The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
Muscle-car enthusiasts and family-fun seekers alike will want to mark Saturday, Aug. 10, on their calendars. That’s when local Carpenters unions, for the second consecutive year, will host a vintage car show to benefit their food shelf. Hot-rods owners will compete for 10 best-in-show trophies, and the first 40 vintage cars to arrive at the […]
The Twin Cities Labor Chorus and Minnesota musician Charlie McGuire will host “Labor Sing,” a sing-along and fundraiser, July 30 at the Minnesota AFL-CIO Labor Pavilion on the State Fairgrounds. The Labor Chorus announced the event Monday in a press release: “It’s an excuse to get together, enjoy a summer evening, and have fun. It’s […]
Immigration reform is on the front burner in Congress this summer, but 10 years ago immigrant “freedom riders,” including some from Minnesota, traveled to Washington to raise awareness of the need for reform, including a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers. The Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride kicked off its Minnesota leg with an event at […]
Workers in Minnesota’s largest public-employee bargaining unit reached a tentative agreement Friday on a new two-year contract that includes annual raises of 3 percent and requires workers to cover more of their health care costs, the union said in a statement released today. The tentative agreement covers 17,000 craft, service, health care, clerical and technical […]
(This letter was received by Bobby Kasper, president of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation. In addition to donating funds to the locked-out workers’ cause, the RLF organized two holiday drives, collecting more than $50,000 worth of toys, household supplies and cash donations for sugar workers and their families.) Dear President Bobby Kasper, We would […]
Twin Cities members of the Communications Workers of America have some major concerns about the latest proposed free-trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. On June 20 they took those concerns to union members in West St. Paul and asked supporters to sign onto a letter to 2nd Congressional District Rep. John Kline. The letter asked Kline […]
I know that to many people, the words “Medicare solvency,” which is the ability of Medicare to meet its obligations, sound like an invitation to a nice nap. But union workers pay into Medicare every month, and you deserve to know that the benefits you’ve paid for will be there when you need them. And […]
If your job offers a defined-benefit retirement plan, odds are good you’ve heard it before, maybe even across the negotiating table: Pensions are a relic of the past. Bolstered by slick marketing campaigns underwritten by Wall Street investment firms, employers have been successful in convincing a generation of American workers they don’t need pensions to […]
Union workers at a concrete products manufacturing facility in Shakopee went on strike yesterday, pledging to walk the picket line until Cretex Companies abandons its attempt to strip workers of their pension benefits. Since negotiations on a new contract for 38 members of Laborers Local 563 began in January, Cretex has refused to budge from […]
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