Union Proud

The founders of the International Union of Operating Engineers realized that In Unity There Is Strength. Unionized workers pledge to work together: maintaining and improving their wages, benefits, and working conditions through collective bargaining. Business owners have always banded together, through organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce and various lobbying groups – the way to balance their collective power is for employees to use that same strategy.

Only through unity can a trade union successfully fulfill its purpose and provide all workers the dignity, security and respect they deserve. Our mission, as stated in IUOE Local 49′s Constitution is, “to organize all persons working in the jurisdiction of this International Union without regard to race, creed, color, sex, religion, age, or national origin.”

Local 49 of the International Union of Operating Engineers represents more than 13,000 men and women in Minnesota, North and South Dakota with contracts for highway/heavy and building contractors, well drillers, equipment repair shops, welding shops, sand and gravel suppliers, counties, municipalities, hospitals, school districts, cemeteries, and more.

LABOR UNIONS BUILT THE U.S. MIDDLE CLASS.

Trade Unions, such as Operating Engineers Local 49, exist because workers want a fair share of the wealth their labor produces. We are not organized to be a social club or to build the prestige of individuals: Our sole purpose is to advance the welfare of workers and working families. We believe union apprenticeships are one of the keys to building a workforce that begins contributing productively from day one, while earning fair compensation including benefits and a pension that starts building while many college students are building debt that will hang over them for years. Why pay for college when you can earn while you learn as an apprentice Operator, taking advantage of our year-round Training Center at no cost to our members?

Video: Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) boost local outcomes

A Tool for Building Middle-Class Careers

Cornell University released a study which examines community benefits that follow from provisions within project labor agreements (PLAs) that encourage minorities, veterans, and women to be hired on construction projects. Community Workforce Agreements (CWAs) ensure that local community residents have the chance to earn a good living. Such Workforce Development Provisions are on the rise, and the benefits are clear.

HELP WANTED: Director of Apprenticeship & Training

The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49 and Associated General Contractors of Minnesota Apprenticeship and Training Fund of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, (“Training Fund”) seek resumes and applications for its Apprenticeship Program located in Hinckley, Minnesota for the position of:

DIRECTOR of APPRENTICESHIP & TRAINING

SUMMARY OF POSITION:

The Director of Apprenticeship manages all aspects of the Apprenticeship Program in accordance with the policies established by the Board of Trustees. The Program includes a State of Minnesota approved apprenticeship program and a State of North and South Dakota approved apprenticeship program.

Local 49′s state-of-the-art Training Center is also very “Green.”

Operating Engineers respect the environment

Local 49 trains operating engineers who work as heavy-equipment operators, mechanics, pipeliners, and surveyors. We opened a 65,000-square-foot facility in 2006 complete with ten (10) state-of-the-art classrooms, eight (8) large shop bays, a welding shop, and two wash bays. Located conveniently between Duluth and the Twin Cities in Minnesota, the facility includes 30,000 square feet of enclosed space to serve as an indoor area for winter/all-weather training.

Since there was no access to natural gas for heating this far outside an urban area, Minnesota-based Kresch, O’Brien, Mueller & Associates (KOMA) helped the Local 49 design a vast, efficient geothermal system with over 122 wells in the grassy area adjacent to the main facility. The geo-thermal system provides in-floor heating throughout the mechanical areas and shop bays. A heat pump system supplies the Training Center with hot water. There is also a massive makeup air system.

KOMA also designed the building’s orientation to take advantage of east-west breezes that flow through the shop bays, and the materials used in the exterior siding help with heat gain during winter months.

Mike Rowe on the skills gap, and American jobs

Mike Rowe addresses U.S. Congress

Of course, he cleaned up a bit for his appearance before the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, but don’t hold that against him. He got their attention, and his message about skilled workers and the struggle to fill hundreds of thousands of trades, utilities, transportation, and manufacturing positions is well worth sharing.

“In general, people are surprised that high unemployment can exist at the same time as a skilled labor shortage…

…we talk about creating millions of shovel-ready jobs for a society that doesn’t really encourage people to pick up a shovel.”