In the News

The report’s authors believe a series of public projects probably helped Minnesota’s construction industry recover from the recession. Experts at the University of Minnesota and the Associated Builders and Contractors say they agree with that conclusion but disagree over the influence of certain government policies, specifically policies affecting unions in the two states. Read the entire article here

“Minnesota’s unionized construction sector is no more costly than the non-union sector even though it produces higher wages, greater inequality, safer work sites and other things like less reliance on government assistance programs,” said Frank Manzo, director of the Midwest Economic Policy Institute, which co-authored the study. Read the entire article here

Building the clean energy economy must go hand in hand with creating high-quality American jobs. Unions and worker power are integral to realizing this outcome. Union workers earn higher wages and are more likely to receive necessary benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, and paid leave than their nonunionized counterparts. Read the entire article here

Union construction work in Minnesota pays better than the nonunion peers without inflating project costs in the $16 billion industry, according to anew study out last week. Read the entire article here

Coupled with other findings in the study, Midwest Economic Policy Institute Policy Director Frank Manzo said Tuesday, July 6, is the takeaway "that Minnesota's union construction industry is no more costly than the nonunion alternative even though it produces higher wages." Read the entire article here

Union contractors in Minnesota collected an average hourly pay of $33 between 2015 and 2019, according to the study, $8 more than their nonunion counterparts and only $2 less than the average Minnesota college graduate. Read the entire article here