Up for a challenge: Competitors test their skills at WBS Trade Games

December 10, 2024 by

Ashley Kula (L) and Anya Davis raced to finish Cement Masons Local 633’s challenge.

It wasn’t gold, silver or bronze, but there was plenty of metal in play during the Trade Games Challenge at St. Paul Pipefitters Local 455’s training center Nov. 21.

Hosted by Women Building Success (WBS) to celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, the friendly, hands-on competition drew nearly 200 participants in its second year.

“This event has hands-on challenge activities for each trade,” WBS board member Jenny Winkelaar, director of workforce and community development for Operating Engineers Local 49, said. “It is a fun way to showcase what the trades have to offer.”

Competitors included apprentices, journey workers and community members with an interest in exploring careers in the union construction trades.

Cement Masons apprentice Grace Olson checked out her virtual paint job.

Participants walked from station to station on the shop floor, trying their hand at challenges sponsored by different local union apprenticeship programs. Each union designed the challenge to reflect their unique craft.

At booths hosted by Plumbers Local 34 and Sprinklerfitters Local 417, instructors timed competitors as they followed the instructions for connecting pieces of pipe into a “pipe guy.” Insulators Local 34 challenged competitors to affix insulation to the proper place on a pipe structure, like a puzzle.

Some Trade Games challenges pitted competitors against each other. Laborers Local 563 held wheelbarrow races. At Pipefitters Local 455’s station, it was a chain hoist race, with competitors racing to raise their large spool to the finish point fastest.

Madi Jennings, a fourth-year apprentice with the Insulators union, tied rebar at Ironworkers Local 512’s station, clocking the second-fastest time of the event’s early session. Local 512 training coordinator Erik Hansen said that it’s good for apprentices like Jennings to gain exposure to other crafts – and good for apprenticeship programs’ recruitment efforts, too.

“We’re hoping this kind of becomes a word-of-mouth thing,” Hansen said. “OK, you’re already in a trade, but maybe you know someone considering their options, and you tell them, ‘Hey, check out the Ironworkers.’”

For competitors like Matt Segal, who learned about the event from a friend, the Trade Games Challenge also served as a career fair. After working in the tech industry for a decade, he’s looking for a change.

“I’m exploring my options and seeing what’s out there,” Segal, 34, said after splitting a pair of chain hoist races – hosted by the Pipefitters – with IBEW Local 110 member Marisa McAndrew. “I like working with my hands, and I’d like to learn some skills that I can take with me – that are applicable in my home and anywhere I go.

“It’s been exciting to be here and talk not only to trades instructors, but tradespeople, too.”

Rockett (R), who said she uses just one name, matched insulation with piping at Insulators Local 34’s station during the Trade Games Challenge.
Ironworkers Local 512’s Erik Hansen timed Madi Jennings, an Insulators apprentice, as she raced to tie rebar.
Dorlisa Squires (L), an apprentice with Local 49, and Glenda Tejada race to assemble a “pipe guy” at Sprinklerfitters Local 417’s challenge.
Mahaila Houle (R), a career navigator with Operating Engineers Local 49, guided Plumbers Local 34 apprentice Karen Severson through the excavator event.

For most attendees, though, the primary objective was fun and fellowship.

At Cement Masons Local 633’s station, that meant playing in the “mud,” as competitors raced to flatten and level wet cement, edge the sides and install control joints – the cuts in walkways or other slabs that allow for movement due to temperature or moisture.

Local 633 apprentice Grace Olson was not tempted to leave her craft behind after trying the virtual spraypainting booth, hosted by the Finishing Trades Institute, Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 82’s training arm.

“I think I did OK, but I probably could have done better,” the third-year apprentice laughed. “I think I over-sprayed it a little.”

But Plumbers Local 34 apprentice Karen Severson joked that she “might switch trades” after climbing into the excavator that Operating Engineers Local 49 parked inside the Pipefitters’ training hall, challenging participants to pick up and transfer a flagpole from one road cone to another. “That was fun,” Severson said.

WBS was founded in 2017 to recognize and promote the achievements of women in union construction trades. WBS hosts an annual awards ceremony, an apprenticeship photo contest and other events.

