Building Trades locals are ramping up public pressure in an attempt to get the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School Board to quit accepting bids from contractors who are undercutting area wages and benefits.

Electricians Local 110 has been holding information bannering outside specific schools. The activities could expand to graduation ceremonies and proms if the school board doesn't change its tactics, said Business Representative Mike Dufour.

The public activity is also an attempt to head off any trend in which additional suburban school districts begin paying substandard wages and benefits in their construction projects, he said.

Independent School District 196, which is the state's fourth-largest, is in the midst of awarding contracts for renovations and additions at 16 schools. The projects are among upgrades the district plans at all 31 schools, supported by a $68 million bond referendum that voters approved last June.

But in this current round of bids, four of the six contracts for electrical work have gone to contractors whose wages and benefits undercut local standards, Dufour said. The school board has rebuffed attempts by Building Trades unions to apply project labor and prevailing wage requirements to the district's construction projects.

At the April 25 board meeting, Superintendent John D. Currie responded to Building Trades representatives by saying the district has no intention of using PLAs because it wants to obtain as many bids as possible.

"They don't want us around," Dufour said. "They basically want us to go away. So we're going to ratchet it up."

Members of Electricians Local 110 held an informational banner Wednesday outside Valley Middle School in Apple Valley, protesting Independent School District 196 and its hiring of Retrofit Electric, which is based in Owatonna. Union Advocate photo

Comparing benefits, training
Electrical work makes up about 10 percent of the total value of the projects, Dufour said, and that seems to be the area the school district is targeting. "For the most part, the projects are being done fair. But we're really losing out on a big portion of the work."

The electrical contractors the school district has hired pay wages about $5 an hour below union scale, Dufour said. "But benefits is where they're really lacking," he said, citing inferior or nonexistent health insurance, pensions and other benefits.

"You get what you pay for," he said. "Our people are qualified and trained. These substandard electrical contractors that they hire, they have no apprenticeship program, there's no training, there's no continuing education.? We just feel that we give a better product. We're more efficient workers and safer workers."

Teachers union helps out
The Building Trades are getting support from Dakota County United Educators, which is the district's teachers union. Earlier in April union President Jim Smola sent a letter to each school board member encouraging support of PLAs. The union is also asking teachers to sign a resolution that supports PLAs and urges board members to consider wages, benefits, safety and quality of work when awarding construction contracts.

Smola points out that many Building Trades members live in the school district, that some are former students, and that they have supported the district's bond and levy referenda.

"We're in support of the Trades people and what they're asking," Smola said. "We think, in the long run, it does save the district money, rather than just saving money on the backs of people who are working for lower wages."

Dufour urged union members who live in the district "to attend the school board meetings to help support us in our endeavors to get the remainder of these schools done properly." The next school board meeting is May 9, at 6 p.m., at Dakota Ridge School, 4629 144th St. West, Apple Valley.

Michael Kuchta edits the Union Advocate, the official publication of the St. Paul Area Trades & Labor Assembly. E-mail him at advocate@mtn.org