Boycott of REI’s anniversary sale begins today
Over 70,000 REI Co-op members have pledged to boycott the outdoors retailer’s anniversary sale, which runs today through May 25, in a show of solidarity with workers at 11 unionized stores across the country, including one in Maple Grove. REI Union members voted in March to authorize a boycott of … [Continue Reading ...]
SEIU members strike at five Twin Cities nursing homes
Picket lines went up at 7 a.m. today outside five Twin Cities nursing homes, as about 300 union members launched a 72-hour strike for fair wages and respect. The bargaining units, represented by SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa, are in limited negotiations with the employers, under to a … [Continue Reading ...]
Research into union busting in MN nursing homes draws lawmaker scrutiny
Authors of two recently published reports on union busting in Minnesota nursing homes presented their findings to the Senate Labor Committee last week, raising concerns among some lawmakers that public funds are being used to stifle worker voice. Committee Chair Jen McEwen (D-Duluth) called the … [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 ...]
Feature Story
Research into union busting in MN nursing homes draws lawmaker scrutiny
Authors of two recently published reports on union busting in Minnesota nursing homes presented their findings to the Senate Labor Committee last week, raising concerns among some lawmakers that public funds are being used to stifle worker voice. Committee Chair Jen … [Continue Reading ...]
Organizing News
Labor in the Community
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 ...]
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 ...]
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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