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

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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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49ers’ courses offer high schoolers ‘3-for-1’ credit opportunity

March 2, 2021 by

Local 49’s first-year apprentices earn anywhere from $24 to $34 per hour plus benefits, and receive their education at the union’s sprawling Hinckley training site, pictured above, at no charge.

Operating Engineers Local 49 is hoping a new partnership with Minnesota Virtual Academy will draw more high-school graduates into the union’s registered apprenticeship program – and help meet future demand for skilled, trained workers in the heavy-equipment industry.

At the start of this school year, instructors from Local 49 began teaching for-credit courses open to high-school students statewide through the online, public school’s Destinations Career Academy.

Fifty-three students signed up in the first semester, and interest in the program has only grown since then. This semester 117 students from 66 school districts in 39 counties are enrolled, with notably high participation among girls.

“I think there really is an appetite not only from students but from parents and schools to really provide a relevant, meaningful career opportunity,” said Jenny Winkelaar, Local 49’s director of workforce and development. “Most schools who learn about it are promoting it because they don’t have the resources to operate this kind of pathway on their own.”

Like other career-pathway programs in the construction trades, Local 49’s courses introduce students to work in the industry, with a focus on concepts and skills that will prepare them for success as an apprentice heavy-equipment operator.

Offerings include construction exploration, basic grade and construction math, and construction-equipment maintenance and fundamentals. A prep course for getting a commercial driver’s license is in the works for next fall.

Triple the credit

But what makes Local 49’s partnership with Minnesota Virtual Academy unique among pre-apprenticeship programs is the potential to earn credit not just toward high school graduation, but also toward a post-secondary degree and journey-level certification. Minnesota Virtual School’s Leslie Lewandowski called it a “three-for-one” deal.

“They get high school elective credit, college credit and also credit toward their registered apprenticeship program if they sign on with a signatory contractor,” she said.

That’s a draw for students like Cole Snidarich, who was among the high schoolers enrolled in first-semester courses.

“The courses were a great opportunity for me to learn if I would be interested in a career in the construction field,” he said. “I would definitely recommend these courses for other high school kids considering working in the construction industry.”

Enrollment is open to students from any school district in the state. They can participate from anywhere they find an internet connection, at any time and at no cost to the student.

Rich Krohn, an instructor for the program, said he has enjoyed introducing students to careers operating the heavy equipment that builds communities.

“Fourteen weeks into the class and I still get comments from my students saying what a great experience it has been,” Krohn said. “I encourage all high-school students to sign up for the class and see what a career as an operating engineer has to offer.”

Virtual, with a hands-on twist

In addition to online classes, students participating in Local 49’s course will have opportunities to try out the union’s heavy equipment simulators, putting the concepts they learn in the classroom to the test. Winkelaar said COVID-19 has put in-person events on hold for now, but the union and its industry partners are working on plans to stage hands-on learning events across the state.

That level of investment shows just how serious Local 49 and its signatory contractors are about recruiting the next generation of heavy-equipment operators. For the Minnesota Virtual Academy, the program is an opportunity to showcase a career with good wages and benefits that many students might not otherwise consider.

Local 49’s first-year apprentices earn anywhere from $24 to $34 per hour plus benefits, and they receive their training at the union’s sprawling Hinckley facility at no charge.

“As we’re looking at pathways we want to offer students, we want them to be in high-demand jobs, so we’re spending our resources on career paths that warrant the investment,” Lewandowski said. “There’s need in this industry.”

“Historically, we have known that unless you knew somebody in the industry or came from a rural area, you might not have a lot knowledge about what opportunities look like in the heavy-equipment operating industry,” Winkelaar added.

Making an informed choice is an important first step, said Tom McCrossan, a contractor who sits on the Local 49 apprenticeship board.

“It is critical that students in high school learn about our industry early to see that this industry has many career pathways to different areas in the construction field,” he said. “Taking these courses gives students a great foundation for being a heavy equipment operator as well as other facets of our industry.”

Learn more

• Visit local49.org/operating-engineers-career-pathway-program.

