Peterson: Support candidates who will listen to workers, not billionaires

October 30, 2026 by Leave a Comment

St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Kera Peterson is pictured speaking at the 2022 MN AFL-CIO Convention.

Things are too expensive. That’s not breaking news to anyone who’s shopped for groceries or filled their gas tank lately. This economy is putting the squeeze on working people. Too many of us are living on the edge, working longer and harder for less in return and stressing over every bill, every purchase, every paycheck.

It shouldn’t be this way. The U.S. economy is growing. Corpo-rate earnings are up and so is the stock market. The S&P 500 hit an all-time high last month. American workers are more productive than ever, but our share in the economic growth that labor creates is at historic low point. An NBC News report found that the share of economic output going to workers’ pay and benefits has sunk to its lowest level since the Department of Labor started tracking it in 1947. The pie is getting bigger, but our slice is getting smaller.

None of this is happening by accident. It’s the direct result of policy choices – tariffs, healthcare cuts, foreign wars, attacks on collective bargaining – made by politicians who answer to billionaires and CEOs instead of working people. That’s why our federation of local unions is working to elect labor-endorsed candidates Nov. 3 who will put us first and hold corporations and billionaires accountable.

Here in Minnesota, we know firsthand what’s at stake in this election. We’re less than a year removed from the federal government’s shockingly violent and lawless occupation of our state in the name of immigration enforcement. Operation Metro Surge trampled on our rights, tore families apart and disrupted life in our neighborhoods, schools and workplaces. The occupation dealt an economic blow, too, costing our state 32,000 jobs, reducing economic activity – especially in the hospitality sector – and increasing security costs for local communities by an estimated $700 million.

The tragic failures of Metro Surge reflect a pattern that has repeated itself throughout Trump’s second administration. Bad ideas go unchecked by enfeebled congressional majorities and a compliant Supreme Court, and the American people pay the price – literally. Trump’s tariffs raised our cost of living, and his war in Iran has only made it worse. Minnesotans’ real wages, adjusted for inflation, fell 1.4% in the first seven months of this year. And as predicted, the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” has forced more Minnesotans to go without healthcare coverage and increased premiums for those who remain insured.

This election is our opportunity to begin putting an end to the chaos, and union members are, unsurprisingly, stepping up to the challenge. Internal poling by the AFL-CIO shows that 83% of union members are “extremely motivated” to vote in the midterms – a 10-point increase from 2022. In Minnesota, union volunteers are talking with their neighbors and co-workers, encouraging them to make their plan to vote. (You don’t have to wait until Nov. 3 if you vote early; go to mnvotes.org to learn how!) Others are signing up as election judges or training to serve as election protection volunteers.

If the challenges ahead feel overwhelming, I empathize. Instead of becoming demoralized, though, let’s focus on what is possible when after Election Day if we make our voices heard. Together, we can help deliver majorities for pro-worker candidates up and down the ballot who will support our right to bargain for better pay and benefits, fight for affordable healthcare and stop the squeeze on working families.

– Kera Peterson is president of the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. 

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Labor-endorsed ballot question would deliver funding for schools without raising taxes

October 27, 2026 by Leave a Comment

Minnesota voters have an opportunity in the Nov. 3 election to send more funding to the state’s public schools – without raising taxes – by voting “yes” on a proposed amendment to the state’s constitution.

With high-profile races for governor and U.S. Senate dominating the media cycles and control of the statehouse up for grabs, the ballot question is, perhaps, flying under the radar this fall.

But its potential impact is significant, with benefits extending to every public school district in the state.

Education Minnesota, representing about 80,000 educators and school employees statewide, has endorsed a “yes” vote, as has the Minnesota AFL-CIO.

The amendment, if passed, would increase distributions from the state’s Permanent School Fund, a trust created in 1858 that pays public schools each year using revenue from timber sales, mineral leases and investment returns on public land.

Since 2010, the fund has grown from about $675 million to more than $2.3 billion, but a law passed in the 1800s still governs how the fund’s investment gains are distributed.

