Have the Pohlads let you down?
If you are a fan of the Minnesota Twins, the Pohlads are probably already on your household’s shit list. They have mismanaged our team to an impressive degree. Last Fall we watched the team’s front office strip its MLB roster of 10 players and then learned the team’s owners pulled the franchise off the selling block. The Athletic put out a survey asking Twins fans if we wanted the Pohlads to sell and the answer was a resounding yes: 98.5% say NO to Pohlads ownership.
But you already knew this. Did you know that the Pohlads have been letting Minnesotans down in other ways?
Lack of Meaningful Response to ICE in Minnesota
The Pohlads stayed on the sidelines while armed, masked agents terrorized our streets and murdered two of our neighbors. The day after Alex Pretti was killed, Pohlad Companies signed onto a three-paragraph CEO letter released by the MN Chamber of Commerce that called for “de-escalation” and for “peace” but notably did not even name ICE, let alone call for them to get out of our state. Many have pointed out the lack of clarity and lack of moral courage in this cautiously worded letter, and some have even claimed that it is even bad for business to take such a tepid stance.
Tom Pohlad, the controlling owner and primary liaison of the team, when asked by a fan at Twins Fest hours after Alex Pretti was murdered, gave a non-answer. The fan asked: “What are you doing personally, Mr. Pohlad, with your family’s ability to ask questions, influence the world around us, to end what’s happening here in the Twin Cities?”
Tom Pohlad’s response was that he did not want to take sides.
Chris Pohlad, one of the three Pohlad brothers who primarily manage Pohlad Companies, also published an op-ed in the Star Tribune a few days later. The timing is intriguing, a few days after Tom Pohlad’s PR mishap. This was the first time any of the Pohlad brothers had spoken out about the federal occupation in any way - long after the damage was done, after two of our neighbors were murdered. In his article Chris takes the time to thank everyday Minnesotans for the courage they have shown in the face of ICE’s violence - and it begs the glaring question: what has the Pohlad family done to confront ICE’s violence?
While everyday people—cooks, teachers, construction workers—put their lives on the line to keep their communities safe, the 2nd wealthiest family in Minnesota could not name one way they would help protect Minnesotans from ICE.
Anti-Worker Billionaire Family
Anti-worker perhaps goes without saying when discussing billionaires. Billionaires rely on exploiting workers and the Pohlads are no different.
The net worth of the Pohlad Family is an estimated $3.8 billion. A Pohlad-family Minnetonka home recently sold for $10 million and Robert’s Pohlad’s apartment in Minneapolis was the single most expensive home in Minneapolis, listed for $7 million. Pohlad Companies, currently owns six companies across the commercial real estate, private investing, robotic automation and entertainment sectors. These include the real estate investment firm United Properties, the third largest developer in the Twin Cities and also has development projects in Colorado, Florida, and Texas.
Chris Pohlad, the same guy who wrote the “too little, too late” op-ed, is the Chief of Staff of United Properties. According to eyewitness accounts and public records, for some of its housing developments, United Properties relies on non-union contractors that have documented track records of mistreating workers on other sites, including worker misclassification, injuries, and retaliation. Worker centers and community groups have been calling on United Properties to protect the workers on their construction sites from labor violations and abuse for over four years, and United Properties has yet to sign on to a third party-monitoring system that would ensure workers are protected from abuse.
The company has yet to make any public statement about the impacts of ICE escalation in construction and actions they can take to protect workers - starting with calling for ICE out of Minnesota.
Until the Pohlads use their wealth and platforms to protect vulnerable workers from ICE violence, they’re letting both construction workers and Twins fans down.