• School districts interested in arranging a virtual meeting with Lewandowski and Winkelaar to discuss the program should email llewandowski [at] mnva [dot] org or jwinkelaar [at] local49 [dot] org.

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Making the adjustment: Union apprenticeship programs get creative to navigate COVID-19 safely

December 21, 2020 by

Ironworkers Local 512 apprentice Travis Strugis gave Gov. Tim Walz a demonstration on the union’s training floor after Walz signed an infrastructure jobs bill in October.

Early December is usually a festive time at Cement Masons Local 633’s facility in New Brighton. The union’s cement mason and plasterer apprentices deck the training hall with a holiday display that spotlights their budding mastery of the craft, just in time for the union’s holiday party.

Not this year, of course.

But while “Concrete Christmas” is on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cement Masons Local 633’s apprenticeship program is up and running. Local 633 and other Minnesota Building Trades unions have made adjustments big and small to keep their apprentices’ careers on track.

Safety has been the top priority for apprenticeship programs as they navigate the pandemic, just as it is on a union construction site.

“My No. 1 objective is keeping my staff and apprentices coming in here safe,” said Dean Mills, director of the Minnesota Laborers Training Center in Lino Lakes. “That’s first and foremost. We’re being innovative and creative about how we do things, doing the best we can to teach our members and help our contractors out.”

To that end, Building Trades unions have worked with state health regulators and the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry to ensure their curriculums are both safe and on par with the standards of registered apprenticeship.

The result isn’t always ideal, but what has been in 2020?

“It may not be wide open like we’d like it to be, but we’re at least covering the bare minimum,” Operating Engineers Local 49 Director of Training Eric Gulland said. “So when we do get the pandemic under control and open things up, we’re ready to go again.”

Unique programs, unique solutions 

Minnesota has over 180 registered apprenticeship programs, but most of the state’s 12,000 apprentices are enrolled in programs sponsored by Building Trades unions and their employers. Unions and contractors tailor their apprenticeship programs to meet the unique demands of their particular crafts.

No two union apprenticeship programs are the same, and no two programs have responded to COVID-19 the same way either. Union apprenticeship directors have had to consider enrollment numbers, available training space, curriculum needs and resources in decisions about how to proceed during the pandemic.

Cement Masons Local 633’s total enrollment in the apprenticeship program is around 90. With a 14,000-square-foot training center, the union decided it was safe to resume in-person programming this fall, but with several major changes.

Class sizes do not exceed 10 people. Masks are required, and apprentices and training staff maintain six feet of physical distance at all times. That means apprentices train less in crews, where they would work shoulder to shoulder, and more on individual projects.

“We’re also cleaning like we’ve never cleaned before,” Apprenticeship Coordinator Brian Farmer said.

At Local 49’s training facility in Hinckley, it’s the polar-opposite approach. The union has shifted the entirety of its apprenticeship curriculum online, except in cases where members need a certification to continue working. Even then, the union allows only five people to gather at one time in remote union halls across the region.

Local 49’s 400 apprentices, who train to operate heavy equipment, are sitting through a lot of Zoom meetings, Gulland said. But instructors have found creative ways to avoid “death by power point.”

During a recent class, Gulland said, one instructor hosted the meeting from a classroom while another filmed a live walk-around inspection of machinery. Apprentices dropped questions into the chat and got answers on the spot.

“The students definitely want to come up and hands-on run the equipment,” Gulland said. “But it seems like it’s worked out to keep them engaged and on track with their apprenticeship requirements during this time.”

The hybrid approach 

Other apprenticeship programs have taken a hybrid approach during the pandemic, combining online courses with limited in-person training.

Sheet Metal Workers Local 10’s 450 apprentices resumed in-person classes after Labor Day with daily temperature checks, masks, smaller class sizes and vigorous sanitizing. The union also has introduced night classes, helping stagger the time apprentices are in the facility.

The Laborers, too, have begun offering night classes and reducing class sizes, Mills said. To prevent clustering inside the union’s training center, each apprentice and instructor is required to enter through the door closest to their classroom or training bay.

While some apprentices have contracted COVID-19, Local 10 Training Coordinator Carl Zitzer said, they are doing the right thing to prevent it from spreading to fellow union members.

