Business & Tech

More Union Protests at Lakeville Walmart Construction Site

Local 512, a local ironworkers union, staged a solidarity march with other unions 7 a.m. on Friday at the new Walmart site in Lakeville. The unions were protesting the subcontractor's use of non-union laborers.

Protests by a local labor union over the use of what they call "underpaid construction workers" who are erecting steel at Lakeville's , is escalating.

For the second consecutive Friday, members of Local 512, a St. Paul-based ironworkers union, gathered outside the Walmart construction site along Keokuk Avenue near the Lakeville 21 movie theater. But this morning at 7 a.m., they were joined by union workers from other labor unions around the region to participate in a "solidarity march" against what Local 512 calls the "exploitation of the workers" on the Walmart construction site by the project's subcontractor, AME Construction of Wayzata.

According to Local 512, members from other unions including metal workers, pipefitters, roofers, electricians, carpenters, and bricklayers, participated in the march.

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“We are not criticizing the workers on this job,” said Charlie Roberts, who is a resident and business manager for Local 512. “We are here to send the message loud and clear to AME's executives that they are exploiting the workers.”

AME Construction President Scott Vickerman told Lakeville Patch last Friday that AME is a reputable company that pays its workers fairly. It has been in business for about 20 years, he said.

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The allegations made about the company exploiting workers "are false," Vickerman said, adding there are seven non-union roofing workers on the project. He also said AME's pay ranges from $40,000 to $65,000 a year with full benefits.

Roberts said the protests simply aren't about the skills and abilities of AME's workers, or even about the project being given to non-union workers.

"This is about supporting and representing the workers in there," Roberts told Patch last week. "It's not a union or non-union thing.

“We must preserve the wages and high level of training needed to do this work safely and productively. We’ve had enough with AME taking advantage of the workers. This must stop.”

Roberts said this is the first time the union has picketed a job site in Minnesota since the late 1990s.

Local 512 is part of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers Union.


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