Washington County workers ready to strike for staffing, mental health benefits
Members of a bargaining unit representing nearly 900 Washington County employees voted in late February to authorize a strike, demanding a new union contract that addresses understaffing and improves their access to mental-health benefits. Local 517 of the American Federation of State, County and … [Continue Reading ...]
Twin Cities Habitat workers vote to unionize with AFSCME
Workers at Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity have voted to form a union, becoming the newest group of nonprofit employees to organize with Council 5 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The new bargaining unit brings together about 100 workers from Twin … [Continue Reading ...]
Lawmakers take up educators’ call for new insurance pool
House and Senate authors of a statewide health insurance pool for school employees, one of Education Minnesota’s top priorities this session, outlined their legislation's path forward last week. The statewide educators’ union held a day of action at the Capitol March 18 to drum up support for the … [Continue Reading ...]
Detained Guild member’s son attends SOTU as Omar’s guest
The Trump administration’s chaotic, violent surge of immigration-enforcement activity in Minnesota this winter has upended thousands of lives, Gerardo Orozco Guzman’s among them. But Guzman, 27, had a rare opportunity to bear witness to that devastation when President Trump delivered his State of … [Continue Reading ...]
Feature Story
Lawmakers take up educators’ call for new insurance pool
House and Senate authors of a statewide health insurance pool for school employees, one of Education Minnesota’s top priorities this session, outlined their legislation's path forward last week. The statewide educators’ union held a day of action at the Capitol March 18 … [Continue Reading ...]
Organizing News
Labor in the Community
Detained Guild member’s son attends SOTU as Omar’s guest
The Trump administration’s chaotic, violent surge of immigration-enforcement activity in Minnesota this winter has upended thousands of lives, Gerardo Orozco Guzman’s among them. But Guzman, 27, had a rare opportunity to bear witness to that devastation when President Trump delivered his State of … [Continue Reading ...]
Workers call on Fairview, other health systems to adopt best practices for ICE interactions
Health care facilities have not been spared the aggressive tactics deployed by federal agents during the recent surge of immigration enforcement in Minnesota. Now, local unions, immigrant-rights groups and lawmakers are demanding health systems adopt new “best practices” to keep patients and workers … [Continue Reading ...]
Building Trades notch win for prevailing wage in West St. Paul
By mobilizing their members and tapping solidarity from the local labor movement, Building Trades unions won an unexpected fight over prevailing wage in West St. Paul last year. The city has long required developers to pay prevailing wages on any project that receives $50,000 or more in public … [Continue Reading ...]
New state grants support suicide prevention in construction industry
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry awarded new grant funding last month to help two organizations tackle a leading safety hazard in the construction industry: mental health. Minnesota Building Trades unions partnered last year with their employers, represented by the Associated … [Continue Reading ...]
Labor Voices
After authorizing strike, SEIU members at HealthPartners celebrate TA
Workers at HealthPartners clinics across the Twin Cities put their bosses on notice last month that they were willing to strike to defend their industry-leading health benefits. Yesterday their union reached tentative agreement on a new contract that does just that. If ratified, the three-year … [Continue Reading ...]
MN unions to employers: Keep ICE out of our workplaces
As federal immigration raids continue in the Twin Cities, several local unions are stepping up to demand their employers protect both workers and the people they serve. From health care workers and letter carriers to transit workers and educators, the message has been clear: keep ICE out of our … [Continue Reading ...]
First union contract delivers gains for Mississippi Market workers
Members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1189 voted last month to ratify a first contract with Mississippi Market after 11 months of bargaining with the St. Paul co-op grocer. Union negotiators said the three-year contract delivers on the demands that sparked co-op workers’ organizing … [Continue Reading ...]
Thoemke: Responsible contracting, union organizing are good for business – just ask this local printer
As a union organizer, I meet a lot of workers who’ve been treated unfairly – and plenty of employers who want nothing to do with fixing it. So when I got a call about Seven Corners, a local printing shop, I expected another long, uphill battle. Workers there were fighting to dissolve their sham … [Continue Reading ...]
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