Four takeaways from the new report on raising St. Paul’s minimum wage

Poverty wages are a big problem in St. Paul, but interest groups are already trying to poke holes in a potential minimum wage ordinance.

Candidates for governor vie for labor support at state AFL-CIO forum

The four DFLers were united in opposing right-to-work legislation and supporting union organizing and collective bargaining.

Labor-endorsed Karla Bigham fights ‘for an economy that works for everyone’

Bigham, a DFLer and longtime resident of Cottage Grove, is the labor-endorsed candidate in a Feb. 12 special election in Senate District 54.

Dave Zirin: The ‘megaphone of sports’ is more global, powerful than ever

“We’re taught sports is this level playing field, this epitome of America, where anybody who’s good can make it. Yet the reality is it’s a very unlevel playing field.”

One Fair Wage or tip penalty? Debate splits St. Paul service industry

Unions and worker advocacy groups oppose a two-tier wage system, arguing it leaves behind the very workers a minimum wage is supposed to benefit.

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.

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 […]

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 […]

Walker’s anti-union Act 10 dealing major blow to WI public schools, report finds

A new analysis of Wisconsin’s public schools reveals several alarming trends since the state adopted legislation stripping teachers and other public service workers of most collective bargaining rights in 2011. “Gov. Scott Walker and Republican elected leaders in Wisconsin said that Act 10 would benefit schools and families alike,” said David Madlan, co-author of the […]

Voters back labor-endorsed candidates, referendums in local elections

Labor-endorsed candidates performed well in municipal and school-board elections across the East Metro area Nov. 7, while voters in four large suburban school districts approved major school-funding requests that drew support from local unions. Kera Peterson, political director of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, which issues unified labor endorsements in local races, credited endorsed […]