Building Dignity and Respect Program Enlists Local Developers

Compiled by HARVEY WINJE

Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL), located at 3715 Chicago Avenue, announced on October 9th that the first developers have committed to join their groundbreaking Building Dignity and Respect (BDR) Program. The developers are Alliance Housing and Hope Community, two mission driven housing developers.

Background
For more than two years, workers have raised concerns about the crisis in the Twin Cities
non-union construction sector, including rampant wage theft and misclassification, dangerous
conditions, and a pattern of criminal activity. Workers have been calling on developers to join the
BDR program, which utilizes an independent monitoring model to ensure compliance with labor
protections on construction sites. The model, known as Worker-driven Social Responsibility, has
proven effective at eradicating abuse in complex industries like U.S. agriculture and international
garment industries. This event marks a historic milestone in workers’ efforts to ensure all workers’ rights are respected in the development process.

CTUL
CTUL is a worker-led organization where workers organize, educate and empower each other to fight for a voice in their workplaces and in their communities. CTUL partners with other organizations and leaders to build a movement to win racial, gender and economic justice, to identify the root causes of injustice, and to shift the balance of power between those who have it and those who don’t to improve lives in our communities for present and future generations.… Read the rest “Building Dignity and Respect Program Enlists Local Developers”