The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
One day after exercising her legally protected right to strike, April Williams walked back into the Brooklyn Center Walmart for her scheduled shift this morning. But Williams did not take that walk alone. In the parking lot outside the store, about 25 people, including eight clergy members, huddled around Williams, praying for a safe return […]
The nationwide wave of Walmart strikes hit Minnesota this morning, when three women who work at the Brooklyn Center store informed management they were going on an unfair-labor-practices strike. U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison and Rev. Doug Mork of nearby Cross of Glory Lutheran Church accompanied the workers into the store, and dozens of supporters from […]
The National Labor Relations Board announced Nov. 18 its intent to prosecute the nation’s largest retailer, Walmart, for violating labor law in dealings with employees in 14 states, including Minnesota. The charges come after an investigation of employees’ charges that Walmart threatened, disciplined or even fired them for participating in legally protected protests and organizing […]
Hennepin County Medical Center saw no need to consult its staff of professional interpreters before implementing new video interpreting (VRI) technology into its hospitals and clinics. That was before interpreters mounted a unique mobilization campaign and their union, the Minnesota Newspaper and Communications Guild, filed charges of unfair labor practices against the hospital system in […]
To prepare for negotiations on a new contract, the St. Paul Federation of Teachers reached out to parents and the general public, using the feedback they received to craft an innovative, community-driven set of guiding principles for their contract talks. So you can imagine teachers’ frustration when the St. Paul Public Schools asked the state […]
Members of the International Association of Machinists voted yesterday to approve new, nationwide collective bargaining agreements with United Airlines covering employees in the airline’s fleet service, passenger-service and storekeeper workgroups. The agreements cover more than 28,000 workers at United, Continental and subsidiary airlines, including 158 members of Machinists Local 1833 who work at the Minneapolis–St. […]
One of Cretex’s key business partners won’t meet with workers on strike at the company’s Shakopee plant. So on Sunday those workers will take their message to Medtronic’s highest-profile event of the year: the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. Thousands of marathon runners and spectators will find a billboard placed prominently along the route at Hennepin […]
Since Day 1 the Minnesota Orchestra lockout has been taking a personal toll on musicians. Now, one year into the work stoppage, things are getting personal for the orchestra’s Board of Directors too. Union musicians, members of the American Federation of Musicians Local 30-73, marked the one-year anniversary of the start of their work stoppage […]
Although a federal appeals court last month temporarily blocked a Minnesota law allowing in-home child-care providers to vote on whether they want a union, AFSCME Council 5, the union seeking the election, dismissed the injunction as temporary. “This one-sentence ruling has nothing to do with the merits of the case,” said union spokesperson Jennifer Munt. […]
The nation’s oldest union of health care workers marked its 80th anniversary Sept. 20 by welcoming a new group of members, home care workers, into the local. For the first time ever, roll call to open SEIU Healthcare Minnesota’s convention included a unit of personal care attendants who are hired by their clients and paid […]
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