St. Paul Federation of Teachers schedules strike vote

Frustrated by the St. Paul Public Schools’ refusal to take up their top priorities in contract negotiations, SPFT members will take a strike authorization vote Jan. 31.

Minnesota gained 46,000 union members last year, reversing decade-long decline

Working people’s voice grew stronger last year in Minnesota, where organizing gains pushed union membership to its highest point since 2004.

Appeals court sides with home care workers’ union – again

Corey Van Denburgh, a PCA from Anoka, called the legal challenge a “tragic misuse of time and energy.”

Prominent activist to talk $15, #MeToo with tipped workers in St. Paul

Saru Jayaraman’s work reveals the tip penalty’s troubling impact on working conditions in the restaurant industry, especially regarding sexual harassment.

As Super Bowl approaches, NFL players take sides in local labor standoffs

Players union stands with Teamsters at U of M, calls out Franklin Street Bakery co-owner for abusing workers’ rights.

Teamsters to vote on U’s final contract offer [UPDATED]

Members of Teamsters Local 320 have voted to accept the U’s final offer, the union announced yesterday.

Albert Lea hospital workers stand up to Mayo with historic one-day strike

ALBERT LEA – Minnesota’s largest hospital system has picked a fight with two of its smallest bargaining units, but union members at the Mayo Clinic Albert Lea hospital aren’t backing down in their fight for job security and quality rural health care. Workers aren’t standing alone against the health care Goliath, either. Nursing assistants, housekeepers, maintenance […]

Teachers to large nonprofits: ‘We all have a stake’ in St. Paul schools

Tom Stinson, a school nurse at Harding Senior High, sat across a table from two representatives of Allina Health last month and painted an unsettling picture. “Our kids will usually go to the nurse in their school eight times before they access any health care outside the school,” Stinson said. “They don’t get to the […]

Skyway march targets tax-dodging corporations

St. Paul teachers and parents clogged the skyway system in downtown St. Paul yesterday. They marched from one corporate office to another, calling on Wells Fargo, US Bank, Ecolab and Securian to pay their fair share toward fully funded public schools. St. Paul Federation of Teachers Local 28 organized the skyway march. In ongoing contract […]

Retirees back bill to get troubled pension funds on track

Federal legislation introduced last month would lend cash to ailing pension funds so they can meet their obligations to current retirees and grow enough to serve people still working toward retirement. The Butch Lewis Act, authored by Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, received a full-throated endorsement from retirees, union leaders and lawmakers at a rally […]