“We haven’t had anybody in the building who’s sick, fortunately,” Zitzer said. “We tell them to stay home, do what you’re supposed to do, and when you get back we’ll do what we have to do to get your time in.”

For union apprentices, training time is critical. State regulations require registered apprentices to complete a set number of training hours and work hours each year.

Because Gov. Tim Walz’s emergency order declared the construction industry essential, contractors have continued hiring apprentices throughout the pandemic. But like other schools, training centers halted in-person learning in March, forcing many union apprenticeship programs to make adjustments on the fly to get apprentices the training hours they needed.

“A lot of our apprentices’ pay raises are hinging on their related training hours,” Local 633’s Farmer said.

Shifting to remote 

At Local 10, where apprentices lost about eight weeks of scheduled classes in the spring, Zitzer credited the more “computer-savvy” members of his training staff for working with the Sheet Metal Workers international union to move classes online, focusing on parts of the curriculum that don’t require being together on the shop floor.

“These guys jumped right in and developed a bunch of really good stuff,” Zitzer said. “Our apprentices really enjoyed it because we really challenged them. They really had to be like a college student – reading stuff, taking tests, just like at the university.”

Training staff at the Laborers and Ironworkers Local 512, which likewise have shifted some curriculum online, said they were pleasantly surprised with how well online training worked for some aspects of their curriculums.

Pete Teigland, Local 512’s training director, said the online curriculum made the program more accessible for apprentices who don’t live near the Ironworkers’ training center in St. Paul. It also frees apprentices to accept work on projects farther away from the metro.

“Some of these guys drive 100 miles to get here for class after work,” he said.

“We actually took a negative and turned it into a positive,” Mills added. “We’ll definitely continue with some online options for apprentices moving forward, but what we do best is still contact training. Our craft is big on hands on.”

An investment in quality 

Most of the adjustments union apprenticeship programs have made during the pandemic have come at a cost. Cleaning supplies, software, training materials and thermometers aren’t free. Adding more classes to prevent crowding requires more instructional time.

That unions and their employers are absorbing those costs, apprenticeship coordinators said, is more proof of their commitment to training a world-class construction workforce in Minnesota.

“When we talked about what we were going to do after COVID hit, it was just like on the jobsite,” Teigland remembered. “When things are rough, put one foot in front of the other, and we’ll get through it.”

“I’ve been around a long time,” added Zitzer, a 43-year veteran of the Sheet Metal Workers. “The thing I’ve come to realize is guys like us aren’t going to walk away without completing their task, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re finding a different way to do it when the traditional way doesn’t work.”

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Walz signs historic infrastructure bill from Ironworkers’ training floor

October 21, 2020 by

Gov. Walz signs a $1.88 package of infrastructure investments into law.

In a ceremony held on the floor of Ironworkers Local 512’s apprenticeship training center today, Gov. Tim Walz signed into law a $1.88 billion package of infrastructure investments that will create thousands of jobs for union tradespeople across Minnesota.

The bill also keeps open the Willow River and Togo correctional facilities, a top priority of the state’s largest public service union, AFSCME Council 5. And it provides a long-sought emergency rate increase for the state’s home care workers, members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota.

The measure passed both chambers of the Legislature during a special session last week, drawing bipartisan support.

The largest bonding bill in state history will fund local projects in both the metro and greater Minnesota, including transportation infrastructure, affordable housing and water-treatment and higher-education facilities.

Walz likened the projects to the property improvements homeowners might make, but on a much larger scale. “It’s the most important investment you make,” he said. “You don’t let it run down.”

The governor also thanked the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council and its member unions for convincing enough legislators to support such a robust bonding package.

“They did the hard work of getting this thing across the finish line,” Walz said. “And now they’ll do the actual work” of building and repairing the state’s buildings, roads, bridges, water systems and more.

Local 512 apprentice Travis Strugis gives Gov. Tim Walz a demonstration on the union’s training floor.
Walz and Local 512 Apprenticeship Coordinator Josh Kalina celebrate the largest bonding bill in state history.
“Today, when Gov. Walz signs this bill, we really, truly are one Minnesota,” Ironworkers Local 512 Business Manager Barry Davies says.

