Casino expansion contractor under scrutiny for Ho-Chunk hiring practices

By Ken Luchterhand



Carson Funmaker is concerned that Ho-Chunk workers aren’t getting what they were promised, but representatives of the Nation say the pay is dependent on union representation.
Funmaker says Miron Construction, the construction company hired for the casino expansion, agreed that Ho-Chunk construction workers would be getting $26 an hour.
“But they’re only getting $12 an hour,” Funmaker said. “And they aren’t making a point to hire workers who are Ho-Chunk.”
And Funmaker questions why Legislature didn’t include provisions in the contract with Miron Construction to hire a certain number of Ho-Chunk members and guarantee a decent wage.
According to Tribal Workforce Development Manager Angela Ward with the Ho-Chunk Nation Department of Labor, Miron Construction was telling attendees of a job fair that workers could receive up to $26 an hour for working on the casino expansion projects. But those figures were for union wages in skilled positions, Ward said. Anyone starting as a general laborer can expect to get starting wages around $12 an hour.
Ward sent an email to the general manager at Miron Construction on Dec. 16, 2016, asking him the number of Ho-Chunk and Native American employees projected to be hired with the project, but no answer has been received at this date.
“The email I sent was regarding future employees for Ho-Chunks and Native Americans, not current employees. We get weekly reports from each site stating those numbers, which are usually the same,” Ward said.
“I wanted them to tell me what they foresaw in the hiring of more Ho-Chunks and Native Americans onto the projects. The thing is, had we still had TERO, they would have been required by the TERO Ordinance (which was a tribal law) to get people onto the projects and they would have worked with us. But, there are always loopholes, I think, to get around certain things,” she said.
“Miron is a Union company and they are required to hire union people. If more Ho-Chunks were looking for a long-term career and not just to work on these projects, it would be easier, because they would look into getting into the union,” Ward said.
The Hocak Worak sent a similar email to Miron, asking about the numbers of Native American workers and the wages offered but, as of this date, no answer has been received.
Ho-Chunk Nation Labor Department Executive Director Tracy Thundercloud said he never got to see the contract and was not included in any discussions about the project.
The contract between the Ho-Chunk Nation and Miron Construction is not available for public inspection because the casinos are considered businesses, and not part of open government, according to HCN Attorney General Amanda WhiteEagle.
The Materials Management Policy and Procedures Manual governs the Nation’s purchases and contracts. The Manual states in a few locations that transactions are confidential
Section 6.a  states, “[I]it is recognized that the transactions relating to materials management are confidential, especially with regard to the Nation’s supplier and competitors.” Section 19.e states, “(1) The prices quoted or paid will not be revealed to any supplier at any time … (3) All unsuccessful bidders are to me notified that the bid has been closed and awarded. It is not necessary to note the name of the successful bidder.”
 The Discovery Act 2 HCC § 3 also requires the Nation’s business transactions to be kept confidential. Section 8.b(2) prohibits disclosure by the Attorney General if it would ”reveal intra-governmental communications regarding business matters or inter-governmental communications.”
An effort to separate business and government was  made after Tim WhiteEagle and Clarence Pettibone were convicted in 2012 of receiving kickbacks for getting approval of vendor contracts through Legislature. Pettibone was a legislator at the time.
As a result of that effort, a new entity, the Twelve Clans was formed. The purpose of the Twelve Clans is to handle business matters so that any conflict of interests would be removed from government officials.
But some Nation representatives said the jobs in question are not long term and will have minimal impact over the long haul.
“We need to look at the positive aspects of the casino expansion,” said District 1 Rep. Lori Pettibone. “The construction jobs are temporary but, with the expansion of each of the casinos, more permanent, good-paying jobs will be established. Once the construction is finished, some may stay on with Miron and some will not, but the casino jobs will always be here.”





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