Max Nesterak at The Minnesota Reformer reports on International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 82 - which represents 3,500 Painters, Drywall Finishers and Glaziers across the Upper Midwest and Montana0 recently hired two full-time Mental Health Professionals to work at the Union’s Training Center in Little Canada, Minnesota.  Construction Workers are seven times more likely to die of an opioid overdose than other Workers, studies show.  That’s driven by the high rates of physical injuries on the job that lead Workers to prescription painkillers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  “Our goals with this effort (are to) help folks achieve better states of mind and overall well-being,” said John Burcaw, Director of Academic Education at the Finishing Trades Institute of the Upper Midwest.

To Directly Access This Labor News Report, Go To: Trade union confronts high rates of suicide and addiction in construction with free treatment - Minnesota Reformer