Union plumbers provide free repairs on Water’s Off day of service

April 10, 2025 by

Jared Solway (L), Tyler McGhan and Erika Reil.

Erika Reil, Tyler McGhan and Jared Solway spent a Saturday morning last month making plumbing repairs at the home of a Marine veteran in St. Paul’s West Seventh neighborhood.

They put a new seat on a basement toilet and replaced its fill valve and flapper to stop it from running. Upstairs, the crew removed and reinstalled the hot and cold faucets on a new bathroom sink, after a handyman installed them backwards.

And best of all for the homeowner, Reil, McGhan and Solway did the work for free as part of Water’s Off, their union’s annual day of service.

Sponsored by St. Paul Plumbers Local 34 and Minneapolis Local 15, the event provides free service calls to low-income, senior and disabled homeowners in the Twin Cities. Journey workers and apprentices volunteer their skills, and union contractors donate any supplies and parts needed to complete the repairs.

Since its founding in 1994, union volunteers have given more than 14,000 hours of their services to over 4,000 households at a value of over $2 million. And that doesn’t include the savings on their future water bills.

“I think a lot of people don’t realize how much plumbing they use in their daily life,” Reil said. “They don’t think about it – until they need it.”

Reil, a Local 34 member, works as a foreman with Modern Heating and Air. Both McGhan and Solway are in the second year of Local 34’s apprenticeship program and employed by Mike’s Custom Mechanical.

Local Community Action Partner-ship agencies help unions identify homeowners in need of assistance.

Find a list of union residential plumbers in the Twin Cities at members.minnesotamca.org/directory.

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

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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.
Dorlisa Squires (L), an apprentice with Local 49, and Glenda Tejada race to assemble a “pipe guy” at Sprinklerfitters Local 417’s challenge.
Ironworkers Local 512’s Erik Hansen timed Madi Jennings, an Insulators apprentice, as she raced to tie rebar.
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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Two from Plumbers Local 34 honored with nationwide ‘Heroes’ award

December 15, 2022 by

Stephanie Mullin

The St. Paul plumbers union has a pair of heroes in its apprenticeship pipeline.

Twice in 2022, apprentices with Plumbers Local 34 have been named Tradeswomen Heroes by North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU). Each month the awards program recognizes four union trades-women, selected from across the country, for their work on and off the jobsite.

Local 34 third-year apprentice Julia Kunze received the award in August. Stephanie Mullin, also a third-year apprentice, was honored in November.

NABTU President Sean McGarvey has said award winners “are exemplary building trades’ members” who have made their local unions proud. “They are role models and trailblazers, and reflect what we love and honor about our workforce,” he added.

For both Kunze and Mullin, receiving the honor was a surprise – albeit a more public surprise for Kunze, who didn’t even know she had been nominated until Business Manager Dean Gale made an announcement during a local union meeting that she’d won.

“I had no clue,” Kunze said. “I was very surprised, very honored, and it was just amazing to even be nominated and be thought of. Thankfully, I didn’t have to give a speech.”

Mullin, meanwhile, got the news in a phone call before Local 34’s December union meeting.

“I’ve never really gotten an award like this before, even with other high school or college classes I took,” Mullin said. “I’m honored to have been nominated, and I’m honored to have won. It’s good to be recognized for having a good work ethic.”

Mullin has stuck with plumbing as a career, she said, because she likes learning by doing and working with her hands. She also likes the earn-as-you-learn model that Building Trades apprenticeships offer.

Julia Kunze

“I’ve held different jobs but never really was able to settle on something I wanted to do for the rest of my life until now,” she said. “I tried to go back to school to become a nurse and found it was very difficult to do that full time and earn a living.”

Family members urged her to consider an apprenticeship in the construction trades, and she landed on plumbing.

“I was working as a nursing assistant for three and a half years,” she remembered. “I worked my last shift on a Sunday – I worked a double – and that Monday morning I was showing up to my first job as a helper in 2019.”

Kunze’s route to an apprenticeship with the plumbers was more direct. Her father, Troy Kunze, is a journey-level member of Local 34.

“I love working with my hands and actually building things and seeing the beginning and end of the process and being like, ‘I did that, and it will be there for many years to come,’” Kunze said. “I can show my kid the things I’ve helped build.”

