Building Trades workers early Monday organized informational picketing at the construction sites of five Twin Cities area CVS Pharmacy stores, where a contractor has been using non-union workers.
By noon the same day, the contractor ? Velmeir Companies ? wanted to talk. Velmeir?s head of Minnesota construction phoned Dick Anfang, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council.
?The whole talk seemed encouraging for the future,? Anfang reported. ?We?ll see where it goes.?
In the meantime, Anfang said, ?I?m suggesting it would be helpful if there were no picketing.?
Monday?s pickets at the CVS site in Coon Rapids arrived before six in the morning. Both union and non-union subcontractors had been working there, but union workers ? and some non-union workers ? chose to honor the informational picket line and stayed off the job site.
?There are 40 of these CVS stores coming to Minnesota,? said Scott Gale, business agent for the Plumbers Union. ?They?re starting out on the wrong foot, using non-union shops.? Those non-union subcontractors, he added, are ?paying less than area standards for wages and fringe benefits.?
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| "It's about securing our trade with wages and benefits," said picket Jason Lommel, an IBEW Local 292 member who has been laid off for four months. Labor Review photo |
One of the non-union subcontractors at the site was Cityview Electric. ?If these guys weren?t here I might be here,? said Jason Lommel, a member of IBEW Local 292. ?I?m laid off.? Lommel, a journeyman electrician with six years? experience, has been out of work for four months.
Cars and trucks honked in support of the informational pickets.
Two white vans for a glass company stopped before entering the job site and their drivers got out to talk with the picketers. ?Do you like to fish?? picketers asked the union glass workers. They greeted the picketers with smiles and handshakes and then drove away.
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Twenty-five Building Trades workers, including these union members, were part of an informational picket at the CVS Pharmacy construction site in Coon Rapids. "We've got just about every trade here," said Scott Gale, business agent for the Plumbers union. Scaffolds were empty (below) because union block layers stayed off the job. Labor Review photos |
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Building Trades workers early Monday organized informational picketing at the construction sites of five Twin Cities area CVS Pharmacy stores, where a contractor has been using non-union workers.
By noon the same day, the contractor ? Velmeir Companies ? wanted to talk. Velmeir?s head of Minnesota construction phoned Dick Anfang, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council.
?The whole talk seemed encouraging for the future,? Anfang reported. ?We?ll see where it goes.?
In the meantime, Anfang said, ?I?m suggesting it would be helpful if there were no picketing.?
Monday?s pickets at the CVS site in Coon Rapids arrived before six in the morning. Both union and non-union subcontractors had been working there, but union workers ? and some non-union workers ? chose to honor the informational picket line and stayed off the job site.
?There are 40 of these CVS stores coming to Minnesota,? said Scott Gale, business agent for the Plumbers Union. ?They?re starting out on the wrong foot, using non-union shops.? Those non-union subcontractors, he added, are ?paying less than area standards for wages and fringe benefits.?
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| “It’s about securing our trade with wages and benefits,” said picket Jason Lommel, an IBEW Local 292 member who has been laid off for four months. Labor Review photo |
One of the non-union subcontractors at the site was Cityview Electric. ?If these guys weren?t here I might be here,? said Jason Lommel, a member of IBEW Local 292. ?I?m laid off.? Lommel, a journeyman electrician with six years? experience, has been out of work for four months.
Cars and trucks honked in support of the informational pickets.
Two white vans for a glass company stopped before entering the job site and their drivers got out to talk with the picketers. ?Do you like to fish?? picketers asked the union glass workers. They greeted the picketers with smiles and handshakes and then drove away.
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Twenty-five Building Trades workers, including these union members, were part of an informational picket at the CVS Pharmacy construction site in Coon Rapids. “We’ve got just about every trade here,” said Scott Gale, business agent for the Plumbers union. Scaffolds were empty (below) because union block layers stayed off the job. Labor Review photos |
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