Last year, districts received a combined $58 million from the fund, or about 2.5% of its value. The proposed amendment would increase distributions to 4.5% of the fund’s three-year rolling average value, a rate agreed upon by a non-partisan task force of investment, trust, legal and education experts appointed by the Legislature in 2024.

The proposed rate is more in line with practices used by university endowments and charitable foundations across the country, supporters say.

The immediate impact depends on investment returns, of course, but had the amendment passed last year, school districts would have seen an increase of about $33 per pupil from the fund.

For example, in the White Bear Lake School District, it would have meant nearly $275,000 in added revenue. For Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan, it would have drawn nearly $1 million in added funds.

The change won’t impact the state’s general fund or require any new taxes.

Votes in the Legislature to put the amendment on the Nov. 3 ballot drew bipartisan support, including a 134-0 vote in the House. Sen. Mary Kunesh, a DFLer and chief author of the amendment, called it “a responsible path forward.”

“As a former public school educator and chair of the Senate Education Finance Committee, I know how vital it is to secure additional funds and support for our public schools, and this is one way to provide that support without asking taxpayers to pay one penny more,” Kunesh added.

DFL and Republican leaders have voiced support for the ballot question, but advocates remain concerned on two fronts.

First, voters need to locate the proposed amendment on their ballot – it could be on the back side – and cast a vote. Minnesota constitutional amendments require a majority of all voters to mark the “yes” box, which means leaving the question blank counts as a “no” vote.

And educators, in particular, are concerned that the presence of the amendment question, which makes clear that the outcome will not raise taxes, could hurt the chances of local school funding questions that might also appear on the ballot, like a levy or bonding request.

While increased funding from the Permanent School Fund will help schools, Education Minnesota Vice President Marty Fridgen said, it won’t solve all their financial struggles. Many districts will still need to pass levies this fall to avoid cuts.

“For some people, they’re going to be going into the booth and also have an operating levy for their district,” Fridgen said. “Thirty dollars extra from this fund is not enough for some of our school districts to alleviate the other needs they have. So we’re nervous that people will vote yes on the amendment because it’s not going to raise their taxes, but on the other question they’re going to say no.”

Public school districts received, on average, $13,333 per pupil in state funding in the 2025 fiscal year, but a report issued by the nonpartisan North Star Policy Action in August found that, when adjusted for inflation, state funding continues to lag 2003 levels.

A historic investment during the 2023 legislative session cut the per-pupil aid gap by 56%, according to researchers. But 2025 funding remained 8.6% lower than the inflation-adjusted amount from 2003, a difference of about $1,249.

Learn more about the constitutional amendment at voteyesmnstudents.org.

– Michael Moore, UA editor

Filed Under: Labor Voices, Politics Tagged With: , , , ,

Kera Peterson: On this Labor Day, let’s commit to stopping the billionaire takeover

September 4, 2026 by

Kera Peterson, shown speaking at the 2026 AFL-CIO Convention, is president of the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation. (Photo courtesy Jay Mallin)

You might think of Labor Day as the unofficial end of summer or the last day before school starts. Maybe it’s just a welcome three-day weekend. But in the labor movement, Labor Day is a celebration of the power that we, as workers, have when we join together in unions – the power of solidarity. When working people come together and fight for each other, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish. We can stand up to the wealthiest CEOs and the most powerful politicians. We can topple corporate greed and rewrite the rules.

Of course, Labor Day also brings us closer to Election Day, and our unions are already working hard, both here in Minnesota and across the country, to power a campaign that takes back our country for working people. We’re mobilizing to elect pro-worker candidates who will be on our side, not for the elites.

Unfortunately, we’ve seen what a billionaire-first government looks like ever since President Trump and his allies in Congress took power last year. Their “big, beautiful bill” gave record tax cuts to billionaires and corporations – paid for with cuts to healthcare, food assistance and other services that working families rely on. Before the bill passed, unions joined a chorus of voices warning that the measure would leave more Americans uninsured, increase costs for local providers and raise premiums for the rest of us. Now it’s happening, making it harder than ever for working families just to make ends meet.

