Black Friday recap: Strikes, marches lift call for higher wages

Demonstrators in the Twin Cities yesterday echoed an expansive call put forth at Black Friday actions across the country to lift workers and their families out of poverty by guaranteeing livable wages, access to earned sick time and a path to forming a union without fear of retaliation. The target of most Black Friday protests […]

Forum to consider East Metro’s transportation issues

What can East Metro residents do to increase their access to effective transportation, and what should lawmakers do about the issue when the Legislature convenes in next year? That’s the topic of a free, public program in Oakdale next month. What: “Getting There from Here: Transportation Challenges in the East Metro When: 7 to 8:30 […]

A governor who will ‘go all Scott Walker’ on Minnesota? No thanks, unions say

Jeff Johnson, the Republican nominee for governor, doesn’t have much executive experience, but the former state legislator provided a glimpse of his leadership style May 15, telling a Tea Party group he would “go all Scott Walker on Minnesota” if elected. “I don’t know exactly what that means,” Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson responded, “but […]

Income on the rise in Dayton’s Minnesota, falling in Walker’s Wisconsin

Jeff Johnson, the Republican nominee for governor, provided a glimpse of his leadership style May 15, telling a Tea Party group he would “go all Scott Walker on Minnesota” if elected Nov. 4. So what is it about Walker’s Wisconsin that Johnson believes is worth replicating? To answer that question – and to get a […]

Dayton, DFL legislators reversed trend of dwindling support for schools

Jeff Johnson, the Republican nominee for governor, provided a glimpse of his leadership style May 15, telling a Tea Party group he would “go all Scott Walker on Minnesota” if elected Nov. 4. So what is it about Walker’s Wisconsin that Johnson believes is worth replicating? To answer that question – and to get a […]

Collective Bargaining: Under attack in Wisconsin, on the rise in Minnesota

Jeff Johnson, the Republican nominee for governor, provided a glimpse of his leadership style May 15, telling a Tea Party group he would “go all Scott Walker on Minnesota” if elected Nov. 4. But what is it about Walker’s Wisconsin that Johnson believes is worth replicating? To answer that question – and to get a […]

Workers call out Johnson for opposing minimum-wage increases

Darcy Landau

How do minimum-wage workers feel about Republican gubernatorial candidate Jeff Johnson’s opposition to wage increases scheduled for 2015 and 2016, and cost-of-living increases scheduled to begin in 2018? Ask Darcy Landau, one of tens of thousands of workers statewide who saw their wages climb to $8 per hour Aug. 1. “Does Mr. Johnson realize the […]

Report: No earned sick time for 41 percent of Minnesota workers

Four in 10 Minnesota workers face a choice between showing up for work sick and forfeiting a day’s pay. What’s more troubling, most of the 1.1 million Minnesotans who lack access to earned sick time off work in low-wage jobs. Those are among the findings of a report on earned sick time benefits, released today […]

In Minneapolis, hundreds rally against Social Security’s closed-door policy

Doors to the Social Security Administration’s field office in Minneapolis were locked at 3 p.m. yesterday, and they could stay locked permanently – in Minneapolis and at field offices across the country – if the federal agency gets its way. That’s the warning sounded by federal workers rallying on the street outside the Chicago Avenue office […]

Panel: Women workers making gains in Minnesota, but work toward equity remains

On the 94th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the U.S., a panel of three state lawmakers from the East Metro discussed the gains women workers in Minnesota made with passage of the Women’s Economic Security Act this year – and the work for equality that remains to be done. Sen. Sandy Pappas of St. Paul, […]