Hastings nurses authorize strike as Allina sticks with second-rate offer

Union nurses are keeping the pressure on Allina Health to do right by their colleagues at Regina Medical Center in Hastings, where nurses voted yesterday to authorize their leadership to call a strike if contract talks break down. Meanwhile, about 100 nurses and supporters from the labor community staged informational picketing outside Allina-owned United Hospital […]

Coalition delivers 7,000 postcards to state senators urging action on minimum wage

Supporters of raising the state’s minimum wage – and indexing it to keep up with the cost of living – kept the pressure on state senators today, delivering more than 7,000 postcards from constituents demanding action. The postcards are the product of conversations with Minnesotans that began, Raise the Wage Coalition spokesperson Jennifer Munt said, […]

Trades back measure putting teeth into bidding requirements

Public construction projects in Minnesota are awarded to the “lowest responsible bidder,” according to state law. But how do public agencies distinguish which bidders are responsible? It’s a question the state’s Building Trades unions want answered during the 2014 legislative session. With lawmakers likely to pass a bonding bill containing roughly $1 billion in infrastructure […]

Union retirees plan annual fundraiser

The Minnesota State Retiree Council, AFL-CIO, will hold its Eleventh Annual Fund Raiser from 2 to 6 p.m. May 3 at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 10 Hall, 1681 Cope Ave., in Maplewood. Admission is free, and there will be free food, free parking and music. This is not an occasion for retirees only. Rather, […]

School board to senators: Raise minimum wage to boost student achievement

School board members weighed into the minimum-wage debate this week, when all seven members of St. Paul’s Board of Education signed a letter urging state senators to help close achievement gaps in their district by supporting a substantial wage hike this session. Louise Seeba, a board member and AFSCME Local 3757 member, spearheaded efforts to […]

Woodbury forum to consider East Metro’s transportation challenges

“Pains, Trains & Automobiles,” a forum and panel discussion in Woodbury March 18, will consider what can be done to improve Minnesota’s transportation system, with an emphasis on meeting the needs of Washington County and the East Metro. The forum will run from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Genesis Room at Woodbury Lutheran Church, […]