MARQUETTE – The message presented by the Upper Peninsula Construction Council: Mining is part of Marquette County’s heritage and it can be done safely by those who live in the community.

The underpinning: Present and future generations of Upper Peninsula citizens need the jobs a new mine in the area could provide.

Hundreds of U.P. labor union members and their families gathered in Harlow Park near downtown Marquette on Saturday to join speakers in calling for urgency in beginning construction on the Kennecott Eagle mine and other projects throughout Upper Michigan.

“We wanted to make sure that we let companies that want to do business in the U.P. know that we support them,” UPCC Executive Director Tony Retaskie said. “We’re concerned about preserving the environment and at the same time that we have jobs in the U.P. The unemployment rate is so high that we have to look to the mining industry to create some jobs for us. That’s what’s happening now.”

Members of more than 20 unions, from construction to education, rallied around the park before listening to eight speakers ranging from union representatives to businessmen to local politicians extol the need to create jobs through the mining industry.

Mining company Rio Tinto, parent company of the Eagle Project, plans to invest $469 million in building an underground nickel and copper mine in a rural area of northern Marquette County, as well as upgrading the Humboldt Mill near Ishpeming.

Since the State of Michigan first issued permits in 2007, the mine has faced repeated lawsuits from protesters. However the company says it will create about 500 construction jobs in the area when it begins construction, which has recently begun in preliminary phases.

Chairman of Champion Inc. Bill Verrette said he disagrees with those people who believe the tapping of natural resources needs to be stopped at all costs.

“It’s not an either-or situation,” he said. “We can, and we’ve demonstrated we can, mine and use the natural abundance of our resources and maintain a clean and clear environment. “

That was a sentiment Patrick “Shorty” Gleason of the Michigan Building Trades and Construction Council agreed with.

“There are ways we can make this work for everybody,” he said. “The No. 1 thing is, people have to return to work. Make no exception to it whatsoever. I look out and see all these young children out here. It would be nice to know when they get out of school and they complete an education, they have an opportunity to work right here where they were born and raised.”

Stu Skauge, of the Michigan Education Association, said the issue of jobs does not end with skilled tradesmen. The tax income will help the local schools, which are battling budget deficits.

“We’re here to support mining and jobs, because they’re one in the same,” Skauge said. “Especially the Kennecott Project. We know that Kennecott’s going to pay full property taxes, and they’re proud to do it. And that’s going to help our local schools, big time.”

A pair of U.P. politicians running for the state Senate both spoke to the audience as well: Mike Lahti, D-Hancock, and Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba.

“These folks are the silent majority,” Casperson said. “They’ve been too busy trying to work, making a living for their families, and haven’t had time for this kind of stuff. I think they realize now if they don’t (get their message out) we’re going to lose our way of life. It’s exciting that people show up like this.”

Lahti added: “We must promote our clean mining industry. It’s our past, it’s our future, and it’s good. … Clean mining will promote more mining, and that’s good.”

Another possible U.P. mine was explained by Bob Mann, a geologist with Aquila Resources. He spoke of a zinc and gold mineral find in Menominee County known as the Back Forty Project, which could have the doors opened by a successful Eagle mine project.

Though the majority of the speakers focused on the mining project, the workers were rallying to encourage companies to bring all varieties of work to the U.P.

“Most Yoopers tell me the best social program is a job,” Marquette County Board of Commission Chairman Gerald Corkin told a cheering crowd. “Yoopers want paychecks, not welfare checks. So keep up the good fight for U.P. jobs.”

Unemployment is an issue in all the state, but it has hit some construction workers in the U.P. especially hard, said Mike Thibault, business representative in the U.P. office of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council. Some local trade unions are currently experiencing 50 percent unemployment, he said.

“When you look at raising a family without health care coverage, which some of our folks have lost because the man-hours weren’t there, think about how devastating that is whether you can go to a doctor … or putting food on the table,” he added. “We support industrial expansion in the U.P. “

Representative Steve Lindberg, D-Marquette, told the audience they are the people who make the state great.

“You’re the people who go to work with the lunch pail, the brown bag,” Lindberg said. “We’ve got teachers in the audience who teach our kids. There are nurses here. There are people who work shift work while the rest of us are sleeping. You’re the people who make this country what it is today. And we have to keep jobs in this U.P.”

RALLIERS LISTEN at the Upper Peninsula jobs rally, held June 19 at Harlow Park in Marquette. Photos by David Allie