UPDATE: With strike deadline looming, janitors reach landmark tentative pact

    Union janitors in the Twin Cities reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract with area cleaning contractors after a marathon bargaining session ended in the early-morning hours March 7. The settlement prevented janitors from staging a second strike. About 4,000 janitors, 90 percent of whom are people of color, will see […]

Retail janitors pledge strikes will continue until conditions improve

A day after union janitors walked off the job in an unfair-labor-practices strike, non-union janitors organizing with the Twin Cities-based worker center CTUL did the same, picketing early this morning outside Macy’s on the Nicollet Mall. It marked the seventh time in the last three years CTUL janitors, who clean big-box stores, car dealerships and […]

Striking janitors: ‘We do the dirty work, we deserve a better wage’

Union janitors are setting up picket lines across the Twin Cities today, raising the stakes in their fight to win a $15 minimum wage and address alarming workload issues. The one-day strike over unfair labor practices will impact nearly 200 office buildings in the area before the day is done, according to Local 26 of […]

Community support gives North Branch teachers momentum as contract talks resume

North Branch teachers rallied with supporters on back-to-back days this week, sending a clear message to school board members and administrators before contract negotiations resumed today. “We’re not in this alone,” industrial tech teacher Irv Geary said. “We’re all in this together. And it’s not just a teacher issue; it’s a community issue.” Geary, a […]

Twin Cities security officers announce tentative agreement with $15 guarantee

Most union security officers in the Twin Cities will earn at least $15 per hour – and future officers will be on track to do the same – under the terms of a tentative contract agreement struck late last night, according to union leaders. Local 26 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents more than […]

Nurses approve contracts with five Twin Cities hospital systems

Nurses from five Twin Cities hospital systems voted yesterday to ratify union contracts that will protect their pension and health benefits and provide 2 percent raises in each of the next three years. The new contracts won’t go into effect for more than four months. Negotiations between the Minnesota Nurses Association and the hospitals – […]

Nurses at five Twin Cities hospital systems to vote on tentative pact

One day after nurses at five Twin Cities hospital systems agreed to limit the scope of bargaining to wages, negotiators for the two sides reached a tentative agreement over the terms of a new, three-year contract that, if ratified by members, would go into effect June 1. The Minnesota Nurses Association, which represents more than […]

Trades praise agreement covering construction project in Forest Lake schools

A $140 million bonding initiative approved by voters in ISD 831 last fall will improve the security and structural integrity of buildings throughout the Forest Lake Area Schools. And thanks to a project labor agreement (PLA), the district’s investment will uphold area wage, benefit and safety standards as well. By a 7-0 vote, the Forest […]

Workers see corporate power grab behind court case challenging their union rights

The Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday in a case with big implications for Minnesota firefighters, teachers and other public-sector workers who benefit from the collective bargaining process. At a press conference inside the Firefighters Hall and Museum in Minneapolis today, public workers warned that the case, Friedrichs v. CTA, is an attempt by corporate […]

U of M relents in contract talks as workers stick together for raises and respect

Frontline workers at the University of Minnesota stood together for nearly six months, waging a contract campaign for raises and respect. Now that strategy is paying off, as three bargaining units – Teamsters Local 320 and AFSCME Locals 3800 and 3801 – have announced tentative agreements with the U that include 2 percent wage increases, equitable family […]