Nurses, support workers unite for safe staffing at North Memorial Hospital

ROBBINSDALE – Rankled by North Memorial Hospital’s plan to cut their staffing levels, nurses and support staff united for informational picketing outside the facility here today. Hospital management, union leaders say, has moved unilaterally to cut staffing among nurses, dietary aides, housekeepers and other support workers to dangerously low levels. Nurses, for example, are now expected […]

An engine for economic growth, Green Line opens to big crowds

Minnesotans celebrated the opening of Metro Transit’s Green Line with ribbon-cuttings, neighborhood-centric events and more than 107,000 free rides June 14-15. But there was more to celebrate than the long-anticipated arrival of a sleek, new transit option between the Twin Cities’ downtown areas. Jobs – and plenty of them – were also reason to celebrate. […]

Hamline adjunct faculty members vote to join union

In the first union-organizing election among faculty members at a private college in Minnesota, adjunct instructors at Hamline University in St. Paul voted to join Local 284 of the Service Employees International Union. Eligible faculty members at Hamline cast their ballots by mail earlier this month. A vote tally took place this morning at the […]

New endorsements give shape to Minnesota AFL-CIO’s 2014 political push

The state’s largest labor federation, the Minnesota AFL-CIO, added to its list of endorsed candidates for state and federal offices yesterday, as Labor’s 2014 political push continued to take shape locally. Most notably, the Minnesota AFL-CIO backed 55 DFLers running for the Minnesota House of Representatives. The DFL Party will look to defend its 12-seat […]

With support from bonding bill, MN Workers Memorial Garden nears completion

The $1 billion package of public infrastructure investments approved by state lawmakers earlier this year includes $250,000 for a mural and other improvements that will complete the Minnesota Workers Memorial Garden in St. Paul. Construction of the memorial, located near the intersection of 12th and Cedar in the southeast corner of the Capitol grounds, wrapped […]

Airport workers, disability-rights advocates join in push for higher wages

A demonstration in support of low-wage workers who assist Delta Air Lines’ operations at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport began at today’s meeting of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) and spilled into the roadway outside Terminal 1’s ticketing area, forcing lane closures and resulting in 13 arrests. The protest targeted low wages, under-staffing and other poor […]

After years of fighting, janitors celebrate historic agreement with Target

Retail cleaning workers celebrated a hard-fought victory yesterday in their campaign for better wages and working conditions, as the Twin Cities-based worker center CTUL announced Target had agreed to hold its cleaning contractors to a new set of standards designed to protect workers’ rights. In a letter to CTUL organizers last week, Target agreed to […]

Union Depot rehab provided big return on public investment, study finds

It’s a multimodal transportation hub poised to serve the Twin Cities Metro. It’s an architectural jewel in St. Paul’s booming Lowertown district. And according to the results of a study released today, the renovated Union Depot has been – and continues to be – an engine for job creation and economic growth. The Union Depot rehabilitation […]

Striking workers from Twin Cities join protests outside Walmart shareholder meeting

Sam Walton famously required that Walmart employees flash a smile and offer a greeting to anyone coming within 10 feet of their path. Moronica Owens this week discovered a few exceptions to the “10-foot rule” at Walmart’s annual shareholder meetings in Fayetteville, Ark. “I’m a Walmart associate; I know the 10-foot rule,” Owens said. “But […]

Judy Wahlberg: The sexist agenda hidden in Harris v. Quinn

Any day now, the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on Harris v. Quinn, the most important labor law case in decades. The lawsuit is another attempt to kill off public employee unions. It centers on a small group of Illinois home care workers who sued to avoid paying fees to the very union that would […]