The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
Naomi Holmes will run out of deferments on $57,000 in student debt this winter. Howard Terry took out a $30,000 loan to finish his graduate degree at the University of Phoenix. Tom Laabs’ wife, Liz, will graduate next year from the University of Minnesota with six figures’ worth of debt. “When that school loan comes […]
Fast-food workers and retail janitors from 70 Twin Cities stores joined a nationwide strike today, rallying early this morning with other low-wage workers in support of a $15 minimum wage, paid sick days and other policies in the stalled Working Families Agenda. Workers in 270 cities planned to join the strike, which mostly targeted […]
Already embroiled in a dispute with its own employees’ union, TruStone Financial got an earful today from local Carpenters, who called out the credit union for working with a contractor that does not meet area standards for wages and benefits. Members of the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters erected a banner reading […]
Labor, environmental and other fair-trade activists are getting their first look at the Tran-Pacific Partnership, released to the public overnight. Their initial reaction? It’s worse than expected. “It’s absolutely not a progressive trade deal,” Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition director Kaela Berg said after an early analysis of the text. “It’s clear that TPP will perpetuate […]
Minnesota’s workforce is experiencing tremendous transition. Thousands of our experienced baby boomers are retiring, while many employers are seeking a workforce capable of meeting increased levels of skill to operate new technologies with precision. An emerging, yet familiar, pathway for some employers to successfully bridge that gap is registered apprenticeship programs. Registered apprenticeship programs have […]
TruStone Financial has opened two new suburban branches in the last three months, but the credit union isn’t just upgrading its facilities. Workers accuse TruStone of using the relocation process as an opportunity to splinter their union. TruStone opened a new branch in Burnsville last Monday, two days after shuttering its nearby Apple Valley […]
The St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, with more than 100 affiliate unions representing 50,000 union members in the East Metro, has endorsed six candidates for St. Paul City Council on the Nov. 3 ballot. Read more about Ward 2 candidate Darren Tobolt here, and read profiles of the Labor-endorsed candidates for St. Paul school […]
Four candidates for four open seats on the St. Paul school board have been endorsed by the St. Paul Federation of Teachers and the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. Here are brief profiles of the candidates that appeared in The Union Advocate’s Election Guide in advance of the Nov. 3 election. Zuki […]
Workers at the Wedge Co-Op in Minneapolis are poised to vote in an organizing election next month. Co-Op Partners Warehouse workers reached a tentative agreement with the Wedge earlier this month. But that might come as news to the co-op’s shareholders, who were left in the dark regarding the strides workers are taking toward a […]
Contracts covering about 27,500 state employees, including members of AFSCME Council 5 and the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, will go into effect next month after a legislative subcommittee failed to reject or approve the agreements. Members of the Subcommittee on Employee Relations split along party lines in a 5-5 vote yesterday. Under state law, […]
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