International Union of Operating Engineers – Local 49

This is a critical year for 49ers; 2010 will bring new governors, new legislators and other elected officials to all three states where Local 49 operates. Through the next several months, we must work together to help elect governors and other leaders who will fight for middle-class families, create good paying jobs, and expand health care opportunities.

While there’s a lot of work to prepare for caucuses and Election Day, there are also promising opportunities in the field. The Enbridge Pipeline put hundreds of 49ers back on the job in northern Minnesota and North Dakota. Along Highway 61, the Hastings Bridge project will also bring work for the next three to four years. News in the Fargo-Moorhead area calls for a flood control system that will take nearly six years to build and cost about $1 billion. We’re confident that Minnesota’s state legislators will pass a robust bonding bill. And the fight to reauthorize Congressman Jim Oberstar’s job creating transportation bill continues in Congress.

Our industry has changed a lot since the I.U.O.E., Local 49 first formed; however, our core obligation and mission have not. Since 1927, we have been working hard to improve the welfare of workers and working families across the upper Midwest. We pledge to continue that work for a better future for you and your family. We’re proud to be the lifeblood of our area’s construction, building trades and stationary industries.