News & Highlights

More than 600 people feasted on 437 racks of ribs cooked at Minnesota Building Trades RibFest, an event that raises money for the Minnesota Building Trades Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Committee.

Moke Eaglefeathers, Cement Masons Local 633 Apprenticeship Coordinator, runs a summer camp like no other – a ten week pre-apprenticeship program just for young people from Minnesota’s Native American reservations.

Labor union approval continues to ride a crest not seen in nearly 60 years according to the latest poll released by Gallup. Seven out of 10 Americans (70%) say they have a positive view of labor unions.

Participation in Building Strong Communities (BSC), the 12-week apprenticeship preparatory program, accelerated in double digits yet again up a whopping 41% from last year.

On March 23, union plumbers from Local 34 in St. Paul, Local 15 in Minneapolis and Local 6 in Rochester took a Saturday off to volunteer their skills to help homeowners in need of their services. It was part of the 30th anniversary of Water’s Off.

Nine different locations hosted Construct Tomorrow events this school year. With one event remaining, Construct Tomorrow already looks to build upon a strong year.

People stopped to look at the prints that lined the Minnesota State Capitol rotunda in early March, past winners of the Women in Construction Week Photo Contest, just one of the events that recognized women in construction.

For more than 30 years, members of the Central Minnesota Building Trades have acted as the arms and legs for the Share the Spirit Christmas event.

The union building trades help Melony Butler continue her dream of having a place where former service members can go to recover from the trauma of war.

A ten week pre-apprenticeship industry orientation program was held this summer at the Cement Masons Local 633 training center in New Brighton.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers Men’s Hockey Team took to the ice this fall playing on a brand new ice surface. A collection of union building trades all played a part in the construction.

Construct Tomorrow concluded its 2022-23 season with its traditional two-day event at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC) for high school students.

Sixty-two future union trades apprentices graduated from the Building Strong Communities Program this May, double the number from the previous year.

High school students from across Minnesota enrolled in the Operators Virtual Academy finally got their chance to experience operating equipment.

FCF has given nearly 400 presentations on prevailing wage, speaking to just over 10,000 apprentices (10,121 as of February 2023). We are very proud to have reached this milestone.

Once again, a 128-foot Christmas tree made by Iron Workers Local 512 glistens in Bayfront Festival Park next to Duluth Harbor at the center of Bentleyville, the nation’s largest walk-through Christmas light display. 

Now in its 10th year, Construct Tomorrow continues to unite young people with futures in the building construction trades.

Labor unions’ favorability among Americans has improved even more since last year according to a poll released this week by Gallup. Seventy-one percent of Americans now approve of labor unions. It’s now at the highest level Gallup has recorded since 1965.

As part of its commitment to become a Yellow Ribbon Company, Laborers Local 563 provided support from cooking to supervising the Minnesota National Guard’s Family Fun Day in June. “We are working to become a Beyond the Yellow Ribbon organization…

After receiving feedback from LIUNA members, health providers and LINUA leadership, Local 563 incorporated those suggestions into this year’s health fair at their training center in Hugo, Minn. It also gave the local a chance to showcase their new 37,000-foot…

The fourth annual Women Building Success Awards came back this month, two and a half years after the last ceremony was held and this time at a new venue, Kellmerman’s Event Center in White Bear Lake. The program was created…

During the spring the Minnesota Twins head to Florida for spring training. The Piledrivers of Local 1847, on the other hand, head north to Hinckley, Minn., to practice their trade at the Local 49 Training Center.

Competition sparks excellence. The bricklayers of BAC 1 believe if it doesn’t spark excellence, it certainly does focus the mind. On a rainy day in late April, bricklayer apprentices tested their on-the-job knowledge in their annual skills competition.

On Saturday, March 26, union plumbers took time to provide free plumbing repairs and inspections to 25 senior, low-income and disabled homeowners in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council held an Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves (ESGR) signing ceremony, the first official step in the union building trades becoming a Yellow Ribbon Company.

 Women in Construction Week 2022 (WIC Week) returns to the Twin Cities from March 6-12. And it returns with some in person events after being a virtual-only event last year. “Depending on the venue some will require a mask, but…

Local 10 sheet metal apprentices have been going through their version of mid-term exams. More accurately, it’s a contest between the different classes but it serves an important function – it’s a barometer for each apprentice to check where their…

Through a partnership with Destinations Career Academy at Minnesota Virtual Academy (MNVA), the Local 49 Operating Engineers union has successfully integrated their curriculum into high schools in Minnesota.

Kate Zelko – Cement Masons Instructor and Mentor

The cement masons and plasterers apprentices at Local 633 turn their indoor training center floor into a winter wonderland for the holiday season.

This Labor Day 2021 public approval of labor unions is at a generational high.

This past winter members of the Minnesota Building Trades put their feet and backs into helping distribute food to struggling people.

Each year Catholic Charities of the Diocese of St. Cloud get help from the leadership of the Central Minnesota Building Trades.

Building Strong Communities is a program to help students experience a variety of construction trades and assist them in career decisions.

Read about some of the details related to the Low Income Housing Tax Credits.

A dozen students from the Mankato area got the chance to sample nine different building trades at the first South Central Construction Trades Boot Camp held at Mankato West High School.

Gleaming amidst the piles of rubble that were once retail establishments and the boarded up facades of stores still standing on Lake Street in Minneapolis stood the Laborers Local 563 semi tractor trailer. It brought relief, in the way of food, to the neighborhood.

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry recently announced nearly $320,000 in total back wages paid to 70 workers for Millennium Concrete.

