Twin Cities Building Trades unions, engaged in a simmering dispute with contractors hired by the rapidly expanding CVS pharmacy chain, appear to have reached a truce this month during a long-delayed meeting with CVS officials.
?There?s the potential of an agreement at the corporate level that 100 percent of the work they do in the metro area could be done union,? said Dick Anfang, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council.
Individual unions have been setting up sporadic informational pickets at some CVS sites since July to protest the use of nonunion subcontractors on new CVS buildings.
The meeting on Dec. 1 between regional CVS officials and business agents from St. Paul and Minneapolis Building Trades locals ironed out at least some of the disagreements, Anfang said.
CVS officials asked local unions to provide lists of ?qualified? union contractors and to encourage those contractors to bid on upcoming CVS projects, Anfang said. ?They?re happy with union workers they?ve used in other states, and they indicated they?d like to do the same here.?
CVS has more than 5,000 stores in 36 states, but just opened its first Minnesota stores in September. The pharmacy now has eight stores open in the Twin Cities. A CVS spokeswoman said the company is not ready to release expansion plans at this time.
?There were still some business agents not 100 percent convinced of their sincerity,? Anfang said, ?but we?re committed to work with them in every way possible to ensure them quality work on their projects and to ensure work for our members.?
One of the contractors CVS has been using ? Velmeir Companies ? also had a representative at the meeting. Velmeir?s use of nonunion subcontractors was targeted by some Building Trades earlier this year, but current Velmeir projects ?now appear to be going well for union contractors,? Anfang said.
CVS? entry into the Twin Cities puts it in competition with Snyders, which is a union pharmacy, as well as with nonunion pharmacies such as Walgreen?s and pharmacies found inside grocery stores and big-box retailers.
Current CVS stores are on the East Side of St. Paul, in Northeast Minneapolis, and in Andover, Blaine, Coon Rapids, Eagan, Maple Grove and Plymouth.
Adapted from The St. Paul Union Advocate, the official newspaper of the Saint Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@mtn.org
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Twin Cities Building Trades unions, engaged in a simmering dispute with contractors hired by the rapidly expanding CVS pharmacy chain, appear to have reached a truce this month during a long-delayed meeting with CVS officials.
?There?s the potential of an agreement at the corporate level that 100 percent of the work they do in the metro area could be done union,? said Dick Anfang, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council.
Individual unions have been setting up sporadic informational pickets at some CVS sites since July to protest the use of nonunion subcontractors on new CVS buildings.
The meeting on Dec. 1 between regional CVS officials and business agents from St. Paul and Minneapolis Building Trades locals ironed out at least some of the disagreements, Anfang said.
CVS officials asked local unions to provide lists of ?qualified? union contractors and to encourage those contractors to bid on upcoming CVS projects, Anfang said. ?They?re happy with union workers they?ve used in other states, and they indicated they?d like to do the same here.?
CVS has more than 5,000 stores in 36 states, but just opened its first Minnesota stores in September. The pharmacy now has eight stores open in the Twin Cities. A CVS spokeswoman said the company is not ready to release expansion plans at this time.
?There were still some business agents not 100 percent convinced of their sincerity,? Anfang said, ?but we?re committed to work with them in every way possible to ensure them quality work on their projects and to ensure work for our members.?
One of the contractors CVS has been using ? Velmeir Companies ? also had a representative at the meeting. Velmeir?s use of nonunion subcontractors was targeted by some Building Trades earlier this year, but current Velmeir projects ?now appear to be going well for union contractors,? Anfang said.
CVS? entry into the Twin Cities puts it in competition with Snyders, which is a union pharmacy, as well as with nonunion pharmacies such as Walgreen?s and pharmacies found inside grocery stores and big-box retailers.
Current CVS stores are on the East Side of St. Paul, in Northeast Minneapolis, and in Andover, Blaine, Coon Rapids, Eagan, Maple Grove and Plymouth.
Adapted from The St. Paul Union Advocate, the official newspaper of the Saint Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@mtn.org