March events: Expo to connect women with pathways into trades

Women in Construction Week runs from March 7 to 13, and local tradeswomen, in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI), will celebrate with a virtual event showcasing career opportunities available in the unionized trades. The Women Building Success Info Expo is open to women statewide who are interested in learning more […]

St. Paul unions take on new role getting fresh food to families

Local unions are stepping up this winter to connect thousands of Minnesotans with free, fresh food available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families Food Box program. The St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, which brings together over 100 local unions in Chisago, Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties, is spearheading the effort, working in […]

Wait for vaccines to reopen schools, St. Paul educators say

St. Paul educators, parents and community members wary of the district’s plan to resume in-person learning staged a car rally Jan. 12, calling on administrators to hold off on reopening buildings until COVID-19 vaccines are available to school staff. St. Paul Public Schools plans to begin a phased-in reopening of elementary schools and some other […]

COVID testing is free, fast and encouraged for frontline workers

COVID-19 testing is fast, safe and open to anyone free of charge at 21 community testing sites across Minnesota. That’s the message state health officials want union members – and all frontline workers – to hear as more businesses, schools and other gathering places begin reopening to the public. As a small group of union […]

Making the adjustment: Union apprenticeship programs get creative to navigate COVID-19 safely

The result isn’t always ideal, but what has been in 2020? 

Survey says state’s educators are burning out fast

Educators are feeling stressed, anxious and overwhelmed. Applications for retirement benefits, meanwhile, are on the rise.

Walz signs historic infrastructure bill from Ironworkers’ training floor

The bill also provides a long-sought emergency rate increase for the state’s home care workers and keeps open two correctional facilities.

Victory at MSP, as workers win $15 after long campaign

The working people who keep Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport running, who keep it clean and who have made it safe for travelers during the COVID-19 crisis are about to get a well-deserved raise. Members of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) voted unanimously today to put the airport on track to a $15 minimum wage. The […]

A ‘prime opportunity’ for workers, communities to take on Amazon

A century ago, farmer, labor and community activists used an octopus to depict capitalist greed grasping for control over social, economic and political life. Today, it is hard to imagine a more appropriate metaphor for Amazon.

No picnics, no parades, but Freedom Library will mark Labor Day with virtual event on organizing Amazon

The East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul will celebrate Labor Day early and online this year, with a virtual discussion about worker organizing at the world’s largest retailer, Amazon. The event, “Labor Day Ain’t No Picnic,” will broadcast on the ESFL’s Facebook and YouTube pages Sept. 3, bringing together activists who are using research, […]