Healthcare isn’t the only thing more expensive in Trump’s economy. From gas and groceries to rent, families’ costs are skyrocketing. Too many of us feel like we’re falling behind or just barely getting by, whether we’re working longer and harder than ever for less in return or attempting to retire. Too many working people are living on the edge, stressing over every bill, every purchase, every paycheck.

It doesn’t have to be this way. And it shouldn’t. Working people built this country, yet every day we seem to matter less to the wealthy elites in power.

It’s past time that elected officials, from the Capitol in Washington to our city halls, prioritize working people by creating good jobs with better pay and affordable health care, and by protecting the programs we all depend on like Social Security and Medicare. We also need leaders who will fight to remove barriers workers face when they try to organize a union and bargain a first contract. More than 70% of Americans and nearly 9 in 10 people younger than 30 support unions, and polls show that millions of workers would join a union tomorrow if they could. Yet less than 12% of the workforce enjoys union representation on the job.

So on this Labor Day weekend, let’s take a moment to celebrate our solidarity, and then let’s recommit ourselves to fighting for worker power. Because the stakes have never been higher. Our labor movement is ready to fight for an economy, a government and a country for the people, not the billionaires. We’ll knock on doors, we’ll make phone calls and send texts, we’ll rally and we’ll fight to elect the candidates who share our vision for the future. We’ll share volunteer events on our website and social media. We hope you’ll help us win for working people on Election Day!

– Kera Peterson is president of the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. Her column appeared in the September 2026 issue of The Saint Paul Union Advocate, which is the SPRLF’s official publication.

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Kate Perushek: Labor Department aims to increase awareness of rights, responsibilities

September 3, 2026 by

Kate Perushek is commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.

As we celebrate Labor Day, I am honored to begin a new role as commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI). For seven years, I have served at DLI, and this new role is a continuation of the same commitment that has guided me throughout my career: protecting worker rights, strengthening worker safety and ensuring that Minnesotans can live and work in environments that are equitable, healthy and safe.

My commitment to workers was shaped early in my career, long before I came to DLI. Working as a Spanish interpreter in a public middle school, I learned how much trust matters – how important it is to communicate clearly, listen carefully and make sure that people understand their rights and receive excellent service. Those lessons stayed with me and guide how I think about public service today.

Over the past seven years at DLI, I’ve had the privilege of working closely with Minnesota’s labor community in several roles, including deputy commissioner, assistant commissioner and director of legislative affairs. Before joining DLI, I worked in leadership positions at the Legislature, including serving as legislative director to the Speaker of the House, where I helped pass the minimum-wage increase and the Women’s Economic Security Act.

In each of those positions, one thing has remained constant: this work is about the people. It is about the worker who deserves a safe job site, the parent who needs time to care for a sick child, the family that depends on a fair wage, and the employee who wants to do right by the people they employ.

Gov. Tim Walz understands that. Under his leadership, Minnesota has made historic progress for workers, passing the largest set of workplace protections enacted in a generation. These provisions have strengthened working families, expanded worker knowledge and given Minnesotans a greater voice on the job. Minnesotans now have earned sick and safe time, Paid Leave and increased minimum wages – by more than 20% – to better provide for themselves and their families.

Workers in meat and poultry have stronger protections. Construction workers have greater wage protections. The progress under Gov. Walz reflects a simple but powerful belief: when workers are protected, Minnesota is stronger.

But laws alone don’t change lives. People must know what those rights mean, how to use them and where to turn when they need help. That’s why our DLI staff members have focused so deeply on education and outreach. We know that when workers understand their rights, workplaces become safer, families become stronger and communities become more stable.

From Sept. 13-19, DLI will host its third annual Workplace Rights Week to educate Minnesotans about their rights and responsibilities in the workplace. We invite employees and employers alike to learn more and take part in scheduled events at dli.mn.gov/rights-week.

I am proud to lead an agency and team that works together to serve Minnesotans with fairness, safety and opportunity. As we celebrate Labor Day, I look ahead with confidence and purpose, committed to helping make Minnesota the best place to live, work and raise a family.

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Gap between CEO, worker pay continues to widen, report shows

August 28, 2026 by

The nation’s top executives gave themselves far bigger raises than the average worker saw last year.

The AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch report, released earlier this month, found that the pay gap between CEOs and the rest of us widened in 2025, with companies on the S&P 500 paying their chief executives 312 times more than the median U.S. worker, a 21% increase over 2024.

The nation’s largest labor federation analyzes compensation data each year to produce the report.

While the nationwide ratio for CEO-to-worker pay last year was 312-to-1, the ratio was even greater at six Minnesota-based, publicly traded firms:

  • Life Time Group Holdings: 1,814- to-1 (CEO earned $15.2 million)
  • Target: 794-to-1 ($21.8 million)
  • UnitedHealth Group: 748-to-1 ($60.9 million)
  • Best Buy: 542-to-1 ($16.1 million)
  • Ecolab: 326-to-1 ($17.4 million)
  • 3M: 316-to-1 ($21 million)

This year, researchers chose to exclude one CEO – Elon Musk – from their calculations. Musk’s $158.3 billion pay package, which made him the world’s first trillionaire, would have skewed the data, they said.

Still, with an average pay of $22.8 million last year, other CEOs on the S&P 500 enjoyed their highest level of compensation in the three decades that the AFL-CIO has been producing the report.

That marks “a new, shameful high,” AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond said at press conference to unveil the findings.

Redmond also noted that President Donald Trump has raked in $2.2 billion in income – much of it from crypto deals that cash in on his influence – since returning to the White House last year.

“Meanwhile, working Americans are struggling to feed their kids and pay their electric bills,” Redmond said.

Indeed, workers’ share of U.S. national income has fallen to its lowest level since World War II, per to the report.

Recent surveys show workers are increasingly concerned about affordability and economic uncertainty: 16% of U.S. adults cannot pay all their bills in full, 26% have skipped medical care due to cost and 37% do not have enough cash to cover a $400 emergency expense.

The AFL-CIO’s report takes aim at several companies on the S&P 500 where CEO pay continues to soar as an outsized share of their employees rely on public assistance, like Medicaid and SNAP, to make ends meet, including Amazon, Dollar Tree, FedEx, McDonald’s and Walmart.

Last summer, as part of the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” Trump and Republican majorities slashed federal support programs to pay for tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans – a sign of misplaced priorities in Washington, Redmond said.

“There’s a better economy we can build for working people,” he added. “That’s why the labor movement will continue to fight for every worker to have a union contract that begins to level the playing field and ensures they take home the share of the profit they create.”

Find the report online at paywatch.org.

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Union members sound alarm on threats to Postal Service, mail-in voting

July 28, 2026 by

APWU members march outside the Eagan Post Office during a nationwide day of action.

EAGAN – Twin Cities postal workers rallied today to raise awareness about threats to Minnesotans’ mail service coming out of Washington, D.C.

Joining a nationwide “Protect Our Public Post Office Day of Action,” local members of the American Postal Workers Union demonstrated outside the U.S. Postal Service distribution center in Eagan, along busy Lexington Avenue.

Union members warned of multiple threats to mail service, including President Donald Trump’s latest nominees to the USPS Board of Governors and the president’s increasingly aggressive attempts to curb mail-in voting.

“This is a critical time for the USPS, and we need leaders at the top who understand this important institution and are committed to public service,” Dave Cook, president of the APWU’s St. Paul local, said.

The Senate is likely to vote soon on four nominees to the Board of Governors who, union members say, are unqualified to oversee the agency, particularly at a time when it is under financial pressure and attempting to modernize.

Not only do the nominees lack experience with the post office or the logistics and delivery industry, but all four are Republicans, prompting concerns from Senate Democrats that Trump may be looking to consolidate his power over a historically bipartisan board.

Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) aired those concerns in a letter to GOP leadership earlier this month, warning that an “imbalance in representation would be unprecedented and would undermine public confidence in the Board’s ability to serve the public interest above any partisan political aims.”

At the rally, APWU members urged Minnesota’s senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, to vote against Trump’s nominees. Cook said he worries that the administration’s ultimate aim is greater privatization of the Postal Service.

