Minnesota’s labor commissioner discusses the state’s efforts to promote safe workplaces and more in this Union Advocate interview.
Bree Halverson: Buying clean and fair for workers and the environment
April 18, 2022 by
“Buy Clean” is a policy to promote spending taxpayer dollars on materials that are manufactured in a cleaner, more efficient, environmentally friendly manner, while supporting family-sustaining jobs and building globally competitive domestic manufacturing.
Push for paid family leave takes on new urgency in pandemic
February 22, 2022 by
A union-backed coalition of groups renewed its lobbying push for paid family and medical leave on Valentine’s Day – and not by accident. Love is at the heart of the proposed legislation, advocates said, adding that its failure to gain traction in the Senate over the past six years has cornered too many Minnesota families […]
Union educators join effort to expand child care, early ed
February 2, 2022 by
“Teachers are leaving the profession at very high rates, and no one who has worked in a school or child care center is surprised,” one former educator said.
As session begins, Minnesota unions see opportunity for investments in infrastructure, frontline workers
January 31, 2022 by
It’s a bonding year, but a record budget surplus and unspent federal pandemic relief funds could allow for more broad spending measures, including long-delayed compensation for frontline workers.
Bernie Burnham: From ‘PTA mom’ to president-elect of the MN AFL-CIO
January 28, 2022 by
Affordable health care, earned safe and sick time, family sustaining jobs, and the fight to get the PRO Act passed – these are issues worth fighting for. Standing together in solidarity is key to our survival.
Minnesota’s Erickson part of change coming to Teamsters’ international leadership
January 26, 2022 by
“The companies that are bullies out there, they need to know that if they go to war with the Teamsters, they better buckle up,” Erickson said.
Report exposes human cost of Amazon’s business model in Minnesota
December 15, 2021 by
Amazon workers this week confirmed the findings of a new report that paints a troubling picture of labor conditions and inequities at the retailer’s Minnesota warehouses, prompting one state lawmaker to pledge action in the coming legislative session.
Burnham to succeed McCarthy as Minnesota AFL-CIO president
December 14, 2021 by
McCarthy’s accomplishments include recalibrating the federation to lead on racial and social justice issues, and overseeing political and lobbying programs that thwarted a wave of state-level attacks on union rights.
Essential workers call bonus pay holdup ‘a slap in the face’
December 6, 2021 by
Nurses, janitors, educators and other essential workers spelled out exactly what they want from state lawmakers during a rally in downtown Minneapolis.
Union Advocate 