Labor Unions Press Milwaukee Bucks For Living Wage Jobs Associated With New Arena

Labor unions and advocates for low-wage workers would like to lock in living wage jobs at the new basketball arena to be built in Milwaukee.

Several Democratic state lawmakers said they voted for the Milwaukee Bucks arena financing package because of the team’s guarantees to labor during and after construction. The Democrats said those promises included unionized construction jobs and living wages for all permanent arena jobs.

Bruce Colburn, of the Service Employees International Union, said everyone should back family-supporting employment.

“We’ve talked about a hiring hall where people can develop and move up in job categories and make sure they can earn a living off of them,” Colburn said.

A spokesperson for the Bucks said the team shares a commitment with city and state leaders to seeing that the public-private partnership has “a long-lasting impact on the community.”