“The deck is being stacked against us politically,” Cook said. “If we keep getting leaders who want to privatize it, then that’s the way it’s going to go. They will take the services that we provide, jack up the prices and make big profits.”

Supporters of privatization point to the Postal Service’s financial woes, and the agency – which operates without taxpayer support – recently leveraged its retiree-benefit funds to cover operating costs.

Workers say a better approach would be to allow the USPS to diversify its pension investments, limited by law to U.S. Treasury securities, to seek higher yields. The alternative, Cook said, is cutting hours and services at postal counters, raising prices for mail and packages and closing post offices.

“We are not a business,” he said. “We are not designed to run as a business. And trying to run us as a business is a big part of what’s gone wrong.”

Workers also blasted efforts by Trump and some congressional Republicans to undermine public trust in voting by mail. Despite voting by mail himself, Trump has long spread misinformation and debunked conspiracy theories that connect voting by mail to election fraud.

Passing the SAVE America Act, which would limit mail-in voting, has become the administration’s top legislative priority. And Trump signed an executive order in March – since tied up in a legal challenge – that creates roadblocks for mail-in voters and seeks to expand federal access to states’ voter information.

Cook said USPS employees consider mail-in balloting a “core service that week provide” and one that is growing in popularity locally and nationally.

“Every postal worker takes pride in serving postal customers and we clearly have a stake in protecting the USPS, but we’re not in this alone, everyone has a stake in what happens to the USPS in coming weeks,” said Cook. “We need people to reach out to their members of Congress, regardless of what side of the aisle they are on.”

The APWU represents about 200,000 postal employees nationwide.

– Michael Moore, UA editor

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Target Field workers dig in for fair contract: ‘We love the Twins. We love the fans. But that love is not going to pay our bills.’

July 20, 2026 by
Roxy Hoda holding a picket sign outside Target Field

Target Field suites worker Roxy Hoda, a resident of St. Paul, is on her union’s bargaining team in talks with Delaware North.

For as long as the Twins have been playing baseball at Target Field, Roxy Hoda has been hosting fans in the luxury suites. The 37-year-old from St. Paul went to work at the ballpark in 2010, and she now serves on the bargaining team for her union, UNITE HERE Local 17, in contract negotiations with the team’s concessionaire, Delaware North.

Union members made history June 22, staging the first ever strike at a Twin Cities sports stadium, and Hoda was among those walking the picket line before the Twins and Dodgers took the field. In this interview, which has been edited for length, she talked about the decision to strike, why workers are pushing so hard for their demands and what hospitality workers want Twins fans to know.

UA: Did Delaware North make any effort to avoid this strike after you announced the date almost two weeks ago?

RH: We’ve met several times since then, and the only improvement that they made was saying that they would give our non-tipped employees and minimum-wage employees an extra 10 cents an hour, so a 60-cent raise over the life of the contract.

UA: That doesn’t sound like much movement.

RH: No, and they’re very careful with their language. They’ll say things like, ‘We only have so much allocated money. We only have so much in the pot.’ They want it to come across that they can’t afford it, but we know that’s not true. Otherwise, they would show their economic data to our union. They just don’t want to eat into their profit margins at all, not even for their own employees.

UA: You’re supposed to take their word for it.

RH: It’s tricky because we know our local management is just responding to corporate directions.

UA: Did management reach out today before the strike began, or have the Twins stepped in at all?

RH: My understanding is that everything has come to a halt. Delaware North has requested a mediator for our negotiations, which we as a union will not do (because) we know that will silence our voices. They want to sit in a separate room, so they don’t have to operate so carefully with their words and don’t have to listen to our employee impact statements. That’s unacceptable to us. We deserve to be in that room, especially since there has been little to no movement on many of our very reasonable requests.

As far as the Twins are concerned, they have not reached out to us as employees. I’m not sure about the union. I feel they are just trying to stay out of it. But I really hope that they see what we’re doing here today. We love the Twins organization. We love our guests. We love the fans. But that love is not going to pay our bills. It’s not going to get us healthcare. And we deserve, as hospitality professionals, to be treated that way.

UA: What are the big issues for you, personally?

