New parking ramp, apartments planned next to United Labor Centre

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Plans are moving forward to construct a new 269-vehicle parking ramp and a mixed use building with 81 apartment units on what is now the parking lot for the United Labor Centre.The Labor Temple Association — the union partnership which owns the United Labor Centre — is the moving force behind the project.The total cost of the proposed development is $23-24 million, reported Ray Waldron, secretary-treasurer of the Labor Temple Association and former president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO.Waldron said the need for more parking for the United Labor Centre is driving the project, which is being called “The 155” for its street address, 155 University Ave. SE.The 155 proposal passed the Minneapolis Planning Commission unanimously December 3 and is headed for Minneapolis City Council review in January.As proposed, the 155 would be a six-story mixed-use building located just east of the United Labor Centre at 312 Central Ave. The two buildings would be separated by a small landscaped plaza with outdoor seating. The new building would contain 81 dwelling units, a parking ramp shared with the Labor Centre, and new drive-through lanes for Union Bank.“The Labor Temple will own the parking ramp and the 312 Central building,” Waldron explained, while a partner in the development would own 155 University.Waldron said the Labor Temple Association aims to attract another union investor as a partner, perhaps a union pension fund. “We’re trying to keep it in the labor movement,” he said.The Labor Temple Association has selected a developer for the project, Ivy Properties. Continue Reading

Mondale, Carlson, Penny step forward to co-chair coalition opposing photo ID

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The growing campaign to oppose the photo ID constitutional amendment introduced four prominent co-chairs at a news conference June 26. They represented all three of Minnesota’s major political parties: Democrat Walter Mondale, former U.S. Vice President; Republican Arne Carlson, former Minnesota Governor; and the Independence Party’s Tim Penny, a former U.S. Congressman. They were joined as co-chairs of the Our Vote Our Future coalition by longtime civil rights activist Josie Johnson.“Minnesota doesn’t have a voter problem,” Mondale said. In the 2008 U.S. Senate and 2010 governor recounts, he noted, “there wasn’t one suggestion, one hint, one whiff of a problem in the casting and processing of ballots… This constitutional amendment is designed to discourage voting. It’s not designed to fix a problem — because there isn’t one.”“Frankly, it terrifies me,” said Carlson, denouncing the amendment. Continue Reading

Dayton talks up Vikings stadium at union retiree event

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Governor Mark Dayton received a standing ovation during a visit Saturday to the annual “Fun(d)raiser” for the Minnesota State Retiree Council, AFL-CIO, where he emphasized the need to build a new Minnesota Vikings stadium. Dayton was greeted with hugs and handshakes by union retirees in the crowd, many of whom have known and worked with him over his decades of public service in Minnesota.Dayton’s visit to the event at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 10 union hall came just as the Legislature was about to meet for the final scheduled week of the 2012 legislative session. In brief remarks, Dayton commented on the session so far — and highlighted the importance of legislative action to approve construction of a new stadium in the week ahead.“This is a critical week,” Dayton said. “It’s a week we decide if the ‘L’ in DFL means anything.”Dayton clearly was referring to a committee vote in the Minnesota House which voted down the stadium when only one DFL committee member — Representative Mike Nelson — voted in favor. The other DFLers on the committee voted no.“What do we want stand for and what do we want to accomplish?” Dayton asked.With thousands of construction workers unemployed, Dayton said, “this is about jobs and this is about economic development.”He asked the union retirees to contact their state legislators — whether Republicans or DFLers — to urge support for the Vikings stadium. Continue Reading

‘The Mill’ brings story of 1989 Boise Cascade protests to the stage

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In the spring and summer of 1989, thousands of union members and supporters protested at Boise Cascade in International Falls, where the company had hired an out-of-state, non-union contractor to build a $535 million plant expansion. Tensions escalated. In September, hundreds of union supporters stormed the housing camp for non-union workers and burned it to the ground.The story comes to the stage with the premiere of “The Mill,” produced by the Workhaus Playwrights Collective and running April 20 through May 5 at the Playwrights Center, 2301 East Franklin Ave, Minneapolis. All shows start at 8:00 p.m. and all seats are Pay-What-You-Can.Playwright Jeannine Coulombe grew up in International Falls and for her the story is personal, she said. “My father worked in the mill, my stepfather worked in the mill. Continue Reading