Report: Wage theft, sexual harassment rampant for Minneapolis’ non-union construction workers

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on
By Stephen Swanson
 / CBS Minnesota

A new report says the city of Minneapolis needs to act to end wage theft and sexual harassment in the non-union construction industry.

The report from North Star Policy Action claims many of Minneapolis’ construction workers face routine labor abuses, wage theft, unsafe working conditions, gender-based violence and labor trafficking.

Members of North Star Policy Action, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL) and dozens of workers gathered Wednesday at Minneapolis City Hall to push for action amid the report’s findings.

María Contreras, a construction worker and CTUL member, spoke about her personal experience with wage theft.

“I have a memory of sitting in my bed, looking at my empty bank account and not understanding how it can be,” Contreras said in Spanish, read in English by CTUL co-director Merle Payne. “It was impossible to pay my bills even though I was working so much.

“According to a 2021 report from the Midwest Economic Policy Institute, one in every four construction workers have experienced some form of wage theft.

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Stalemate at Metropolitan Sewer District – Ohio

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

At $3.2 billion and an estimated 15- to 20-year time frame for completion, Cincinnati’s project to retrofit and replace its sewers is one of the most expansive in the city’s history. But the sewer project, which is part of a mandate from the federal government, is now facing major hurdles as the city and county dispute how contracts for the project should be awarded and whether the government should be more involved in dictating how contractors train their employees.

Most recently, the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners put an unprecedented funding hold on all sewer projects until Cincinnati changes its “responsible bidder” law, which City Council unanimously passed in June 2012 and modified in May this year.

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