Building Dignity and Respect Campaign
After another year of developers refusing to take responsibility for human rights violations on their projects, CTUL members who work in construction are announcing a Week of Action from September 7 – 14, 2023, calling on Yellow Tree, Solhem, and United Properties to guarantee basic dignity and respect for construction workers who build their projects by joining the Building Dignity and Respect (BDR) Program. We are inviting allies to join us by leading actions throughout the week, culminating in a large march September 12th, at 4pm: Nothing Gets Built Without These Hands: March for Dignity and Respect. Location: 1306 Central Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413.
If you plan on joining us in September, sign this petition calling on developers to join BDR, sign up for the march at this link or here on facebook: https://fb.me/e/3W7vPqqqy and contact [email protected] with any questions.
Background
Non-union construction workers in the Twin Cities metro area face systemic abuses of their workplace rights, including wage theft, dangerous working conditions, gender-based violence, and in some cases labor trafficking. Some large multi-family developers seem to prioritize their bottom-line over basic human rights, establishing a race to the bottom in contracting bids, leading to violations of workers’ rights. Yellow Tree, Solhem, and United Properties have often contracted companies with a history of workplace violations.
Over the past few years, CTUL members who work in construction have partnered with local and national experts in workplace standards to establish the BDR Program – an independent monitoring program that protects workers’ rights and brings dignified conditions to the workplace.
Over the past year and a half, CTUL has reached out through letters, emails, phone calls and more to prominent multi-family developers informing them of the problem that workers face, and inviting them to join the BDR Program to ensure basic dignity and respect for the workers who build their projects. After multiple attempts at reaching the developers, none seemed to take workers’ concerns seriously.
We are now calling on allies to stand with workers during the Week of Action for Dignity and Respect, September 7 – 14, 2023. Sign the petition calling on developers to join BDR, and stay tuned for more details on the Week of Action.
