The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
A tenant for 111 years, St. Paul Pipefitters Local 455 finally has a home of its own. The union held an open house at its new facility at 1301 L’Orient Street in St. Paul yesterday, celebrating with apprentices, members, retirees, public officials and union leaders. Local 455 acquired the property – a former fabricating […]
Faith leaders from Minneapolis today called on elected officials to begin addressing Minnesota’s alarming racial disparities by guaranteeing all workers access to earned sick and safe time. “This is exactly what systemic racism looks like: reasonable people who say, ‘Our hands are tied … because it’s just too costly to change our system,’” Rev. […]
When a non-union electrical contractor was undermining area wages and benefits on a project funded by Ramsey County several years back, IBEW Local 110’s Brian Winkelaar didn’t think twice about what to do. He called Darren Tobolt, County Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt’s longtime assistant. “I called him up and said, ‘Darren, how come they’re on this […]
A week ago, Francis Hall made history as the first known home care worker in Minnesota to take a paid vacation day. Today, Hall stood outside the federal courthouse in St. Paul and condemned the well funded, extremist groups suing to deny her that benefit – and take away her newly formed union. “We’ve come too […]
Bonfe’s might want to consider a new recruiting strategy. For the second year in a row, the non-union mechanical and electrical contractor invited members of area Building Trades unions to attend an open house for prospective employees. And just like last year, Bonfe’s recruiters spent most of the open house trying to keep union members […]
Staff at Community School of Excellence in St. Paul, still fighting for a first contract more than a year after organizing their union, have compelled Superintendent Mo Chang to acknowledge her administration infringed on workers’ legally protected rights on the job. The admission comes in a notice to all employees, signed by Chang, affirming CSE […]
As Hy-Vee moves into the Twin Cities market, union grocery workers are rolling out a campaign to hold the supermarket chain to local standards for “good jobs.” That means high wages, guaranteed schedules, affordable health care and retirement plans – and the security of a union contract. “The ability to negotiate guaranteed wage increases, hours […]
The Union Advocate, official publication of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, received five awards in the International Labor Communications Association’s 2015 awards contest. Competing among print and online publications produced by statewide and other labor organizations in the U.S. and Canada, The Advocate won the following awards: First Place, Visual Communication Awards: Best Informational […]
As autumn begins, my time as Minnesota AFL-CIO President will come to a close. As I head into retirement, I wanted to thank you and everyone in Minnesota’s labor movement for the opportunity to serve as your president. I especially want to thank everyone at the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, both past and present. […]
Workers haven’t given up the fight to stop the latest – and largest – free-trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. As diplomats from 12 Pacific Rim countries gathered in Atlanta yesterday for negotiations on the sprawling, NAFTA-style trade pact, fair-trade advocates across the country took to the streets, warning the public about what’s at stake in […]
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