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LABORERS PICKET RIDGEDALE CENTER RENOVATION CONTRACTORS DUE TO SAFETY AND WAGE CONCERNS

Workers hope to bring public awareness after Ridgedale’s contractors fail to meet community standards

MINNETONKA, MN (July 9, 2014) – Shoppers at Ridgedale Center in Minnetonka will see signs for more than just sales as they visit the mall today.  Members of Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 563 have been onsite since dawn picketing contractors working on general mall and tenant improvements. Local 563 is just one of the many construction trade unions that have mounted pickets at the mall today over pay and safety concerns.

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General Growth Properties (GGP), the Chicago-based owner of Ridgedale Center, is in the midst of a $100 million upgrade to the mall, which opened in 1974. The mall’s retail tenants are investing additional dollars to give the aging mall a fresh new look.

Since work began on the renovations in 2013, the project has been plagued by interruptions and chronic safety problems. In November of 2013, the Macy’s roof caught on fire.  Two months ago, the project’s general contractor, VCC, parted ways with demolition contractor Vito Construction after protests by union workers over safety and other concerns, including failure to lock out electrical panels and improper disposal of potentially hazardous materials.  

Find out what's happening in Minnetonkawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

While Local 563 welcomed the departure of Vito Construction, over the following weeks, the union uncovered evidence of new safety problems, including a second unlocked electrical panel and an unsecured demolition site that was accessible to the general public.  The union notified GGP of their concerns at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Chicago on May 16, but according to Local 563 business agent Joe Fowler, the safety problem continues.

 

“GGP Executive Vice-President Richard Pesin told me he’d take care of the safety problems at the mall, but apparently somebody didn’t get the memo,” said Fowler.  “Just this week we found yet another unlocked electrical panel on yet another construction site that was not secured to keep out the general public.  It’s not just construction workers they’re putting at risk, it’s anyone who shops at Ridgedale.”

Fowler says many of the problems could be avoided if contractors meet community standards for wages and benefits and comply with basic safety principles.  “The Twin Cities has high standards of safety and a good standard of living.  It is very important to all of us to keep it that way.” 

LIUNA Picket of Ridgedale Center At-A-Glance:

When: Wednesday July 9th –Starting at dawn, approximately 5 a.m.

Where: Outside public entrances of Ridgedale Center, 12401 Wayzata Blvd., in Minnetonka, Minn.  

Why: Union construction workers picket citing wage dispute, safety concerns.

Who: Members of LIUNA Local 563 carried pickets to protest contractors that fail to meet community standards.

About LIUNA:

Chartered in 1968 by the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA), the Laborers District Council of MN and ND and its seven affiliated Local Unions represent about 12,000 workers in Minnesota, North Dakota and Northwestern Wisconsin. For more information check out their website or Facebook page www.minnesotalaborers.org   or www.facebook.com/MinnesotaLaborers 


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