The Tradeswomen Heroes awards program is part of NABTU’s intentional efforts in recent years to do more to recruit women workers into the unionized construction trades – and give them every opportunity to thrive once they begin work. Unions have invested in mentorship programs, outreach initiatives and campaigns like the awards program that celebrate the unique accomplishments of women who are thriving in a male-dominated field.

Mullin and Kunze said their experiences in the industry so far have been positive.

“Obviously, you do meet some people who are a little grumpy about life in general, who may not always be the most pleasant to work with,” Mullin laughed. “But I have not really run into any outright sexist things.

“Most of the journeymen I’ve worked with have been more than accommodating in answering the questions I’ve asked or even helping with things I just haven’t learned to do yet. I’m really grateful for that.”

“It can be kind of a shock, but it’s a great career,” Kunze said. “You don’t have to be super strong or super book smart. It’s something that’s more skill based.

“You learn something new every day. That’s the one thing I love about it – you’re always learning new things.”

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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.”

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Unions bring tradeswomen together with Minneapolis conference

October 4, 2019 by

Tradeswomen participating in a service project at Ascension House included (L to R) Jamie Joseph of Painters Local 61 in St. Paul, Timesha Beattie of Bricklayers Local 5 in Houston, Carissa Shaffer of Local 61 and Keisha Campbell of Carpenters Local 327 in Boston.

Tradeswomen from across the U.S. and Canada are descending on the Twin Cities for the union-sponsored Tradeswomen Build Nations conference this weekend.

In its ninth year, the annual event has grown to become the world’s largest gathering of women working in the skilled construction trades. Organizers expect this year’s conference, taking place at the Hilton in downtown Minneapolis, to draw 2,500 participants, as well as labor leaders, elected officials and industry experts.

“On a lot of job sites, you’re the only woman there,” Tamika Foster, a member of St. Paul Plumbers Local 34, said. “This conference is a nice reminder that you’re not the only one.”

Increasing women’s participation in the construction workforce is a major focus of the conference. About 3 percent of construction tradespeople nationwide are women, and the rate hasn’t changed much over the last decade.

There are plenty of benefits to a career in the building trades: family-sustaining wages, high-quality health insurance, retirement security and, notably for women, pay equity.

Women working in the construction trades earn about 96 cents for every dollar earned by men, and under a union contract, the pay scale works the same for men and women workers alike.

“You can support your family all on your own,” said Monique Lewis, a member of Steamfitters Local 469 from Phoenix. “It’s an amazing feeling to wake up an have all that earning opportunity in front of you.”

Minnesotans from the United Association participating in the conference gathered on the steps of Ascension House for a photo.

Early arrivers to the conference participated in a Day of Service this morning. Some packed meals at Second Harvest Heartland in Brooklyn Park; others spruced up Haven Housing’s Ascension Place, a women’s shelter in North Minneapolis.

As she stood atop a ladder painting a hallway in Ascension House, Timesha Beattie, a member of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 5 in Houston, said she’s excited to reconnect with the union sisters she met a year ago, when the conference was in Seattle.

“Last year I was completely amazed that we had so many strong women working in the Building Trades. It was inspiring,” Beattie said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone has been able to do, the ideas they’ve come up with to recruit and inspire more girls to join us.”

“We’re half the population, and maybe 2 percent on the job site?” Foster said. “That’s a whole untapped labor market – half the world!”

The Tradeswomen Build Nations conference is sponsored by North America’s Building Trades Unions, an alliance of 14 national and international unions in the building and construction industry that collectively represent over 3 million skilled craft professionals in the U.S. and Canada.

The conference continues through Sunday.

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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.”

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‘Women in Construction Week’ begins Monday

February 28, 2018 by

2018wwheaderMinnesota Building Trades unions will join the construction industry in celebrating women workers March 4 to 10. Women in Construction Week will feature series of local networking events, panel discussions, workshops and festivities.

The events are open to tradeswomen, project managers, engineers, estimators, students, designers and anyone interested in learning more about a career in the construction industry.

Of particular interest to union tradeswomen is a discussion Tuesday, March 6, with representatives of several Building Trades unions: “It’s YOUR Union.” The event is hosted by St. Paul Plumbers Local 34, and it will run from 2 to 5 p.m. at the St. Paul Labor Center, 353 W. 7th St. Finger food and drinks will be served.

