The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
Last-ditch talks between Allina nurses and management broke off early this morning after a marathon, 22-hour negotiating session failed to yield agreement on a new contract. As a result, nearly 5,000 members of the Minnesota Nurses Association plan to begin an open-ended strike Monday morning. If picket lines go up on Labor Day, nurses will count on broad […]
Income inequality is on the rise in Minnesota, and disparities between white workers and workers of color continue to widen. Unions are key to reversing both of those trends, according to a new report unveiled just in time for Labor Day. Co-authored by four researchers, “The State of the Unions 2016” takes a deep […]
Join a “thoughtful discussion on solidarity” Sept. 12 at the East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul. The forum, timed to coincide loosely with Labor Day, is free and open to the public from 7 to 9 p.m. at 1105 Greenbrier St. Library co-director Peter Rachleff will offer a brief history of the concept of […]
Donald Trump is angling for voters like us – workers fed up by stagnant wages and an economy rigged for the rich. Don’t swallow his bait! Trump calls himself a “blue-collar billionaire.” There is no such thing! He’s really a bad boss who fires people on a game show. America needs a real president, not […]
Standing with leaders of unions representing workers across Minnesota, members of the Minnesota Nurses Association today announced they have delivered notice to Allina Health of their intent to begin an open-ended strike on Labor Day at five Twin Cities facilities. The two sides “regressed” in mediated talks earlier this week, MNA director Rose Roach […]
Rosa Baires says Franklin Street Bakery gave her permission to leave her job to travel to New York and care for her dying ex-husband earlier this year. But when she returned, she found herself out of a job. “I’m very sure that they did fire me because I signed the petition for the union,” […]
Looking to build on recent victories at Target and Best Buy, retail janitors in the Twin Cities put the pressure on Kohl’s Saturday – during the busy back-to-school shopping season – to do right by the workers who clean its stores. Janitors brought busloads of supporters, including union teachers, nurses and construction workers, to […]
One by one Friday, graduates of the inaugural MN Trades Academy stepped up to the podium inside IBEW Local 110’s union hall and offered their three favorite construction crafts. Welding was a popular choice – not surprisingly, given the teenage demographic – but there was something for every one of the 20 graduates, who […]
Nurses may soon be back on the picket line outside five Allina Health facilities in the metro area. And unlike their seven-day strike in June, a second work stoppage would be open ended. In balloting yesterday, members of the Minnesota Nurses Association voted to reject Allina’s latest contract proposal. Because a “supermajority” – at least […]
I’m not much into political candidates. Maybe it’s because I was born in Chicago, where the party was the important thing. I was living in Illinois the first year I could vote. I just pulled the lever at the top for the Democratic ticket. In 1967 and early ’68, I volunteered for Gene McCarthy’s presidential […]
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