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 […]

Noel Nix is labor’s choice in St. Paul’s Ward 1 race

Noel Nix is a familiar face to residents of St. Paul’s Ward 1, and he is the labor-endorsed candidate in a special election to fill the ward’s seat on the St. Paul City Council this year. Nix worked as an aide to former Council Member Melvin Carter, who stepped down earlier this year, setting the […]

Roy Magnuson: Brodrick brings the right blend of old school, new vision to school board

In the Kevin Bacon movie “Six Degrees of Separation,” the premise is that everybody on the planet is connectable to everyone else in six degrees or less. St. Paul Board of Education member John Brodrick’s world is the city of St. Paul, and St. Paul is smaller than the world, so Brodrick is disappointed if […]

In second term on school board, O’Connell will continue her collaborative approach

St. Paul school board member Jean O’Connell worked at 3M for 34 years. As an engineer, she learned quickly that it wasn’t enough for an idea merely to work on paper; it also had to work on the factory floor. It’s an approach O’Connell hopes to expand upon in a second term on the St. […]

Laborers’ charity motorcycle ride lauded by Ronald McDonald House

Ronald McDonald House of the Twin Cities honored the Minnesota Laborers Ride for Charity with its prestigious 2013 Don Shelby Service Award at a banquet Oct. 5 in Minneapolis. In 2013 the Laborers Ride raised $12,000 for Ronald McDonald House charities. The ride has delivered over $75,000 to the charity over its 10-year run since […]

Members bring union perspective to local campaigns in East Metro suburbs

At least three union members are running campaigns for local office in the East Metro this fall, a positive sign in an odd-year election cycle for those who believe union members naturally make the best advocates for working families’ issues. Don Mullin, a second-generation trade show decorator and member of the Painters and Allied Trades, […]

Bobby Kasper: Support school levies on Nov. 5 ballot

Garrison Keillor, the great Minnesota author and radio personality, put it best: “Nothing you do for children is ever wasted.” At the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, we’re putting Keillor’s words into action, working in support of five levy referendums in East Metro suburbs that have been endorsed by our delegation of 100-plus local unions. […]

Report shows passenger service workers earn poverty-level wages at MSP Airport

As a military veteran with a college education, Darcy Landau is overqualified for his job as a wheelchair agent at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Earning wages of $7.25 per hour, Landau struggles to make monthly car payments, pay back his student loans and meet his basic needs. “If it weren’t for the VA,” Landau said, […]