The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
Delegates to the Minnesota AFL-CIO’s 51st Constitutional Convention will gather in Rochester Sept. 16-18. It is certain to be a much more harmonious affair than the statewide labor convention held in Hibbing 75 years ago, when AFL delegates snuffed out an attempt by “CIO sympathizers” to gain a foothold in the organization. “Minnesota Labor took […]
The University of Minnesota Labor Education Service will offer six Labor Studies Skills Courses starting this fall, including its first-ever online class. The non-credit Labor Studies Skills Courses provide a foundation in “nuts & bolts” areas important to working people and are open to all. Sessions for in-person classes are held on the West Bank […]
Eighteen of the nation’s most prominent lawmakers listened last weekend as two Steelworkers from St. Paul testified about the importance of revitalizing the U.S. economy with initiatives designed to grow middle-class manufacturing jobs. Bob Ryan and David Hallas, members of the United Steelworkers union, addressed the committee charged with drafting the Democratic Party’s platform in […]
East Metro unions will be watching two labor-endorsed candidates for Minnesota Legislature who face competitive challenges in the Aug. 14 primary: Robert Humphrey in Senate District 67 and Peter Fischer in House District 43A. [Click here for more information on the Aug. 14 Primary Election, including how to identify your electoral district and find your […]
It’s not a “golden anniversary” – that would be 110 years – but Local 110 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers will turn 100 years old this month, and members planned to celebrate July 28 with a picnic on Harriet Island. The St. Paul-based union traces its roots to a division that took place […]
Whether you have 15 minutes or four hours to spare, you can make a big difference in your community on United Way Action Day, a volunteer event Aug. 22 sponsored by Greater Twin Cities United Way. The St. Paul Regional Labor Federation’s Labor Studies and Resource Center is seeking volunteers from the union community for […]
Earlier this spring, I stood on the steamy streets of Chicago and witnessed a revival that my union brothers and sisters in the Windy City said was a long time coming. I’d been swept into town a day earlier along with hundreds of nurses, union members and others to help National Nurses United (of which […]
Could John Kline live on $290 per week? That’s the question several constituents from the 2nd Congressional District asked their Republican representative in the weeks leading up to today’s three-year anniversary of the last federal minimum-wage increase. When Kline failed to provide his constituents with an answer, they decided to deliver a letter to his […]
If free-trade agreements like the forthcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership are in the public interest, then why are they negotiated in private? That’s the question supporters of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition asked during a July 9 rally in Hopkins. The coalition of labor, environmental and agricultural organizations is mounting a public campaign to pressure the Obama […]
One by one, DFL state lawmakers took the podium on the opening day of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council’s annual convention July 19-20 in St. Cloud. Invariably, each offered his own variation on three common themes: • DFLers salvaged the 2012 legislative session by providing the votes – or the veto power – […]
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