Bonding is traditionally a legislative priority in even-numbered years, and lawmakers were progressing steadily toward a bill during the regular session – until the COVID-19 pandemic derailed their progress.

Since the regular session adjourned in May, Walz has called lawmakers into special session each month. But until last week members of the House Republican caucus withheld their support for the jobs-creating infrastructure bill, hoping to pressure Walz into giving up his emergency powers during the pandemic.

Barry Davies, Local 512’s business manager, noted that tradespeople would still be waiting for an infrastructure investment had 25 House Republicans not broke with their caucus’ leadership to support the bill last week.

“Today, when Gov. Walz signs this bill, we really, truly are one Minnesota,” Davies said.

Bonding bills sustain jobs in the construction industry, added Operating Engineers Local 49 Business Manager Jason George.

“We needed this bill,” George said. “The global pandemic has created economic uncertainty for next year, and this bill eliminates a lot of that uncertainty for our work in Minnesota.”

“This bonding investment is necessary for our communities, workers and our economy,” said Jessica Looman, executive director of the Minnesota Building Trades Council. “Construction workers across the state are breathing a little easier today, knowing that there will be jobs coming so they can keep working to provide for themselves and their families.”

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The emergency rate increase for home care, meanwhile, came after home care clients and workers, members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, staged rallies in the streets outside the Capitol in the days leading up to the special session.

The rate increase rewards workers on the front lines of the pandemic response, providing care that helps tens of thousands of Minnesota seniors and people with disabilities live safely in their homes.

The home health industry suffers from a critical shortage of workers, and SEIU members and their clients have been campaigning for years to improve pay and benefits to make the job more attractive.

Robin Pikala, a home care worker and SEIU member from Fridley, called the bipartisan vote “an important step,” toward the respect workers and clients deserve.

“But this temporary support during the peacetime emergency is just a stopgap,” Pikala added. “We have so much work left to do.”

The special session wrapped up Oct. 15, less than a month before Election Day. Every seat in the Legislature is up for election in 2020.

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Trades celebrate Women Build Success awards

February 27, 2020 by

Pictured after the Women Build Success awards ceremony are (L to R) Megan Ringwelski, Nancy Leppink, Peggy Flanagan, Amy Peterson, Clara Schiller, Connie Smallman, Rachel Malmer and Derra Range.

Union tradeswomen celebrated the most badass among them at a spirited awards ceremony in Minneapolis last night.

“Six women, selected from dozens of nominees for apprentice, journey worker and advocate of the year, took home honors at the Women Building Success Awards Ceremony.

Board members for Women Building Success include Jenny Winkelaar, Operating Engineers Local 49; Jennifer Mudge, IBEW Local 292; Carrie Robles, Laborers Local 563; Matt Fairbanks, Sheet Metal Workers Local 10; Tasha Lawrence Plumbers Local 34; Barry Davies, Ironworkers Local 512; Teri Stave, Elevator Constructors Local 9; and Barb Pecks, North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters

Two high-profile guests of honor handed out the awards: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry Commissioner Nancy Leppink and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who encouraged tradeswomen in the room to continue building each other up, both on the job site and with events like the awards ceremony.

“Empowered women empower women,” Winkelaar said.

Advocate of the Year

Connie Smallman, a member of Operating Engineers Local 49 in her 33rd year working construction, received Advocate of the Year honors. Smallman co-founded Local 49’s women’s group, the first of its kind among Operating Engineers locals. Since then, she has helped other unions across the country launch women’s groups of their own.

“I used to be the only girl on the job site,” Smallman said. “The last job I worked on, I had the pleasure of working with over 50 tradeswomen. How cool is that?”

Honorable mention in the category went to Amy Peterson, a member of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 82. Terry Nelson, the council’s business manager, said Peterson works as an apprenticeship instructor with the Finishing Trades Institute of the Upper Midwest, and has trained hundreds of union apprentices in drywall finishing and thousands in workplace safety.

