At convention, Trades build momentum for 2014 election push

August 1, 2014 by
Jessica Looman, an assistant commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, addresses Building Trades delegates.

Jessica Looman, an assistant commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, addresses Building Trades delegates.

ROCHESTER – With two new stadiums in the works and $1 billion in new state infrastructure investments – as well as jobs-creating regional improvements like the Destination Medical Center here – the Building Trades unions in Minnesota are riding a wave of momentum.

That momentum is at stake in elections up and down the Nov. 4 ballot, speakers warned delegates to the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council’s annual convention at the Kahler Hotel this week.

“With less than 100 days before the election, it becomes an anxious time,” Council President Harry Melander said. “We have made great progress, and to go backwards would be a shame.”

At the top of Building Trades unions’ agenda this year, Melander said, is re-electing Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton. In an address to delegates yesterday, the labor-endorsed DFLer listed his credentials for re-election, including new investments in education and infrastructure, 159,000 new jobs statewide and the first increase in Minnesota’s minimum wage in a decade.

But those accomplishments, the governor acknowledged, would not have been possible without DFL majorities in the Legislature. He noted the change in atmosphere at the Capitol since voters ousted Republican majorities in the House and Senate two years into his first term as governor.

“I hope to come back, obviously, but I don’t want to come back with a Republican House of Representatives,” Dayton said, adding that it would mean “gridlock, deadlock and other budget showdown.”

“We need to keep moving ahead, and that’s going to mean a DFL house and a DFL governor because everything we’ve accomplished can be reversed.”

Gov. Mark Dayton greets Building Trades delegates at their annual convention.

Gov. Mark Dayton greets Building Trades delegates at their annual convention.

Challenges remain

As successful as Dayton and DFL lawmakers have been in bringing Minnesota’s economy back, Dayton noted that only half of the construction-industry jobs lost during the Great Recession have been recovered. Making needed investments in transportation and transit, he said, will keep the industry on the right path.

“There’s no avoiding the responsibility we have for deciding whether we want a better transportation system, the same one or something that’s going to continue to get worse,” Dayton said. “It’s going to take $6 billion just to keep things where they are now.”

The governor also reminded delegates that he was the last line of defense against efforts to undermine prevailing wage, which ensures fair pay for workers on public construction projects. That effort died in the Legislature, as did efforts to undermine collective bargaining via a Right to Work constitutional amendment. But both remain alive among Dayton’s challengers, Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson warned.

Knutson gave a glimpse of Republican candidates vying to take Dayton’s place. All four major candidates said in a radio debate yesterday that they support “unsafe, unfair and unnecessary” Right to Work legislation, she noted.

“Jeff Johnson goes even farther,” Knutson added. “In a debate a couple days ago he said he wants to change prevailing wage laws. And a few months ago he told a group of activists he wants to ‘go all Scott Walker’ on Minnesota. I don’t know exactly what that means, but I know it’s not good.”

Hearing from both sides

Although the lineup of speakers was heavy on DFLers, two Republican state senators, Dave Senjem and Carla Nelson, whose district includes Rochester, made a pitch to Building Trades delegates as well.

“Your jobs cannot be – they should not be – a partisan issue,” Nelson said. “Construction jobs lead our economic recovery. Your industry is one of the largest growth segments in the Minnesota workforce, and we anticipate that will continue.”

In a show of bipartisan support for the Trades, the Senate voted 59-0 last spring to pass a new law that ensures firms working on public construction projects have a track record of obeying prevailing-wage, overtime and other labor laws.

“Minnesota is the only place in America where a responsible contracting law exists statewide,” Melander said.

Senjem also noted bipartisan support for bonding bills, the Minnesota Vikings stadium and the Destination Medical Center, a $6 billion investment, backed by public and private funds, that will transform the Mayo Clinic and downtown Rochester – and create thousands of construction jobs.

Senjem also recalled that as a majority leader in the Senate two years ago, he “took that Right To Work bill, and we put it in the drawer.”

“We didn’t need that kind of Minnesota,” he said. “We can work together. We don’t need that kind of conflict. It doesn’t get you anywhere.”

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Bobby Kasper: Super Bowl will showcase union workers

May 29, 2014 by
Bobby Kasper

Bobby Kasper

It doesn’t take most people very long to realize I’m not a native Minnesotan. My New York accent is usually a dead giveaway. But after living here for 20-plus years, Minnesota is the place I’m proud to call home. That’s why I was thrilled to learn the Twin Cities will play host to Super Bowl LII in 2018. The biggest sporting event on U.S. soil is our opportunity to show off to the world the multitude of reasons Minnesota is a great place to live.

The Super Bowl will be a showcase for the work Minnesota’s union members do every day to make Minnesota the “quality-of-life state” it is. Just think of the many ways union workers will be on the front lines of the effort to showcase Minnesota to the rest of the world.

