MON AM News: Industry study seeks ways to improve Great Lakes region shipping; Burger King operator had more than 1,600 child labor, wage law violations

February 9, 2026

— The director of Port Milwaukee says a new shipping industry study will explore ways to move cargo more efficiently and “strengthen our role” in the national freight network.

The American Great Lakes Ports Association recently announced a market analysis study focused on expanding cargo shipping between the Great Lakes and inland waterways.

“Port Milwaukee is the northern most approved point on the Great Lakes with access to the Inland River System and plays a key role in serving manufacturers, agribusiness, and distributors across the Upper Midwest,” Port Milwaukee Director Benjamin Timm said in a statement.

The study will seek to find ways to expand cargo transfers between river barges and lake vessels, while assessing infrastructure needs and ways to improve operations. It will also explore how more maritime service could boost supply chains, support key industries in the region, create jobs and “relieve pressure” on highways.

It’s being undertaken alongside the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, and involves association members including Port Milwaukee and others in the Midwest. It’s being conducted by global management consulting firm CPCS Transcom Inc.

Along with Port Milwaukee, the Ports of Indiana and the Illinois International Port District are participating in the study.

Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois collectively make up 65% of the economic activity related to Great Lakes shipping, according to the association. The announcement also references the importance of the Chicago shipping canal and Mississippi River system for regional cargo transit.

But while the Great Lakes and connected inland waterway system collectively move nearly 700 million tons of cargo per year, the association says “only a small percentage” of those goods move between the Great Lakes and inland rivers. The group notes the intersection of these two systems represents “one of the most important industrial and freight hubs” in the country.

Mike McCoshen, administrator for the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, points to commitments by President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to strengthen U.S. supply chains. He says improving the flow of goods through the region will boost the economy as well as the country’s long-term competitiveness.

“We recognize that enhancing the connection between the Great Lakes and our Inland Waterways is a vital step toward securing America’s big and beautiful economic future,” McCoshen said in a statement.

See more in the release.

— A company that operates more than 100 Burker King franchises in Wisconsin was found to have 1,656 violations of state child labor and wage laws, Gov. Tony Evers announced.

The guv’s office on Friday said Cave Enterprises Operations LLC committed “sweeping” child labor violations that affected more than 600 kids in the state.

These violations over a two-year period ending January 2025 represents the largest determination of child labor and wage payment violations in modern state history, according to the release.

Cave Enterprises is now required to pay unpaid regular wages, overtime wages and penalty wages to impacted workers, and must “immediately come into compliance” with state law around employing minors, according to the state Department of Workforce Development.

The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Friday’s announcement came after DWD’s Equal Rights Division investigated Cave Enterprises following a department records review that found 33 complaints against its individual franchises between 2020 and 2023. When the agency reviewed records from the start of 2023 to Jan. 25, 2025, it found 1,656 violations.

A total of 593 employees aged 14 and 15 were allowed to start work without a child labor permit, violating state law, the release shows. And 627 minors worked shifts of six hours or more without legally mandated meal breaks, and hundreds of minors under age 16 worked outside of permitted school-age employment hours.

In a statement on the findings, Evers said his administration is “committed to cracking down on fraud and abuse” affecting workers in the state, especially minors.

“We have a responsibility to make sure kids who are working are protected from exploitation, predatory employer practices, and being subjected to hazardous or illegal working conditions, and that’s a responsibility we must take seriously,” Evers said in a statement.

See the release.

— Staff at a Rogers Behavioral Health clinic in West Allis have filed a petition to join a union, organizers announced.

The petition to join the National Union of Healthcare Workers was signed by a “supermajority” of staff, including therapists, nurses, nurse practitioners, doctors and other workers, according to last night’s announcement. The specific percentage was not provided.

The West Allis clinic is the largest outpatient clinic within Rogers Behavioral Health, with more than 100 patients per day, the release shows. Organizers say staff-to-patient ratios had “quadrupled in a short time,” putting a strain on the workers.

T’Anna Holst, a therapist and organizing committee member, says providers can’t help their patients if they’re burnt out.

“When we have so many patients, some people have to work through lunch and stay late instead of cutting corners on patient care,” she said in a statement.

Organizers say the West Allis staff are waiting for management to respond to their call for them to voluntarily recognize the union.

When asked for comment, a spokesperson for Rogers Behavioral Health provided a statement from company President and CEO Cindy Meyer acknowledging the petition.

“We are working closely with the National Labor Relations Board on next steps,” Meyer said.

The petition comes after Rogers workers in Madison last week filed a similar petition to join the California-based NUHW. The union says it represents the first of the company’s locations to unionize, in Walnut Creek, Calif.

Top headlines from the Health Care Report…

— Milwaukee-area Dem lawmakers are seeking to establish a working group focused on statewide coordination of the state’s Medical Assistance program following changes at the federal level.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

Sign up here.

— Clean Wisconsin’s Amy Barrilleaux told WisPolitics’ “Capitol Chats” podcast that Wisconsin doesn’t have the regulatory scheme in place to deal with the massive new power demand created by data centers fueling AI.

“We really flung open the door really wide for AI data centers to come here, and we don’t have much structure to deal with that,” says Barrilleaux, a spokesperson for the group.

That’s one reason it’s part of a coalition that has called for a statewide pause on new data center development until a comprehensive strategy is adopted.

Clean Wisconsin is among the parties weighing in on a We Energies proposal before the Public Service Commission that could help decide how much of the cost burden consumers will shoulder for new transmission infrastructure data centers need.

The environmental nonprofit also wants to see that new power generation come from renewables like wind and solar power, and is concerned about data center power needs delaying the transition to renewable energy and even leading to more fossil fuel generation.

“We’ve seen delayed coal plant retirements. We’re seeing other large, very large gas plants being proposed and fast-tracked within the state of Wisconsin,” Barrilleaux said. “We need to, right now, figure out what to do about the tremendous needs that are going to be coming because of the data centers that have already been approved, and how to meet those with as little harm as possible.”

A GOP-authored bill that promises to insulate ratepayers from data center-related utility costs is “probably well-intentioned” but ultimately inadequate, Barrileaux argued.

All of this, as well as a proliferation of non-disclosure agreements between local governments and data center developers and a general lack of transparency, is driving local backlash to data center projects.

“People are angry,” Barrilleaux said. “They don’t hear about a data center until the deal has already been done. And people don’t like to be treated that way.”

Listen to the full episode here.

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EDUCATION