Women in Construction Week events are free, but some have limited space. To view the events and register, go to www.eventbrite.com and search “WIC week 2018.”

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On annual service day, union plumbers provide $70,000 in service, repairs

April 6, 2017 by

Plumbers Local 34 members and apprentices provide repairs to an elderly Roseville homeowner during Water’s Off. From L to R: retiree Al Aschenbrener, apprentice Jason Chrysler and journeyman Jim Schumann. Said Aschenbrener, “As long as I’m still moving, I will be here to help out.”

Volunteer plumbers provided an estimated $70,000 worth of service and repairs to senior, low-income and disabled homeowners in Minnesota during their unions’ annual Water’s Off day of service March 25.

The program, begun in 1994, is a joint effort sponsored annually by Minnesota plumbers’ unions and their contractors to give back to the community – and raise awareness of the importance of conserving water. Plumbers donate their labor, contractors donate supplies and community agencies, including Ramsey Washington Community Action Partnership, identify homeowners in need of assistance.

This year the effort drew 181 volunteers, including 76 from St. Paul Plumbers Local 34. In all, plumbers provided assistance to 108 homeowners in Minnesota, logging 905 hours of volunteer work.

The service day kicked off with a breakfast banquet, where Gov. Mark Dayton presented plumbers and their contractors with a framed proclamation declaring Water’s Off Day in Minnesota.

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Union plumbers step up to keep St. Paul Schools’ water safe

November 21, 2016 by
Tom McCarthy (R), president of St. Paul Plumbers Local 34, received the thanks of St. Paul school board chair Jon Schumacher during the board’s Nov. 15 meeting.

Tom McCarthy (R), president of St. Paul Plumbers Local 34, received the thanks of St. Paul school board chair Jon Schumacher during the board’s Nov. 15 meeting.

Union plumbers are stepping up to make sure drinking water is safe for students and staff in the St. Paul Public Schools.

The district recently finished testing all water fixtures in its buildings for lead. While more than 95 percent of fixtures passed the initial test, maintenance staff identified 233 fixtures that needed replacing.

At the Board of Education’s Nov. 15 meeting, Plumbers Local 34 President Tom McCarthy informed school board members that union members had voted to donate $25,000 toward the lead-mitigation effort.

Facilities management staff members said they were inspired to conduct the lead tests ahead of schedule after reading the news about lead poisoning in Flint, Mich.

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#NAW2016: Minnesota’s Building Trades apprentices earn paychecks while mastering their craft

November 16, 2016 by
Heat and Frost Insulators Local 34 instructor Lee Houske drives home a point to apprentices about pipe insulation.

Heat and Frost Insulators Local 34 instructor Lee Houske drives home a point to apprentices about pipe insulation.

 

When Joe Odell’s friends plan to go out on Friday nights, he usually takes a pass. It’s not that the 23-year-old from Monticello is no fun, but Odell has someplace important to be early on Saturday mornings: Heat and Frost Insulators Local 34’s training center in St. Paul.

Odell is one of the 11,000-plus registered apprentices enrolled in accredited programs statewide, most operated by Building and Construction Trades unions and their signatory contractors.

Minnesota’s apprentices have a wide range of backgrounds, and they enroll at different times in their lives. But almost all are seeking the same thing out of their apprenticeship: a middle-class career.

Joe Odell works a bead roller in Heat and Frost Insulators Local 34’s metal shop.

Joe Odell works a bead roller in Heat and Frost Insulators Local 34’s metal shop.

“It was kind of hard jumping into it right away, with how young I was,” said Odell, now in his fourth and final year of apprenticeship with Local 34. “But you’re making money the whole time.

“I have health benefits and a pension. If the union stays strong, I’ll probably always have a job.”

By definition, an apprenticeship is an on-the-job training program. Most Building Trades apprentices work regular shifts with a union contractor. They earn more with each year they complete until finally “booking out” into journeyperson’s wages.

Joanna Rojas, a 48-year-old college graduate, is still three years away from earning her journey card with St. Paul-based Plumbers Local 34. But apprenticeship already has enabled the former social worker and stay-at-home mom to make the emergency mortgage payments necessary to keep her Coon Rapids home.