Our hospitality workers will be the first point of contact for the 100,000-plus visitors expected to descend on the region for the Super Bowl, including fans, media members and industry professionals. Members of UNITE HERE, the hospitality workers’ union, can be counted on to provide visitors with professional service in our hotels, bars and restaurants.

Members of Building Trades unions, of course, will have built the stadium in which the Super Bowl will be played, and members of the Service Employees International Union will keep it clean. Stagehands, members of IATSE Local 13, will ensure the circus of events leading up to the big game goes off without a hitch. Bus drivers and train operators, members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005, will see that visitors get to all of their destinations safely, conveniently and on time.

Our public employees, members of AFSCME, will help the Twin Cities region roll out the welcome mat, readying our infrastructure, making our parks and public building shine, and plowing the snow and ice from our roads and bridges if necessary.

Speaking of ice, it’s rumored that our brothers and sisters in the Building Trades will once again tackle the tall task of building an eight-story Ice Palace in St. Paul. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but the palace could go up during Winter Carnival and remain for the Super Bowl. Volunteers from the Building Trades constructed the world’s largest ice castle the last time the Super Bowl came to Minnesota, in 1992.

So regardless of whether you’re a football fan or not, as Minnesotans we have plenty of reasons to be excited about Super Bowl LII coming to town. Sure, it will be cold. And yes, it will be crowded. But if we put our best foot forward – and with union members on the job, I’m confident we will – the Super Bowl has the potential to attract more visitors, more conventions and more big events to our region down the road. That’s good for hospitality workers, good for our local economy and good for tax revenues.

– Bobby Kasper is president of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, with more than 150 affiliate unions representing more than 50,000 union members in the East Metro.

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UNITE HERE Local 17: Bottom line is Vikes stadium will create jobs

June 20, 2012 by

The Vikings Stadium deal is done, and the members of UNITE HERE Local 17 are happy about that. We are happy about the jobs that it will provide over the next few years while it’s being built and about the jobs it will provide over the next 30+ years for our members.

Local 17 represents workers in the hospitality industry, including sports arenas. When Target Field opened, there was no doubt what that did for the hospitality industry in downtown Minneapolis, with people eating at restaurants, shopping, and staying in hotels. Our union, which was hit hard in a bad economy, regained members, saw wages rise and people called back from layoff. Target Field employs as many as 800 of our members at each game, many of them coming from inner city neighborhoods where unemployment is high.

As we listened over several months to the endless debates, opinions, and commentary about the jobs that would be created once the new stadium was built, we also heard a lot of misconceptions and untruths about the type of jobs these would be. Some politicians and some labor people described them as “dead end, low wage jobs.”

We need to respect all workers and not allow politicians to look down their nose and create “jobism.” We should not be taking a position that working in a stadium or a hotel is somehow less important. Not everyone will be a teacher or a lawyer or a skilled professional, and some who are will continue to vend the beer, sell the hotdogs and work in the bars, restaurants and clubs that will be part of the new stadium.

The fact is, for each of the jobs created at the site, many more are truly created; it’s a ripple effect that could hardly be quantified. Think of it this way: for every hotdog sold, not only is the cook and the server of the hotdog working, but the person who delivered the hotdogs to the stadium. There’s a person that keeps that person’s truck running and in good tires and brakes, which someone else makes, and then there’s the farmer who raised the pigs or cows to make the hotdogs and the people who make and print the bags they come in and the makers of mustard, ketchup, pickles and onions. And let’s not forget the bakers of the buns. We could go on and on.

This is how the economy is built. One job relies on the job of another and then expands to create more jobs. It is shallow and shortsighted to claim that we are giving billionaires millions. We are giving ourselves millions in pride in our community that cannot be estimated in dollars.

– Nancy Goldman is president of Twin Cities-based UNITE HERE Local 17. Martin Goff is senior vice president of Local 17. For more information on their union and the workers it represents, go to www.uniteherelocal17.org.

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It’s ‘Game Day’ for Vikings stadium

May 7, 2012 by

Vikings fans and union members rally in the Capitol rotunda in support of a stadium bill.

A game-day atmosphere filled the Capitol rotunda today, as the Minnesota Vikings staged a pep rally with fans, union members and current and former players. They urged state lawmakers to pass a bill funding construction of a new stadium in Minneapolis – and creating an estimated 13,000 jobs.

Vikings fans dressed in purple jerseys mingled with Building Trades members in hard hats and bright yellow safety vests. Together, they sung the team’s fight song and chanted pro-stadium slogans, like “Build it!” and “We need jobs!”

The diverse blend of people clamoring for the stadium bill, which was scheduled for a vote on the House floor later in the day, reflects the bipartisan support behind it, said Viking spokesperson Lester Bagley.

