Frontline workers at the University of Minnesota stood together for nearly six months, waging a contract campaign for raises and respect. Now that strategy is paying off, as three bargaining units – Teamsters Local 320 and AFSCME Locals 3800 and 3801 – have announced tentative agreements with the U that include 2 percent wage increases, equitable family […]
U of M relents in contract talks as workers stick together for raises and respect
December 11, 2015 by
Students, teachers, unions urge lawmakers to invest state budget surplus
December 3, 2015 by
The projected $1.2 billion state budget surplus, announced by state officials today, creates an opportunity for lawmakers to strengthen communities and continue growing Minnesota’s middle class in the 2016 legislative session, union members and allies said. And the first place lawmakers should look to invest is education. That’s the message three Metro-area legislators heard […]
Photos: A ‘concrete Christmas’ for Cement Masons Local 633
December 2, 2015 by
Decking the apprenticeship hall with festive concrete has become an annual tradition at Cement Masons Local 633. The local hosted a holiday party at its training center in New Brighton last night, and members strolled through a “Peanuts”-themed winter wonderland fashioned by first- and second-year apprentices. All of the work to create the concrete […]
Trumka at U of M: ‘There’s a way for workers to win, and it’s together’
November 19, 2015 by
In a policy address at the University of Minnesota yesterday, the nation’s highest-ranking labor leader pointed to “thousands of little groundswells” from across the country, including in the Twin Cities, as signs of a renaissance for collective action in American culture. “Right now workers are standing together and asking for a better life – and […]
SuperAmerica workers’ concerns fall on deaf ears
November 18, 2015 by
SuperAmerica continues to stonewall workers looking to meet with corporate leadership to discuss concerns about low pay, favoritism and poor working conditions. Workers from the St. Cloud area, organizing with Working America and the Greater Minnesota Worker Center, brought their campaign to the Twin Cities yesterday. Joined by allies in the labor movement and students […]
Wedge Community Co-Op workers vote to form union
November 17, 2015 by
Workers at the Wedge Community Co-Op in Minneapolis voted overwhelmingly in favor of forming a union yesterday, according to Local 1189 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. In an election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, Wedge workers voted 76-31 in favor of a voice on the job. Wedge employees organized their […]
Ellison to U of M researchers: Use collective action to reverse dwindling federal support
November 13, 2015 by
Frontline researchers alerted U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison to the impacts of dwindling federal and institutional support for their work in a meeting at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities yesterday. Ellison, a DFLer whose 5th District includes the Twin Cities campus, pledged to continue supporting research funding in Congress, and he praised U […]
Building a movement to combat student debt, CWA offers free, public clinics in Minneapolis
November 12, 2015 by
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 […]
Striking workers revive campaign for Working Families Agenda
November 10, 2015 by
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 […]
Carpenters pile on TruStone for undermining area labor standards in Burnsville
November 9, 2015 by
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 […]
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