The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
He is gruff and often combative, principled and usually blunt. But above all else, Bernie Hesse is a trade unionist. From his days as a grocery clerk to his current work as director of special projects for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1189, Hesse has made himself ubiquitous in St. Paul’s labor community. If […]
We all do better when we work together. That’s the lesson teachers and support staff in the North Branch Area Schools learned from the district’s first successful referendum campaign in at least 15 years. And it was a valuable lesson, as voters in a special election May 23 approved all three of District 138’s funding […]
It would be an understatement to say the competition among Pipe Trades apprentices – and apprenticeship programs – held in the Twin Cities June 7-8 was intense. How intense? After a labor reporter chatting with one of the visiting instructors snapped a photo of some plumbing specs, he was confronted by another out-of-town instructor, who demanded […]
I’d like to tell you about my long-time colleague, Amy. Over the last 20 years at Harding High School in St. Paul, I have watched Amy work tirelessly with thousands of our fantastic students – nearly all of whom are low-income, minority, first generation to attend college – to help them navigate the college acceptance […]
Since being established in 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement – better known as NAFTA – has triggered job losses, depressed wages and shifted more power to corporations. Now, the Trump administration has notified Congress it plans to “modernize” the horrible trade deal, giving working families an historic opportunity to shape a better trade […]
Union Advocate 