“When you’re only making $15 an hour, and $8 of that is paying for health insurance, you need to do something different,” Rojas said. “I needed the union. I needed a good living wage, or I would have lost my house.”

[Click here for a list of apprenticeship opportunities sponsored by Minnesota’s Building and Construction Trades unions.]

Apprenticeship programs are rich with stories like Rojas’, of men and women in their 30s and 40s taking the plunge into a new career.

Ken Flores, a 36-year-old St. Paul resident, quit his white-collar job four years ago to enroll in Heat and Frost Local 34’s program. “I realized what I had was just a job,” he said.

Heat and Frost Insulators Local 34 apprentice Angela Sheehan gets a sewing tip from instructor J.J. Ralston.

Heat and Frost Insulators Local 34 apprentice Angela Sheehan gets a sewing tip from instructor J.J. Ralston.

Angela Sheehan, 39, said enrolling in Local 34’s program “has changed my life a lot in just two years.” The mother of two from North Branch earns about three times what she took home in the manufacturing job she left behind, and the union’s health insurance plan is far superior.

“Some days I’m like, ‘I still can’t believe this is happening,’” she said.

A ‘win-win’ for workers, employers

The apprenticeship model works well for employers, too. They can customize a training curriculum with the union while coaxing workers into greater responsibilities on the jobsite.

It’s a proven formula for guaranteeing contractors a highly skilled workforce for years to come, Elevator Constructors Local 9 apprenticeship coordinator Jeff Burns said.

“We have them for 144 hours at the training center,” he said. “The companies have them for 2,000.”

The two experiences go hand-in-hand, said Local 9 apprentice John Haider, a 35-year-old resident of Bayport in his second year of the four-year program. He works a 40-hour week with All City Elevator and attends class at Local 9’s training center in Little Canada on Monday nights.

“You learn a lot in here, but out on the job every day you’re seeing something new and going through it with your (journeyperson) mechanic,” Haider said. “He’s almost like another instructor for those four years.”

Apprentices with Elevator Constructors Local 9 test their skills in the union’s motor lab.

Apprentices with Elevator Constructors Local 9 test their skills in the union’s motor lab.

Surrounded by support

The willingness of members of the same union to support each other and share advice is, for Haider, a sharp contrast to his experience working an oil rig in North Dakota for three years.

“Oil fields were huge like that, guys trying to stab you in the back,” he said. “It’s nice having guys looking out for you as opposed to trying to get a step up on you.”

That might help explain why the number of military veterans in Minnesota’s apprenticeship programs is on the rise.

Chris Vant of Osseola, Wis., saw a year of active combat duty as an Army specialist in Iraq. After being honorably discharged in 2010, Vant worked for a non-union construction firm, then used his education benefits to take classes at Dunwoody until a spot opened up in Local 9’s program.

“I saw the benefit package,” the second-year apprentice said. “It’s a pretty good deal.”

A better deal than working non-union, he added. That meant going without sick pay, vacation time or a pension.

“You started off pretty low in the wages, too, so the only way you could make a decent living was through the overtime,” Vant said. “I worked piles of OT, almost 80-hour weeks, and often out of town.”

Registered apprentices in Plumbers Local 34’s program include (L to R) Tamika Foster-Dixon, Matt Paolo, Joanna Rojas, Jon Antolick, Mitch Gale and Jason Meyer.

Registered apprentices in Plumbers Local 34’s program include (L to R) Tamika Foster-Dixon, Matt Paolo, Joanna Rojas, Jon Antolick, Mitch Gale and Jason Meyer.

‘Dirty and grimy’

Still, the rewards of apprenticeship go beyond the wages and benefits. For Tamika Foster-Dixon of St. Paul, a fourth-year apprentice with Plumbers Local 34, there’s something gratifying about working with her hands.

“That’s not to say it isn’t dirty and grimy every day – it is,” she said. “But it’s fun.”

Jon Antolick, a 37-year-old from Hastings, agreed with his classmate.

“Being an apprentice means you’re a part of something bigger,” he said. “You’ve been a part of a project and built something that’s going to last. There’s a sense of pride in what you do.”

Foster-Dixon laughed: “Even if they immediately cover it up with sheet rock.”

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