The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
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 […]
Looking to build on recent victories at Target and Best Buy, retail janitors in the Twin Cities will put the pressure on Kohl’s this weekend – during the busy back-to-school shopping season – to do right by the workers who clean its stores. Janitors organizing with the Twin Cities worker center CTUL want Kohl’s to […]
After banding together with workers at 11 other newspapers owned by the same hedge fund, union members at the St. Paul Pioneer Press won their first wage increase in seven years, part of a new three-year contract they voted to ratify Aug. 9. Members of the Minnesota Newspaper and Communications Guild will receive 3-percent raises […]
At a press conference today, small business owners in St. Paul said passing a citywide sick-time ordinance is the right thing to do – not only for the health of their workers, but also the health of their bottom lines. Providing employees with earned sick and safe time makes them less likely to jump […]
If elected to the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school board in a special election Aug. 9, Craig Angrimson won’t need a crash course in the issues that matter to union members. Since exiting the U.S. Marine Corps, Angrimson has spent his career in the union movement, working for Northwest Airlines as a member of the Machinists union […]
NEW BRIGHTON – As the first trickle of mud oozed out of the concrete truck’s chute, 13 trainees dressed in hardhats, safety vests and tall rubber boots sprung into action, using shovels and trowels to distribute the concrete evenly across 13 rectangular slabs. The July heat was pushing 90 degrees, and the trainees, participants […]
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