“She is always there to help other women,” Nelson said. “Amy has worked hard to get where she is, and she is always there for other women to help them make their way in the trade.”

Journey Worker of the Year

St. Paul Steamfitters-Pipefitters Local 455’s Clara Schiller took home Journey Worker of the Year honors. Jim Sloan, a business representative with the local, said Schiller “consistently proves to be one of our local’s most vocal and dedicated members.”

Schiller puts in extra time both with the local, as an apprenticeship instructor, and in the community, exposing underrepresented communities to opportunities in the union trades. “She embodies what it means to be a union tradeswoman,” Sloan said.

Schiller offered words of encouragement to union tradeswomen in the banquet room. “Remember your heart out there on the job,” she said. “Remember who you are.”

Honorable mention in the category went to Derra Range of LIUNA Laborers Local 563. Sixteen years after leaving her job as a hairstylist, Range now works as a foreman on the job site, Local 563 Business Manager Joe Fowler said.

Range told Fowler she earned the respect of her all-male crews the old fashioned way: “by working my ass off five times harder than most everyone else.”

Apprentice of the Year

Megan Ringwelski, in her fourth year of training with Sprinklerfitters Local 417, was named Apprentice of the Year. As an example of the dedication she brings to the craft, Local 417 Business Manager Trinidad Uribe III said Ringwelski recently continued working into the eighth month of her pregnancy.

“They literally had to pull her away from the tools,” Uribe said. “She’s a hard worker and dedicated, to say the least.”

Honorable mention in the category went to Rachel Malmer, a member of Local 110 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Local 110’s business manager, Jamie McNamara, said he nominated Malmer for the award, in part, because she has volunteered in support of the union’s political program – “phone banking, door knocking” – while simultaneously working toward her journey-level certification.

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Expo shows off 49ers’ training center, apprenticeship program

April 18, 2018 by

Construction vendors showcase their newest heavy equipment at the New Iron Expo April 3-5.

HINCKLEY – Dominic Bergerson skipped school on a Thursday morning to play video games and drive heavy equipment around in the mud, but the 17-year-old wasn’t playing hooky.

He was exploring career opportunities.

Bergerson was among some 1,000 people who attended the New Iron Expo during its three-day run April 3-5 at Operating Engineers Local 49’s training center. The event featured over 100 vendors, who allowed prospective operators, journey-level workers, contractors and industry insiders to kick the tires on dozens of the newest heavy equipment models.

“I’m trying to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing with my life,” Bergerson said in between turns on a backhoe video simulator. “This is a good way to start.”

Reaching “future 49ers” like Bergerson, Business Manager Glen Johnson said, was the union’s primary objective in hosting an expo for the second time in three years.

“This expo was to promote the training that we do and this training center – and the opportunity to be able to get into the Operating Engineers and have a career,” he added.

Six-year-old Jayden Maslow and his dad, Roman, an Operating Engineer from Braham, push some dirt  together during the New Iron Expo. Jayden skipped school to attend the event.

The 49ers’ training grounds sprawl across 400 acres of land east of Hinckley. The $10 million facility opened in 2006, and an estimated 5,000 people pass through each year, from apprentices working on their credits to journey-level members keeping their certifications up to date.

The union takes pride in keeping the training center a state-of-the-art facility, so that its graduates are ready to meet the industry’s labor needs – and equipped with the skills to adapt as the industry changes. Local 49 recently invested in GPS technology, increasingly embedded into heavy equipment, and it added a pipeline training area with a grant from its international union.

The facility itself reflects the kind of “smart build” technology at the cutting edge of the construction industry. A geothermal energy field on campus powers the training center’s buildings, producing enough energy to sell back to the electric grid as a backup source – an arrangement that allows the local to keep its energy bills near zero.

“We’ll be here forever,” Johnson said of the training center. “The facility was built like a college campus, and it’s built to last.”

During the expo, Local 49 business agents led bus tours that snaked through the different training grounds, where apprentices get hands-on experience operating cranes, pile drivers, bulldozers, excavators and other machines.

Simulators inside Local 49’s training center offered an opportunity to work on technique before climbing inside the real equipment. “It’s all muscle memory,” Local 49 business agent Darrell Miller said. “With enough repetition, it comes.”