RH: No. 1 is healthcare. My partner and I have two kids. Both of us are hospitality professionals, and we’ve had to rely on marketplace insurance for a long time. About three years ago we were paying $800 per month, not including deductibles. That was a lot, but it was doable. That amount has almost tripled. It is almost as much as our mortgage.

Delaware North has this opportunity to join the UNITE HERE Health Fund, which nationwide has over 200,000 union workers in it. Because of that, insurance companies are able to offer steep discounts. All we’re asking Delaware North to do is join that trust, but they’re not interested.

UA: With all the money made off of these stadiums, it doesn’t seem like too much to ask that employers pitch in toward healthcare.

RH: There are other stadiums (in the Twin Cities) with contracts that are coming open with other hospitality companies. A lot of my co-workers work at multiple stadiums, and that makes up a full-time job for them. We’re the first ones that are kind of setting the tone, and we want to make sure that we’re holding firm. We deserve healthcare.

UA: What do you like about working in the Target Field suites?

RH: It’s like my second family. I feel like I grew up here. A lot of us have been to each other’s baby showers, and I’ve had the same clients for a lot of the time too. I work with a lot of big companies throughout Minnesota, and I love them to death. Overall, I think it’s just such a joy.

Working here is important, too. I think the pandemic really showed us, when you take the fun out of life, what that looks like. That’s what we do. We want people to come to the game, have a good time, forget the worries going on in their lives, and make memories with their friends, family and loved ones.

UA: Have you ever been on strike before?

RH: No.

UA: What do you want people coming to the game – and all Twins fans – to know about this?

RH: We are hospitality professionals, and this is a real career. A lot of us have degrees in other fields. We do this job because we’re good at it, and it really does make a difference in people’s lives. I think people just don’t realize that because we’re always smiling, but it is socially taxing. Still, it is a passion of ours.

UA: You and many others are not going in to work today, but what do you expect will happen with those who do?

RH: We have seen some scabs coming in today. However, I’m giving them some grace because I know that this is scary, and a lot of people are very worried about their jobs. I understand that there is a hard decision to make here.

But even though not every issue on the table affects me personally, I know it affects a lot of other people at the stadium. To me, I think it’s more important to stand up for everyone and to be unified.

– This “Labor Q&A” appeared in The Union Advocate’s August 2026 print edition.

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Poll shows workers trust unions to deliver AI guardrails

May 20, 2026 by

The AFL-CIO released new polling this month that shows overwhelming support for union protections against job losses and invasions of privacy caused by artificial intelligence (AI).

The nation’s largest labor federation called the report, which draws on surveys, polling and focus groups, the most in-depth study to date of workers’ attitudes toward AI.

It found broad-based support for the AFL-CIO’s Workers First Initiative on AI, a set of guiding principles, released by the federation earlier this year, for the development and implementation of AI that ensures workers share in its benefits.

In polling, more than 9 in 10 respondents supported most of the initiative’s guardrails, including requirements for training, transparency and accountability. And workers said they trusted unions – more than either political party – to protect their jobs and privacy.

“The vast majority of America’s workers agree on how to move forward on AI and who they trust to do it, and it’s not Democrats, Republicans, Big Tech, or their employers – it’s the labor movement,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said. “We’re at the most important fork in the road our economy has faced in the last 100 years, and workers are united in our power.”

While AI’s impact will be felt across the economy, workers in Minnesota are especially at risk, according to a report issued last year by the Minnesota-based North Star Policy Action think tank. It ranked Minnesota 10th nationally and second in the Midwest for vulnerability to AI, with 500 17% of the workforce – at “high risk” of having their job altered by the emerging technology.

Those impacts could be positive for workers, researchers stressed, but only if workers have a voice in the process.

The AFl-CIO polling suggests workers are ready to assert that voice – through unions.

Unions were the only institution with net positive trust (+26) on the issue, scoring higher than both political parties and employers as the institution most likely to protect workers from AI harms.

Worker survey results included in the report found support for every worker protection outlined in the federation’s Workers First Initiative on AI, with 7 of 10 respondents or better agreeing that transparency, human oversight and worker voice are key in AI implementation.

