Twin Cities fast food workers plan April 15 strike (video)

  Fast food workers in the Twin Cities today announced plans for their third strike in the last seven months, an indication support is growing for their fight to win wages of $15 per hour and union rights. Those demands haven’t changed since fast-food workers first walked off the job in the Twin Cities last […]

Workers unite for safe staffing, job security: ‘We are the face of Allina’

After hundreds marched together outside Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis yesterday, the picket line shifted to United Hospital in St. Paul today, as health care workers kept the pressure on Allina Health to get serious about contract negotiations with their union, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota. Workers like Dave Young, a nursing assistant at United, want Allina […]

Bernie Hesse: Politicians, bad laws can’t stop workers from organizing

Our union, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1189, organized a new group of workers in Luck, Wis., the day Gov. Scott Walker signed a Right to Work for Less bill. The workers at Pioneer Care Center, a nursing home in Luck, voted overwhelmingly for a union. The worker win was the bright spot on […]

AFSCME members defend public service during Council 5’s Day on Hill rally

  “Everyone in this room is an expert in public service,” AFSCME Council 5 Executive Director Eliot Seide told nearly 1,000 members of the union during its Day on the Hill rally yesterday. “You’ve forgotten more than (politicians) will ever know.” After the rally, held at a downtown St. Paul hotel, union members bused to […]

Water’s Off volunteers provide plumbing repairs for low-income homeowners

“This is too good to be true,” Laurene Gruett said as Gerald Keating and Brett Sergot, members of St. Paul Plumbers Local 34, repaired the basement shower and kitchen sink in her North St. Paul home March 21. “What a blessing.” Keating and Sergot were among 57 volunteers from Local 34 who participated in the […]

Rail union pushes safety measure requiring two-person crews

A bill that would require two-person crews aboard Amtrak and most freight trains operating in Minnesota passed out of two Senate committees last week. The safety measure is a top legislative priority of the United Transportation Union, which represents about 70,000 workers in North America. Sen. Ann Rest (DFL-New Hope) introduced the legislation in the […]

Stagehands’ youth movement pays off with organizing win at Varsity Theater

After an organizing drive fueled by young activists and backed by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, workers at the Varsity Theater in Dinkytown have a union. It’s the first successful organizing campaign for IATSE Local 13 in “many years,” according to Michael Abramson, co-chair of the Twin Cities-based union’s Young Worker Committee. The […]

With new calendar, St. Paul firefighters make ledershosen hot

St. Paul Fire Fighters Local 21 and German Fest have teamed up on a new calendar that features firefighters posed in lederhosen with traditional German props. Calendar sales will support Operation Warm, a charity that provides coats to low-income kids in St. Paul Models include both men and women from Local 21, posing in front […]

Talk organizing rule changes with local NLRB director April 7

The Minneapolis-based regional director of the National Labor Relations Board will discuss rule changes set to take effect next month that will modernize and streamline union organizing elections. Regional Director Marlin Osthus will appear at an informal discussion on how the new rules will impact workers, unions and employers April 7 at 10 a.m. at […]

Trades sponsor Women Building Minnesota info sessions

Women considering a career in the construction industry can learn what it takes – and why it pays – to become a successful tradeswoman at two Women Building Minnesota information sessions next month. Sponsored by the St. Paul and Minneapolis Building Trades councils, Women Building Minnesota is a registered apprenticeship program that offers women an […]