“We’re at the final stage of the process, and legislators on both sides of the aisle have heard from corner to corner throughout the state of Minnesota that it’s time to get the job done,” Bagley said. “And let’s get it done.”

Rep. Rod Hamilton, a Republican, put it this way: “We’re not a red state. We’re not a blue state. We are a purple state.”

The loudest cheers of the afternoon, however, went to five former and current Vikings, including quarterback Christian Ponder, tight end Kyle Rudolph, defensive end Brian Robison, center John Sullivan and former running back Chuck Foreman.

Ponder said he showed up at the Capitol to “thank the greatest fans in the world” for their work to keep the team in Minnesota.

“These four outstanding athletes are here because they care about the stadium because they want to remain Minnesota Vikings,” said Gov. Mark Dayton. “And I want them to be Minnesota Vikings for their entire careers.”

The pep rally capped a big, four-day lobbying push by the team and its partners in the labor community.

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Unions give stadium, bonding bills one last push before House vote Monday

May 3, 2012 by

Ted Michalek of Sheet Metal Workers Local 10 joins a rally for jobs at the Capitol.

Union members swarmed the Minnesota Capitol today in a last-ditch effort to drum up support among lawmakers for two bills that, together, would create tens of thousands of jobs for union members in the struggling construction trades.

The bills – one to build and repair the state’s infrastructure and another to finance construction of a new Vikings stadium downtown Minneapolis – are scheduled to receive votes on the House floor Monday, according to House Speaker Kurt Zellers.

Until those votes take place, union leaders said, the full-court press at the Capitol will continue.

“The message to our members is to call your legislators and tell them they need to do what’s right for Minnesota and put some people back to work,” said Harry Melander, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council.

More than 100 union members, many wearing hard hats and fluorescent safety vests, gathered outside the House chambers. They chanted “Build it!” as lawmakers walked in and out of the room.

Meanwhile, union lobbyists were busy scheduling one-on-one meetings between workers and their representatives to discuss the importance of passing a construction-jobs package before the session ends.

“This isn’t about getting into anyone’s face today,” Melander told union members in a brief rally on the Capitol steps. “But we are going to talk to our legislators, and we are going to tell them that this is the time when they need to start taking care of the people’s business. And one of those items of business is putting people back to work on the tens of thousands of jobs they can create.”

Gov. Mark Dayton has pledged support for both the infrastructure-jobs bill and the new Vikings stadium, but Zellers and Republican leaders in the Senate said it would be up to the governor to round up the majorities necessary to get the bills to his desk.

Zellers said he would support the infrastructure-jobs bill, but would not push for the stadium package because Dayton had not compromised with Republicans on their priorities, including tax cuts for corporations.

“At every turn, our priorities have either been disrespected … or dismissed,” Zellers said.

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With time running out at the Capitol, unions plan rally for jobs

May 2, 2012 by

Before adjourning the 2012 legislative session, Minnesota lawmakers could act on a pair of bills that, if passed, would create nearly 50,000 family-sustaining jobs. But on Tuesday it appeared Republican majorities in the House and Senate were more preoccupied with saving their own.

By law, the session must adjourn by May 21. That means the clock is ticking on an infrastructure-jobs bill and a $1 billion financing package for construction of a new Vikings stadium. Together, the measures could create more than 40,000 jobs in the sluggish construction industry.

Unions are lobbying hard for both measures. The state’s largest labor federation, the Minnesota AFL-CIO, announced plans to stage a rally on the Capitol steps Thursday at 11 a.m.

“Workers in the construction trades were hit hardest when the great recession began and the sector still has yet to recover,” Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson said. “Stadium construction and a large infrastructure bill will put tens of thousands of Minnesota construction workers back on the job in every corner of the state.

“If the Legislature adjourns and leaves nearly 40,000 family sustaining jobs on the table; it will be a great disservice to Minnesotans who want and need to work. Middle class Minnesotans are waiting for real results on job creation from this Legislature.”

Gov. Mark Dayton, waiting for the Legislature to resume its work tomorrow, held a press conference at the Capitol today, responding with visible disappointment to Republican leaders for calling a last-minute stadium audible yesterday. They attempted to alter the existing stadium package after “thousands of hours of negotiations and seven committee hearings,” according to the governor.

The Republican proposal for a “roof-ready” stadium on the current Metrodome site is a non-starter for the Vikings’ local partner, the City of Minneapolis. Dayton said Republicans know their proposal will not pass, but are seeking to give themselves political cover with voters hungry for the jobs a new stadium would create.

Dayton characterized it as “one of the most cynical attempts at political gamesmanship” he has ever seen.

“It’s extremely, extremely disappointing and profoundly disturbing that all these months of working together, working it out together … have come to this kind of disaster,” Dayton added. “I hold the Republican leadership in the House and the Senate responsible for it.”

Unions are encouraging members to tell their legislators that Minnesota needs middle class jobs, not tax cuts for corporations.

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