”

Henry, the SEIU’s highest-ranking elected officer, said Clinton met with rank-and-file members in seeking the union’s endorsement last year. “Members said, ‘She gets us, she’s tough and she fights,’” Henry said. “She understands the agenda we think matters most to working people.”

Policy differences, too, have steered unions into the Clinton or Sanders camp.

Sanders greets nurses in St. Paul.

Sanders greets nurses in St. Paul.

At a private reception with Sanders in St. Paul Feb. 12, many nurses said Sanders won them over with his support for expanding Medicare to cover everyone – and taxing Wall Street to pay for it.

“From the beginning, Bernie made total sense to me,” said United Hospital nurse Jennifer Michelson, who traveled to Iowa to volunteer for the Sanders campaign earlier this winter. “I like that he’s challenging the power structure of Wall Street, and I like that he wants to get profit out of health care.”

Energy policy, meanwhile, marks a substantive difference for many Building Trades unions, who draw work from pipelines and other energy-infrastructure projects.

Speaking at the rally in Little Canada, LIUNA President Terry O’Sullivan praised Clinton’s commitment to an “all-of-the-above energy strategy that works for us and works for our economy.”

High stakes

Despite their differences, union members on both sides agreed the stakes are high in 2016, and they hoped early enthusiasm among volunteers would carry over into the fall.

“Regardless of who our candidate is, if we don’t win we’re going to see a rollback of help for working families,” Mathias said. “We’re going to go back to policies that foster inequality and don’t do enough to help working people. We can’t afford that.”

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

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.

Filed Under: Organizing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pipe Trades, Mayo Clinic team up for cancer research

August 20, 2014 by
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (R), pictured with United Association General President William Hite (L) and Pipefitters Local 455 Business Manager Richard Magler, congratulated UA leaders on their work to raise more than $1 million for cancer research at the Mayo Clinic.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (R), pictured with United Association General President William Hite (L) and Pipefitters Local 455 Business Manager Richard Magler, congratulated UA leaders on raising more than $1 million for cancer research at the Mayo Clinic.

The United Association, a union of more than 370,000 plumbers, pipefitters, sprinkler fitters and service technicians worldwide, teamed up with the Mayo Clinic yesterday to raise an estimated $1 million for cancer research.

The total marks continued growth for the Pipe Trades’ golf tournament, held for the third consecutive year at Hillcrest Country Club, which is owned by St. Paul Pipefitters Local 455. Last year the event raised $800,000.

Fundraising totals reflect money raised by the Pipe Trades and matching funds from Mayo Clinic. The proceeds are directed to three types of cancer research: children’s cancer, general cancer and multiple myeloma.

Many union leaders and guests at the tournament had a personal connection to the cause, including United Association General President William Hite. Diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2008, Hite has been in remission for six years.

UA General President William Hite (R) traveled to St. Paul with his Mayo Clinic doctor, Keith Stewart.

UA General President William Hite (R) traveled to St. Paul with his Mayo Clinic doctor, Keith Stewart.

Hite traveled to St. Paul for the tournament Dr. Keith Stewart, a multiple myeloma specialist who treated Hite at the Mayo’s Phoenix campus. Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cells, which can affect the bones, immune system, kidneys and red blood cell count.

“I probably wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Dr. Stewart,” Hite said. “I’m living proof of the importance of the kind of research we’re helping fund here today.”

The partnership between Mayo and the UA goes beyond Hite’s cancer treatment, however.

“A lot of our members work year-round in Mayo’s Rochester, Phoenix and Florida facilities,” Hite said. “We do a lot of new construction and maintenance at their facilities as well.”

“The United Association has been a big supporter of Mayo Clinic,” said Margot Richardson, a development officer with the hospital.

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

Franken earns HealthWORKS Hero Award for advocacy on behalf of Taft-Hartley funds

May 28, 2014 by
HealthWORKS Chair Jim Hynes (L) gives Sen. Al Franken a tour of the Health Fair after presenting the senator with the HealthWORKS Hero Award. (photo submitted)

HealthWORKS Chair James Hynes (L) gives Sen. Al Franken a tour of the Health Fair after presenting the senator with the HealthWORKS Hero Award. (photo submitted)

HealthWORKS, a new coalition of Taft-Hartley health and welfare funds, presented U.S. Sen. Al Franken with an award at the annual “Health and Benefit Fair” held April 26 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

The HealthWORKS Hero Award recognizes Franken’s advocacy on behalf of Taft-Hartley plans, industry-based health insurance funds that cover workers at multiple employers and are run jointly by labor and management.

Taft-Hartley plans, which cover hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans, are finding the regulatory landscape difficult to navigate in the wake of the Affordable Care Act, according to James Hynes, executive administrator of Pipe Trades Services Minnesota, the local Taft-Hartley fund that founded the HealthWORKS Coalition.

“These funds were just forgotten in the ACA,” Hynes said. “In the original 3,000 or so pages of the law, Taft-Hartley funds were mentioned six times, and that was mostly to say that further guidance will be coming. Well, we never got that guidance.”

Franken, a DFLer from Minnesota, co-authored the Health Care Fairness and Stability Act of 2014 with GOP Sen. Mary Kirk of Illinois. It would provide relief to Taft-Hartley funds, delaying by three years the collection of a “reinsurance fee” for each member covered in their plan, as mandated by the ACA.

The fee, which will come due in December if Franken’s bill does not become law, is $63 per participant in the health insurance pool. That means it falls not only on employees, but on their dependents as well. For the Minnesota Pipe Trades’ fund alone, it will amount to nearly $1 million.

A safety net for insurance companies

Where will that money go? The ACA created the “reinsurance” program to steady the cost of health care premiums by requiring insurance companies to pool together funds for emergency purposes – like when a person’s medical bills exceed the coverage levels anticipated by their insurer.

Unfortunately, the ACA requires Taft-Hartley funds and businesses that are self-insured to pay the fee, regardless of whether or not they will benefit from the reinsurance program.

“Essentially, it takes money from our members to put into a trust fund that insurance companies can access,” Hynes said.

In addition to delaying the collection of reinsurance fees from self-insured businesses and Taft-Hartley funds by three years, Franken’s bill would seek to pinpoint the actual cost of the reinsurance program, so that a more efficient and fair funding mechanism can be established.

“Franken came in and said let’s postpone this tax for three years until we find out what we really need,” Hynes said. “Do we know what the number is? No, we don’t. Is there a better way to fund it than on the backs of self-insured businesses and Taft-Hartley funds?”

Making the ACA work for Minnesotans

That leadership earned Franken the HealthWORKS Hero Award. The senator accepted the award at the Health and Benefit Fair, where HealthWORKS used its presence to urge members of Taft-Hartley plans to sign onto a petition of support for the Health Care Fairness and Stability Act, and to send thank-you notes to Franken and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a co-sponsor, for their support of the bill.

“My No. 1 concern is to make sure the Affordable Care Act works for the people of Minnesota. We need to keep moving forward and fix the things that aren’t working,” Franken said. “Businesses and workers all over Minnesota are concerned about this. Our bipartisan bill would provide relief to employers and workers, and it helps keep costs down for businesses across the country.”

HealthWORKS is quickly growing into a leading advocacy coalition for Taft-Hartley plans nationwide. The coaltion is also pushing for other amendments to the ACA, including language acknowledging the existence – and benefits – of multi-employer health funds, and relief for Taft-Hartley participants from penalties for not insuring their workers.

“If the employer is signed to a collective bargaining agreement and pays into a multi-employer health fund that meets the criteria of the ACA, that’s all they should need to do,” Hynes said.

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