The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
AT&T is challenging a new Minnesota law allowing workers to use paid sick time to care for family members. But as the Fortune 500 telecommunications company appears before a federal judge in Minneapolis on Friday, members of the Communications Workers of America will rally outside the courthouse with a simple message: AT&T is not above […]
Apprenticeship has long been the backbone of the Building Trades unions. Their on-the-job training programs put workers on a path to family-sustaining careers while ensuring union contractors have access to the highly skilled labor pool they need to remain competitive. It’s a win-win model. Now, with a push from the federal government, unions and employers […]
Analise Adams, a 22-year-old from Minneapolis, was working in a Linden Hills childcare center two months ago. When her aunt, a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, told her about a free training opportunity for women considering careers in construction, Adams decided to take a chance. She quit her childcare job and […]
RICHFIELD – Inside and outside of Best Buy’s annual shareholders meeting today, Minnesotans called on the corporation to stop using its political clout to block policies that improve working families’ lives. That includes proposed legislation in Minnesota that would provide workers and their families with the stability and security they need to ensure a […]
As Minnesota lawmakers announced a breakthrough in negotiations over the state’s E-12 education budget yesterday, the faces behind the financial figures – students, parents and teachers – rallied against staff and programming cuts in St. Paul. “We cannot nickle and dime our kids’ future,” school board candidate Zuki Ellis, the parent of a first-grader in the St. Paul Public […]
In a victory for 27,000 home health care workers across Minnesota, Gov. Mark Dayton today gave final approval to a historic first union contract that will dramatically improve working conditions in the industry when it takes effect July 1. Dayton’s signature on the Omnibus Health and Human Services bill, passed by the Legislature with bipartisan […]
A procedural vote last week greased the wheels for Fast Track in the U.S. Senate, but Sen. Al Franken is keeping up the fight for a trade bill that does the least harm to U.S. workers. Yesterday Franken offered two amendments to the Fast Track bill. One would require tougher labor and environmental standards from […]
The frenzied finish at the Capitol yielded mixed – and uncertain – results for Minnesota’s working families. Although the Legislature approved a record investment in long-term care before adjourning last night, unions said lawmakers squandered an opportunity to use the state’s $1.9 billion budget surplus to restore cuts to public schools, expand access to pre-kindergarten […]
Members of Local 7250 of the Communications Workers of America called a grievance strike yesterday. About 200 workers picketed outside AT&T’s offices downtown Minneapolis in support of their longest-tenured co-workers, who have seen requests for sick pay denied by the company. AT&T claims it’s not required to allow workers with 25 or more years of […]
The St. Paul City Council took up the fight to stop fast track Wednesday, when members unanimously approved a resolution “opposing the extension of bad trade policies.” “The people of the City of Saint Paul have the best chance to benefit from pending trade and investment agreements only if the process by which they are […]
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