As the weather begins to warm up and the snow begins to melt, another rite of spring begins in Minnesota — the shipping season starts on the Great Lakes.

During the first week in March the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) mobilized its 118 U.S. chapters to recognize and laud the achievements of women in the building construction trades.

Larry Gilbertson, the president of the Apprenticeship Coordinators Association, once again emceed the 14th Annual Injured Apprentice Dinner at Mancini’s Restaurant Monday night, Feb. 3.

Women at the Trades Women Build Nations Conference get encouragement from Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

On Saturday September 21st Insulators Local 34 held their annual RibFest.  Young and old alike attended.  The food was exceptional.  (Photos by: Vince Muzik)

Construct Tomorrow took its show to Northern Minnesota, hosting events in Hinckley at Grand Casino and for two days in Duluth at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

Channel 5 Eyewitness News reports on Wage Theft in the construction industry. (September 2019)

Read the article from the Midwest Economic Policy Institute about increases in apprenticeship participation and the related study. 

The Minneapolis Hilton will host the 9th National Trades Women Build Nations Conference, October 4-6.

Kim and Brittney Bray, mother and daughter, work as Operating Engineers and members of IUOE Local 49.

The Women Building Success awards, created just last year to recognize outstanding women workers in the local building trades, drew a standing-room-only crowd at Surly Brewing in Minneapolis on March 6.

A surprising number of veterans experience difficulty returning home from their service.

Representatives from all the trades packed the big room at Mancini’s Char House in St. Paul Monday, Feb. 4, for the Apprenticeship Coordinators Association’s Injured Apprenticeship Fundraiser Dinner.

Rice County Habitat for Humanity’s latest home project is located on Willow Street, one of the city’s main throughfares in Faribault, MN.

Residents of Minnesota don’t fear winter. They embrace it. Such was the case on Saturday, Jan. 19, when 100 kids joined their parents to go fishing on Coon Lake as part of the Take Kids Ice Fishing Day, sponsored by…

This is our annual review of Minnesota State Prevailing Wage basics.

Giving is the hallmark of the Christmas/Holiday Season. Union people don’t wait until Christmas to help their communities though; they do it year-round. A case in point was the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) International Day of Service 2018…

Over the last year, six Tribal Nations and the Minnesota Building Trades have piloted a new apprenticeship readiness program to prepare tribal members to enter the union construction industry.

New Brighton, Minn. (Dec. 1, 2018) — It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas — especially at the Local 633 JATC (Joint Apprenticeship Training Center) …

Greater Minnesota supports its local economies and strengthens its skilled workforce …

This is a prevailing wage study completed in May 2018 that examines the effects of Minnesota’s Prevailing Wage Law on costs, training, and economic development.

This is a 4-page Report Summary of the Minnesota prevailing wage study, An Examination of Minnesota’s Prevailing Wage Law, completed in May 2018.

This is a one-page summary of the Key Findings from the 2018 Minnesota prevailing wage study, An Examination of Minnesota’s Prevailing Wage Law, completed in May 2018.

Check out this comparison of economic growth based on union strength. This was written by Todd Stenhouse of the Midwest Economic Policy Institute.

On Tuesday, August 7, voters in Missouri went to the polls to vote in the state’s primary for November’s election.

Michigan Repeals Prevailing Wage On June 6, Michigan became the 6th state in the last three years to repeal its Prevailing Wage law. The repeal was originated and pushed by the Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. (ABC). It began as…

The Pioneer Press Highlights Como Park Student Participation in Minnesota Trades Academy Program

Minnesota is implementing the North America Building Trades Union (NABTU) Multi-Craft Core Curriculum (MC3) in several schools thoughout the state to introduce pre-apprentices and secondary students to the various building trades.

The Union Advocate Newsletter for April 2018 highlights the Mark H. Ayers Community Achievement Award presented by the North American Building Trades Council.

It was exciting to see a Minnesota cement mason apprentice in the March NY Times. The article includes an interview.
(Photo by: Tim Gruber of NY Times)

The government recently promoted “Apprenticeship Week” around the U.S., and it was often repeated that the Building Trades set the high standard to which the government wants all programs to aspire. But it’s not enough to simply have an apprenticeship…

FCF first ran into Jamek Engineering in 2012. When FCF first investigated Jamek we discovered workers who had been paid less than 25% of the prevailing wage requirements on public projects and some workers who were denied payment altogether. In…

As most people reading this likely know, construction is booming across the State of Minnesota. For the past few years construction in the state has been at very high levels, and it does not look like 2018 will be any…

Minnesota’s Responsible Contractor Law has now been effective for three years. The law applies to publicly owned construction projects in Minnesota valued at $50,000 or more.

Earlier this year Wisconsin completed its repeal of its prevailing wage laws. Wisconsin began its prevailing wage assault by previously repealing prevailing wage requirements for local governments. Data collected by the Wisconsin Coalition of Contractors showed that from January through…

November brought in a greater emphasis on national apprenticeship programs than the Country has seen in recent years. National Apprenticeship Week was celebrated from November 13-19th. Of course, the pioneers in massive apprenticeship success have long been that National Building…

In early 2016, the historic west end Hope Engine Company #3 firehouse, located at the intersection of Grand Avenue and Leech Street in St. Paul, was destined for the wrecking ball. Built in 1871, it served as St. Paul’s first…

Faith, persistence, ambition, and the generosity of, IBEW 292, Hunt Electric and many friends have changed the life of Calvin Mulumba. More than likely, the management at Hunt Electric is not aware of what a difference they have made in…