Retail workers’ Black Friday wish list includes higher wages, a voice on the job

On Black Friday, will you shop for doorbusters? Or protest union-busters? Twin Cities labor activists have announced their plans for the unofficial kickoff of the holiday shopping season, which in recent years also has become a day of action for unions and worker-advocacy groups fighting back against big-box retailers’ crazy hours, frenzied working conditions and […]

IBEW holiday lights glow through New Year’s Day in Phalen Park

IBEW Holiday Lights in the Park, the larger-than-life display of holiday-themed light sculptures, will open its gates Nov. 26 and light up St. Paul’s Phalen Park nightly through New Year’s Day. Developed by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and King of Kings Lutheran Church of Woodbury, Holiday Lights in the Park is a volunteer-run, […]

Fair Trade/Union Made Holiday Sale in Minneapolis Dec. 8

Skip Black Friday and try a sweatshop-free shopping spree instead with the annual Fair Trade/Union Made Holiday Sale in Minneapolis. A benefit for the nonprofit Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition, the sale will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 8 at the CWA Local 7200 Hall, 3521 E. Lake St. Vendors include Ten Thousand […]

Union volunteers gave labor-endorsed candidates a boost in Nov. 5 elections

Union volunteers gave labor-endorsed candidates and school levy campaigns a boost during the 2013 election cycle, aiding victories in the City of St. Paul and several East Metro suburbs. The St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, the AFL-CIO’s central labor council in Ramsey, Washington, Dakota and Chisago counties, recruited 125 volunteers for phone banks, door knocks […]

St. Paul’s ‘labor mayor,’ Coleman has earned a third term in office

Since being sworn in as mayor in 2006, Chris Coleman has been standing up for St. Paul’s working families. On Nov. 5, working families have an opportunity to stand up for Coleman by reelecting the DFL mayor to a third term in office. Coleman earned labor’s endorsement, union leaders and activists said, by bringing structural […]

Labor mourned JFK’s assassination 50 years ago

The Nov. 28, 1963 edition of The Union Advocate ran three front-page tributes to the nation’s fallen president, remembered as a great friend of organized labor. St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly President Charles Rafferty said John F. Kennedy’s assassination Nov. 22, 1963 was a great loss for workers, but he added the president would […]