The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
On days when the cold or snow delays the start of school, some students trickle into Ryan Long’s classroom at American Indian Magnet school, while others stay home altogether. Sadly, it’s on these rare occasions that Long and other St. Paul teachers glimpse what it’s like teaching a manageable class size of students. “All of […]
President Obama is pushing Congress to approve the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities Act, introduced in the U.S. House earlier this month and better known as “Fast Track authorization.” Fast Track would force Congress to take an up-or-down vote on trade agreements without offering amendments. But a large coalition of labor, environmental, family-farm and other grassroots […]
Negotiations on a new contract are dragging into the new year, but nurses at Regina Medical Center in Hastings, members of the Minnesota Nurses Association, continue to resist Allina Health’s effort to treat them differently than nurses in every other Allina hospital in the Twin Cities Metro Area. The two sides returned to the bargaining […]
State and local taxpayers are backing a $50 million expansion project underway at Gerdau’s St. Paul steel mill with a package of incentives, grants and forgivable loans. But members of St. Paul Pipefitters Local 455 say the project has left local workers out in the cold. The dispute stems from Gerdau’s decision to accept a […]
It looked a lot like Christmas earlier this month at the Cement Masons Local 633 apprenticeship training center in New Brighton, where the local’s 20 first- and second-year apprentices constructed an enormous seasonal landscape out of concrete. The display, unveiled to members at the local’s holiday party last week, spreads across the floor of the […]
Minnesota’s economy continues to recover from the Great Recession, but an increasing number of workers are finding employment through temp agencies and subcontracting firms. That trend drew scrutiny from the Legislature’s Select Committee on Living Wage Jobs at a hearing Dec. 19 in St. Paul. Jobs in the economy’s “employment services” sector, which includes subcontractors […]
Workers at Northern Tier refinery in St. Paul Park voted Dec. 16 to authorize their leadership to call a strike if the company continues to demand cuts that, workers say, “could dramatically undermine the safety of operations” at the facility. Northern Tier is in contract negotiations with about 200 members of Teamsters Local 120 who […]
Nurses at Regina Medical Center in Hastings will hold a candlelight vigil tonight, keeping hope alive for a new contract with the hospital that retains the level of nursing care the Hastings community expects. The vigil will take place at 4:30 p.m. in the parking lot at the intersection of Highways 55 and 61. Nurses also […]
For the first time in the current round of contract talks with the St. Paul Federation of Teachers, negotiators for the St. Paul Public Schools last month agreed to put two key issues for teachers – class sizes and specialist staffing – on the table. Although the district’s proposal did not draw a favorable response […]
As the 2013 Legislative Session drew to a close in May, supporters of a bill to strengthen Minnesota’s anti-bullying laws made one last push, urging their state senators to vote on the Safe and Supportive Schools Act, which had already won approval in the House. The session gaveled to a close before senators could take […]
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