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House speaker vote update: Johnson wins showdown with GOP hard-liners; President Biden and the First Lady to travel to New Orleans on Monday; Hunger-fighting groups try to prevent cuts to CA food-bank funding; Mississippians urged to donate blood amid critical shortage; Rural telehealth sees more policy wins, but only short-term.

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Federal officials present more information about the New Orleans terrorist attack and the Las Vegas cybertruck explosion. Mike Johnson prepares for a House speakership battle, and Congress' latest budget stopgap leaves telehealth regulations relaxed.

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The humble peanut got its '15 minutes of fame' when Jimmy Carter was President, America's rural households are becoming more racially diverse but language barriers still exist, farmers brace for another trade war, and coal miners with black lung get federal help.

Research: Construction Worker Exploitation Costly in Many Ways

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Monday, April 11, 2022   

With summer approaching, construction sounds will be heard across Minnesota. But a regional labor group says on some sites, there's likely to be more exploitation of marginalized workers.

The latest analysis from the University of California, Berkeley Labor Center says reliable, family-supporting jobs in construction have fallen by the wayside.

As of 2019, only 12% of these workers are union supported. The report says that leads to unpaid overtime and lack of benefits.

Minnesota construction worker Macario Alcocer said that's his situation, adding he was seriously injured on the job. Through an interpreter, he noted the toll it has taken.

"[In Spanish, then English] Yes, it was a bad experience, you know," said Alcocer, "and really affected me financially and mentally, and physically."

Alcocer, who is from Mexico, added that one employer threatened retaliation if he didn't return to work right away.

Because of the lack of protections, researchers say 39% of families of construction workers are enrolled in at least one safety-net program. That need for public assistance results in $28 billion a year in taxpayer costs.

Adam Duininck, director of government affairs for the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, said many people in the Midwest assume this isn't much of a problem here - but his union stresses that it is.

"This is, I think, a myth of people who live in the northern part of the country," said Duininck, "up in the upper Midwest here, where we say, 'Oh, that kind of thing probably happens in California and Arizona,' or you know, 'It might happen in Texas where the workforce crosses the border.' But we see a lot of workers that are up here."

He called on government agencies to adopt more oversight, along with the need for OSHA to be more active at job sites.

Later this week, regional labor councils will protest construction worker abuse and tax fraud in the industry throughout the U.S. and Canada.



Disclosure: North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters contributes to our fund for reporting on Livable Wages/Working Families, Social Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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