The exploitation of construction workers is costly in many ways / Public News Service

As summer approaches, the sounds of construction will be heard throughout Minnesota. But a regional union group says at some sites there is likely to be more exploitation of marginalized workers.

The latest analysis from the University of California, Berkeley Labor Center says that reliable, family jobs in construction have been abandoned.

In 2019, only 12% of these workers were supported by a union. The report says this leads to unpaid overtime and a lack of benefits.

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

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

Alcocer, who is from Mexico, added that an employer had threatened retaliation if he did not return to work immediately.

Due to the lack of protections, researchers say 39% of construction worker families are enrolled in at least one safety net program. This need for public assistance represents $28 billion a year in costs to taxpayers.

Adam Duininck, Director of Government Affairs for the North Central States Carpenters Regional Councilsaid many people in the Midwest assume that’s not really an issue here — but his union points out that it is.

“It’s, I think, a myth of people who live in the northern part of the country,” Duininck said, “in the upper Midwest here, where we say, ‘Oh, that kind of thing probably happens in California and in Arizona’, or you know, ‘It could happen in Texas where the workforce crosses the border.’ But we see a lot of workers who are here.”

He called on government agencies to adopt greater oversight, as well as the need for OSHA to be more active on job sites.

Later this week, regional labor councils will protest construction worker abuses and industrial tax evasion in the United States and Canada.

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Some construction companies in North Dakota are paying workers under the table and skipping benefits to avoid paying taxes, say local union advocates and data analysis from the Labor Center of the University of California at Berkeley which reveals that the construction industry may no longer be able to offer workers “family support jobs”.

Isaac Prieto said he came to North Dakota for higher wages, but eventually discovered his drywall employer was deliberately denying him benefits and even demanding more compensation than he was receiving in order to making illegal payments to other workers.

“I was working 70, 80 hours a week,” he said. “I never get paid for overtime. And there’s a lot of people who don’t have papers. Every year I was getting about $4,000 or $5,000 extra on my salary that I didn’t make. I guess they thought I wasn’t going to do my taxes.”

Even if workers receive their full wages and benefits, the report says, their compensation may not be enough. He suggested that low construction wages are forcing more than a third of American workers into public assistance programs, at a cost to taxpayers of nearly $28 billion a year.

Adam Duininck, Director of Government Affairs for the North Central States Carpenters Regional Councila union that helps workers negotiate with companies and state lawmakers, said holding companies accountable helps more than just construction workers.

“Tax evasion in the construction sector affects everyone,” he said. “You have this labor that is not paid. There are social charges [that] are not paid on them, unemployment insurance, health care that they can use. It ends up costing us as taxpayers. We have to foot the bill.”

The council represents nearly 27,000 union members and their families in the Dakotas, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

The industry was known for allowing workers without a college education to find well-paying jobs. Prieto said he joined the union to prepare for the future.

“I want to retire one day, get my full 401(k),” he said. “I don’t want to owe the government money. I want to know that everything is legal, that everything is taken care of. I don’t want to become an old man, and then you know, I haven’t put in a lot of money. money in my retirement.”

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A bill to extend certain eviction protections for another three months, until July 1, is to be heard in the State Assembly today.

The move comes as time is running out for people to apply for the Emergency Rental Assistance Scheme, which stops accepting applications on Thursday.

Tina Rosales, a housing lawyer and lobbyist for the Western Center on Law and Poverty, said people who have lost their income due to the pandemic should apply now application.

“The program will pay 100% of past due rent and future rent for a total of 18 months,” Rosales explained. “Landlords and tenants can apply.”

The eviction protections are designed to avert a wave of homelessness as around 366,000 people wait for their claims to be processed. According to the state Housing is key website, the program has paid out more than $2.4 billion so far, an average of $11,000 per household.

Rosales pointed out that many people whose primary language is not English have struggled to file a complaint, but the issues are mostly resolved now.

“There were technical issues and issues with the application, so Spanish-speaking and Chinese tenants were unable to apply for the program,” Rosales noted. “And now they only have a few days to apply.”

People can apply regardless of their immigration status. The application requires proof of income and proof that their household income does not exceed 80% of the median for their area.

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It is estimated 50,000 West Virginia children are once again living below the poverty line, since the families received their Child tax credit (CTC) at the end of last year.

the US rescue plan increased the CTC in 2021, with families receiving up to $3,600 for each child under age 6 and $3,000 for children ages 6 to 16, split into monthly payments.

Experts say most families used the extra money to buy food and pay bills, and save for emergencies.

Jim McKay, state coordinator for Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia, a program of TEAM for West Virginia Children, said financial stability has had a positive impact on children.

“There has been a 41% increase in child poverty in the state,” McKay reported. “It really helped so many kids in West Virginia get a taste of what it’s like to live without the burden of poverty.”

According to a report by Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy, black and Latino children nationwide are more likely to fall back into poverty within months of the expanded CTC expiring.

McKay added that amid inflation and rising gas prices, the situation for low-income families could get worse. He pointed out that families and advocates are frustrated with the lack of action on the tax credit, so much so that a group of mothers from West Virginia traveled to DC last month with 500 bears in plush, in what they call the Unbearable campaign.

“So the 500 teddy bears, each teddy bear represented 100 West Virginia children who were pushed back into poverty without the expansion of the child tax credit,” McKay explained.

In addition to increasing housing instability and hunger, many studies found that poverty increases stress and affects children’s development, learning and decision-making abilities.

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