“Operating engineers aren’t getting born; we’ve got to make them,” business agent Will Thomssen told a bus full of visitors. “That’s our job as a local union, and this is about letting our members know and our contractors know how we do it.”

At the end of the bus tour was the big show: fields bustling with heavy equipment as far as the eye could see. Vendor representatives stood ready to show off their products or give a quick tutorial to anyone interested in climbing into the operator’s chair.

“The industry is manufacturing new equipment and attachments and all sorts of stuff every day,” Johnson said. “Where do you get to go to see a lot of it in one place?”

For Bergerson, the 17-year-old skipping school, that was exactly the appeal. After setting a high score on the backhoe simulator, he headed out to try the real thing.

“Right when I hopped in that door,” he said, “it was like, ‘Woah, this is a lot tougher than I thought.’”

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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.

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

“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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Community support gives North Branch teachers momentum as contract talks resume

February 5, 2016 by

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North Branch teachers rallied with supporters on back-to-back days this week, sending a clear message to school board members and administrators before contract negotiations resumed today.

“We’re not in this alone,” industrial tech teacher Irv Geary said. “We’re all in this together. And it’s not just a teacher issue; it’s a community issue.”

North Branch teachers and supporters line the street in front of district offices during a contract-campaign rally.

North Branch teachers and supporters line the street in front of district offices during a contract-campaign rally.

Geary, a lead negotiator for the North Branch Education Association and its 200 educator, said talks with the district on a new contract have moved at a glacial pace since teachers’ previous contract expired June 30, 2015.

The union’s bargaining team met three times with school board members before November, union Co-President Stacy Johnstone said. The board then requested assistance from a state mediator, who facilitated one meeting in December and scheduled another for today.

“Teachers deserve a respectful process and a timely process,” Johnstone said. “Here it’s February, and we’re still trying to come to the table.”

According to a tally provided by Education Minnesota earlier this week, 173 of 356 bargaining units statewide have settled contracts with their school districts, or 48.6 percent.

But Johnstone, a transition-age special education teacher, said dragging out negotiations has become “standard practice” for North Branch administrators in recent years. That takes a toll on teachers’ energy and morale, she warned.

“This is amazing energy,” Johnstone said of the 50-plus people lining the sidewalk outside a North Branch campus, holding signs and waving at vehicles as they passed buy. “But we could be home grading papers and writing lesson plans. We’re just ready to get our full focus back in the classroom.”

Pay is a sticking point in negotiations. Veteran teachers’ salaries have remained virtually stagnant in recent years as the district boosted pay at the lower end of the scale, seeking to recruit younger teachers to the area.

“Our long-term teachers who have committed their whole careers to North Branch are feeling the pinch,” Johnstone said. “We’re really out rallying for them.”

Health benefits are at issue as well, she added: “In our last round of negotiations, we were able to finally get a boost in our health benefits, and now they want to take a part of that away. It’s not sitting well. It’s a little frustrating for our members.”

Members of the Kreitz family show their solidarity with North Branch teachers: Joanne (L) a paraprofessional in the district; Susan, a member of the MN Nurses Association; and Steve, 49er. "We've got to keep together or we fall," Susan said.

Members of the Kreitz family show their solidarity with North Branch teachers: Joanne (L) a paraprofessional in the district; Susan, a member of the MN Nurses Association; and Steve, 49er. “We’ve got to keep together or we fall,” Susan said.

Cars driving by the informational picket line Wednesday honked their horns in support of teachers, who waved and held signs reading “Respect our teachers” and “My base pay has increased 2.6% in 8 years.”

Paraprofessionals in the district, also members of Education Minnesota, and several members of other unions joined teachers at the rally. Among those represented were the Machinists, Minnesota Nurses Association, Building Trades and St. Paul Regional Labor Federation.

“We want happy teachers so we have smart kids,” Operating Engineers Local 49 member Steve Kreitz said.

“I think this is the face of North Branch, and they’re out here saying, ‘Hey, we stand with the teachers,’” Geary said. “I think that says a lot.”

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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.”

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