Meanwhile, just 7% of survey respondents who are currently working say their employer has disclosed how or when AI is monitoring their work, and 94% say workers should know if AI is being used to monitor their work.

The findings suggest an opportunity for unions to mobilize workers around AI-related issues during contract, organizing and lobbying campaigns.

Some unions already have seized on the issue of AI, most notably the Writers Guild. In negotiations with entertainment studios in 2023, the union won language that allows them to use AI as a tool for script writing, but protects against the use of fully AI-generated scripts.

Closer to home, nearly 2,000 members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa who work at HealthPartners settled a contract earlier this year that established a new labor-management committee to focus on the impact of AI on both patient care and workers.

That’s the kind of action North Star’s report last year recommended Minnesota unions start taking, whether it’s organizing new workers susceptible to AI’s impacts or bargaining to protect their current members.

There’s a role for lawmakers to play, too, North Star Policy researcher Aaron Rosenthal, author of the AI report, told Minnesota lawmakers during a House Labor Committee hearing earlier this year. Rosenthal encouraged action to protect workers against the “three D’s of AI risk:” digital surveillance, decision-making (in employment matters) and displacement.

“We are, I think, on the precipice of a 21st century industrial revolution, and we are, as a state, woefully unprepared to meet the moment,” he said.

The Legislature adjourned this week without taking action to protect workers from AI, although Gov. Tim Walz did sign into a law a bipartisan measure targeting so-called “nudification” technology.

Notably, the Trump administration has sought to block states from regulating AI on their own. An executive order issued in December instructs the attorney general to seek to overturn state laws that fail to advance the “United States’ global AI dominance.”

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

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Research into union busting in MN nursing homes draws lawmaker scrutiny

April 17, 2026 by

Minnesota nursing home workers attend a Senate Labor Committee hearing on rampant union-busting in the heavily subsidized industry.

Authors of two recently published reports on union busting in Minnesota nursing homes presented their findings to the Senate Labor Committee last week, raising concerns among some lawmakers that public funds are being used to stifle worker voice.

Committee Chair Jen McEwen (D-Duluth) called the new research “kind of a bombshell.” Sen. Sandy Pappas (D-St. Paul) said she was “pretty shocked.”

But the findings came as no surprise to about two dozen nursing home workers in the hearing-room gallery, many of whom had been on the business end of management’s union-avoidance playbook.

Addressing the committee, Cassandra Thomas, a certified nursing assistant at Chapel View Home in Hopkins, described the changes she and her co-workers saw after they petitioned for a union election last year, like town-hall meetings with free food and regular check-ins with an out-of-town consultant.

The message, Thomas said, was clear. “They kept talking about how much the union would cost us,” she said. “But I wondered how much all this cost them, instead of just giving us that raise.”

Chapel View workers won their union election in December, joining SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa. They are working toward a first contract that delivers that raise – and addresses concerns over staffing, safety and client care that sparked their organizing drive.

But the anti-union campaign left a bitter taste in workers’ mouths – especially after they learned the estimated price tag of Chapel View’s union-avoidance campaign: as much as $400,000, or $2,800 per worker, according to Labor Lab researcher Teke Wiggin, who also addressed the Senate committee.

“It was so frustrating to hear how much they spent to try and stop us,” Thomas told lawmakers. “This all happened while we were working short. They could have spent that money on staff to care for our residents.

“How is this OK?”

Wiggin presented findings from Labor Lab’s new report, “The Price of Repression,” which studied five union-busting campaigns at nursing homes in Minnesota from 2022 to 2025.

The report uses anti-union consultants’ public disclosures, industry billing rates, campaign manuals and independent research to estimate the price tag of those union-busting campaigns, which ran from $140,000 to over $400,000.

Wiggin compared those costs to the amount employers could have spent on wage increases for impacted workers had they recognized the union voluntarily, an amount that ranges from 3.5% to 20% – or $1,400 to $7,300 per worker.

“Our report underscores that when nursing homes really want to find money and resources, they do,” Wiggin told lawmakers.

