As high-end condominium and loft complexes mushroom throughout downtown Minneapolis, Building Trades union members sent a message Thursday that they want the new structures built with union labor.
The focus of their demonstration was the 80-year-old Sexton Building at 521 S. 7th St. -- spitting distance from the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome -- that is being converted into expensive condominiums. The project originally was promised to a union firm, but was eventually awarded to Regency Commercial Services, a non-union contractor from Iowa, said Alan Kearney of the Laborers District Council of Minnesota and North Dakota.
"We have to send a message here today," Kearney said to the Building Trades members and supporters gathered for a noon demonstration outside the Sexton. "They can't drive down our standards."
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| Standing beside a Carpenters' union truck, Laborers Representative Alan Kearney talked about the importance of maintaining area standards for wages and benefits on construction projects. |
In temperatures that flirted with the 100-degree mark, union members marched around the building and a delegation went onto the worksite to attempt to talk with management. They left when the police were called.
Kearney said the union will keep the pressure on Regency Commercial Services and the project owner, JJT Development, to sign a project labor agreement with the Building Trades.
"We're going to be bannering out here, we're going to be leafletting out here and we're going to be in these guys' faces until we get what we want," he said.
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| Building Trades members and supporters circled the Sexton Building. |
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As high-end condominium and loft complexes mushroom throughout downtown Minneapolis, Building Trades union members sent a message Thursday that they want the new structures built with union labor.
The focus of their demonstration was the 80-year-old Sexton Building at 521 S. 7th St. — spitting distance from the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome — that is being converted into expensive condominiums. The project originally was promised to a union firm, but was eventually awarded to Regency Commercial Services, a non-union contractor from Iowa, said Alan Kearney of the Laborers District Council of Minnesota and North Dakota.
“We have to send a message here today,” Kearney said to the Building Trades members and supporters gathered for a noon demonstration outside the Sexton. “They can’t drive down our standards.”
|
| Standing beside a Carpenters’ union truck, Laborers Representative Alan Kearney talked about the importance of maintaining area standards for wages and benefits on construction projects. |
In temperatures that flirted with the 100-degree mark, union members marched around the building and a delegation went onto the worksite to attempt to talk with management. They left when the police were called.
Kearney said the union will keep the pressure on Regency Commercial Services and the project owner, JJT Development, to sign a project labor agreement with the Building Trades.
“We’re going to be bannering out here, we’re going to be leafletting out here and we’re going to be in these guys’ faces until we get what we want,” he said.
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| Building Trades members and supporters circled the Sexton Building. |
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