Working Together to Build More and Build Right

At first glance, it seems obvious: those of us who want to see more homes built and the people who build those homes should be natural allies. After all, building more homes means more affordable places for Minnesotans to live and more work for construction crews.

But too often, these two groups are pitted against each other. In the push to build more housing, some pro-housing proposals leave workers vulnerable to abuse, especially in non-unionized parts of the construction industry.

That tension isn’t just a problem for workers. It’s a problem for all of us.

The Cost of Wage Theft

Wage theft is a particularly prevalent issue for construction workers in Minnesota. Beyond being denied pay for work completed, wage theft also occurs when construction workers are paid “off-the-books” in cash or are misclassified as independent contractors instead of employees. In these latter two cases, laborers lose access to benefits and protections, such as overtime pay and Workers’ Compensation. 

Unfortunately, wage theft is commonplace in Minnesota’s housing construction industry. According to a recent analysis, nearly a quarter of the state’s construction workers experience wage theft, losing an average of $30,000 in annual compensation. 

These losses ripple beyond workers. Wage theft means employers fail to pay into programs like Unemployment Insurance, leaving a gap in state revenue and pushing up premiums for law-abiding firms. In 2018, Minnesota lost out on $136 million due to wage theft in the construction industry. As a point of comparison, the state lost just $100 million due to all retail theft in 2024. The burden to cover this lost revenue is ultimately pushed onto other taxpayers and insurance ratepayers, meaning we all pay for wage theft.

The final victims of wage theft are honest contractors and developers. When they follow the law and treat workers with dignity, they are likely to be underbid by those who use wage theft to illegally drive down labor costs. The result is a race-to-the-bottom dynamic, where contractors and developers are incentivized to exploit workers just to remain competitive. 

Building More Homes and Treating Workers Right

We don’t have to choose between abundant housing and fair pay. In fact, the best way to build more homes quickly and sustainably is to restore the natural alliance between pro-housing advocates and the people who build housing. Here’s how:

1. Enforce the laws we already have

Wage theft is already illegal, but enforcement is too rare and too slow. This problem is exacerbated by the frequent targeting of immigrant construction workers, who are then intimidated into silence. New models, like the Building Dignity and Respect Standards Council in the Twin Cities provide a way out of this dilemma. Their approach pairs worker education with independent compliance monitoring on jobsites, creating faster, fairer enforcement for workers and a level playing field for developers.

To the extent that developers and contractors say such an enforcement system is impossible, they are admitting that the only path to building homes is through worker exploitation. No one should be satisfied with that outcome.

2. Create a pro-worker, pro-housing coalition

Beyond enforcing current laws, we need to create a stronger relationship between worker advocates and housing advocates to promote a “building more and building right” agenda. We’ve seen evidence of this kind of coalitional work in California, where streamlined permitting and labor protections have been combined in legislative initiatives. Linking speedy approval timelines to fair labor standards gets housing built faster and rewards builders who do right by their workers. 

In addition, there is increasing evidence that a major obstacle to building housing is a shortage of workers. Unions and their allies are the best partner for cultivating the workforce needed to build quality housing. Recruiting and retaining workers is much easier when they know they will receive strong wages, benefits, and protections.

Absent this coalition, these natural allies become forced enemies, pitting the construction of housing against the constructors of housing. Coming together creates a constituency with the right level of power and lived experience to create meaningful, effective change.

Recovering a Natural Alliance

When workers can’t afford the homes they build, something is broken. When developers are pressured to exploit labor just to compete, something is wrong. And when pro-housing advocates are told that abuse is the price of abundance, we all lose.

We can, and must, choose a better path.

Let’s build more homes for our neighbors, and make sure the people building those homes are paid fairly and treated with dignity. That’s how we solve our housing crisis and build the kind of communities we all deserve.

Aaron Rosenthal is a volunteer with Neighbors for More Neighbors and the Research Director with North Star Policy Action, an independent research and communications institute dedicated to improving the lives of working Minnesotans. Please reach out to Aaron at aaron@northstarpolicy.org if you’re interested in bringing together a pro-housing, pro-worker coalition!