In a separate report on Minnesota nursing homes, Columbia University researchers surveyed 2,000 certified nursing assistants statewide and uncovered a “pattern of anti-union tactics” in the industry – especially in nursing homes that rely heavily on public funding.

Sociologist Adam Reich, one of six researchers who worked on the Columbia report, walked lawmakers through two case studies of union-busting in Minnesota nursing homes.

The report includes firsthand accounts from workers reacting to their bosses’ anti-union campaign, including misinformation, so-called “captive audience meetings” and, most shockingly, appeals to nursing home residents and their families to encourage caregivers to vote “no.”

At one nonprofit nursing home with a religious affiliation, an administrator leaned on Biblical proverbs to suggest that union organizers were wolves in sheep’s clothing.

“One story that sticks in my mind is a worker whose manager told them that they were going to talk to the pastor of the church they both attended about how this worker was organizing,” Reich said.

Asked by lawmakers what policy recommendations might come out of the two reports, Reich suggested a precise analysis of how nursing homes are using public funds, and whether they are being used to thwart organizing efforts.

“That seems deeply problematic in a state that I know cares deeply about the integrity of public funding,” he said.

– Michael Moore, UA editor

Filed Under: Labor Voices, Politics Tagged With: , , , ,

After authorizing strike, SEIU members at HealthPartners celebrate TA

February 5, 2026 by

Workers at HealthPartners clinics across the Twin Cities put their bosses on notice last month that they were willing to strike to defend their industry-leading health benefits. Yesterday their union reached tentative agreement on a new contract that does just that.

If ratified, the three-year contract also will deliver wage increases – 4% in year No. 1 and 3% in the second and third – to nearly 2,000 members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa.

“This (tentative agreement) shows what happens when we stand up for workers and patients and allows us to continue to give the exceptional patient care we pride ourselves on giving,” Jean Pfarr, a nurse with 48 years of experience at HealthPartners, said in a statement issued by the union last night.

Members of the bargaining unit work in nearly all facets of care, excluding doctors and dentists, at more than 25 HealthPartners clinics. The unit brings together nurses, dental hygienists, midwives, physicians assistants and lab techs – in total, workers in over 80 different jobs.

Citing a sluggish start to negotiations, the union’s bargaining team took the extraordinary step of calling for a strike vote several weeks before their contract was set to expire Jan. 31. The vote saw support from 99% for a weeklong strike, if necessary

The union followed up its strike vote with pre-dawn informational picketing Jan. 23 – in sub-zero temperatures – outside the HealthPartners Como Clinic.

Union members said they hoped their solidarity would push the employer to improve its wage proposal and drop proposed cuts to their hard-fought health benefits.

“We know these things always go to the last minute,” longtime HealthPartners worker Chris Grimes said. “But it’s time they get serious and get the job done.”

Others warned HealthPartners that changes to its industry-leading insurance plan would hurt the provider’s efforts to recruit and retain workers.

Health coverage was a critical factor in Dr. Beth Smith’s decision to accept a position as a psychotherapist in the system nearly a decade ago. But Smith, a member of the union’s bargaining team, said she was “shocked” to see the out-of-pocket increases the employer brought to the table.

“It is hard for me to think about the negative impact this is going to have on my colleagues, my fellow union members, if these proposed health insurance cost increases go into effect,” Smith said after the strike vote. “Many people choose to work for HealthPartners because of the benefits, just like me.”

HealthPartners got the message. Other highlights of the tentative agreement, according to the union, include:

  • Additional wage increases for registered nurses, certified medical assistants, medical assistants and EMTs.
  • Increased bonuses for members who pick up additional weekend shifts.
  • Stronger non-discrimination language for LGBTQ+ members.
  • A new labor-management committee focused on the impact of artificial intelligence on health care workers.

The union planned a ratification vote in the coming days. Crystal Peterson, a radiologic technologist who served on the bargaining team for the first time, said she was proud of the tentative agreement.

“We fought for everyone in our bargaining unit across all 80-plus job classifications,” Peterson said. “Despite this being just as hard of a fight as we knew it would be, we got a good outcome.”

Filed Under: Labor Voices, Organizing Tagged With: , , , , ,
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