Archives for May 2021

The Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council announced that President Harry Melander is retiring, and the Council Executive Board has elected Joe Fowler, Business Manager of LiUNA Local 563 as President. “Harry has dedicated his career to the labor movement and to the union construction professionals of Minnesota,” said Craig Olson, Secretary Treasurer of the Building Trades. “His passion has been growing the union construction ... View Article

Ashlyn Curtis gathers her hammer and power tools and secures her harness. Altogether, Curtis suits up with almost 20 lbs. of equipment on her body before she looks up and begins to climb. Her goal: to reach the top of a 300 ft. vertical wind turbine located in the farming country of southwestern Minnesota and repair the power cell on top. The turbine is one of dozens that comprise a wind farm, one of the many wind farms that are being built ... View Article

By MIke Ganz, President of the Central Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Union - Across our state and even here in Central Minnesota, we are seeing a transition from legacy energy, such as coal power, to clean energy, such as wind, solar and someday, hydrogen power. As momentum builds for clean energy in our region, I think it’s important for us to understand that someone has to build, maintain and upgrade not only the new clean ... View Article

By Nate O’Reilly, President, Southeastern Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council - All around Rochester and throughout Southeastern Minnesota, the transition to Minnesota’s energy future is on full display – gigantic wind turbines towering over the horizon, utility-scale solar farms soaking up the sun, and electric vehicle charging stations starting to appear at local service stations. As the momentum accelerates toward ... View Article