Being a union member significantly augments wages for lower-paid workers, a study released by the Center for Economic and Policy Research shows. Union membership boosted the wages of workers on the bottom rung of the wage ladder (in the 10th percentile) by 20.6 percent, from 2003 to 2007. For a worker at the 20th percentile, whose earnings were exceeded by the top 80 percent, the boost from being a union member was 18.9 percent, and for the typical worker at the 30th percentile, it was 16.8 percent.

Too often, the only time lawmakers think seriously about rebuilding our nation's aging and crumbling infrastructure is after a disaster like the collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis or the destruction of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Then a few months later, the issue is pushed back to make way for less-expensive priorities.

With the cold, swollen Mississippi beside them and the twisted metal fragments of the 35W bridge behind them, Building Trades members on Monday honored 10 members who died on the job in the past year or from job-related illnesses.

The nation's workplace safety laws and penalties are too weak to effectively protect workers, according to the AFL-CIO's annual Death on the Job report, which will be released on Thursday, April 24. The report identifies how many people lost their lives and were injured at workplaces in the past year and provides in-depth state analysis on workplace safety.

Rising unemployment and health care costs, struggling schools and communities, broken levees and falling bridges – as the U.S. and Minnesota fail to invest in the future, the quality of life declines.

The University of Minnesota Labor Education Service is sponsoring a conference to analyze this problem – and discuss strategies for building a movement to reinvest.

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty announced line item vetoes cutting $208 million from the $925 million bonding bill passed by the state Legislature, cuts that labor leaders say also vetoed jobs and opportunity. The bonding bill authorizes the state to borrow funds for capital improvements to public infrastructure throughout the state.

Dick Anfang, president of the Minnesota State Building & Construction Trades Council, said he was "very disappointed" in the governor's announced list of line-item vetoes. "This will negatively affect Minnesota's ability to come back from the recession," he said. "This negatively affects Building Trades workers from the northern border to the southern border and the eastern border to the western border."

 

Published by ­The Center for Construction Research and Training, "The Construction Chart Book," now in its fourth edition, marks the 10th year since it was first published in 1997. This fourth edition uses updated statistics to characterize the changing construction industry and its workers in the United States, monitor the impact of such changes on worker safety and health, and identify priorities for safety and health interventions in the future. It can ordered as a hard copy for $15, or it can be downloaded for free.

A federal appeals court’s ruling appears to have cleared the way for thousands of lawsuits filed against New York City and its contractors by ground zero workers to move closer to trial or settlement.

Operating Engineers Local 49, which lost a member in the collapse of the I-35W bridge, is condemning a new TV commercial promoting U.S. Senator Norm Coleman that uses images of the disaster.

The proposed expansion of the Mall of America would create 7,000 union construction jobs for three years and, when completed, would yield a $1 billion increase in state sales tax revenues over 20 years, proponents say. For these reasons, they add, the state Legislature should act to approve public financing for the parking ramp proposed as part of the Mall of America's Phase II.