With Biden’s signature, postal reform measure will lift ‘5-ton weight’ dragging down USPS

After more than a decade of advocacy in Congress and sometimes in the streets, USPS employees and their unions celebrated a landmark victory last month.

‘Insulting’ wage offer prompts strike at MN Epilepsy Group

Workers called the five-day strike after management stuck to its demand for annual wage increases of less than 1% in last-ditch contract negotiations Tuesday.

St. Paul educators settle contract, pivot to supporting Minneapolis strikers

With a tentative agreement in hand, St. Paul educators urged support for their union siblings in Minneapolis, where 4,000 members of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and its chapter of education support professionals began an open-ended strike yesterday.

Frontline workers’ focus turns to Senate after House passes bonus pay

Worker advocacy groups pledged not to be divided as they push for legislation that recognizes the sacrifices of all who showed up to work.

Push for paid family leave takes on new urgency in pandemic

A union-backed coalition of groups renewed its lobbying push for paid family and medical leave on Valentine’s Day – and not by accident. Love is at the heart of the proposed legislation, advocates said, adding that its failure to gain traction in the Senate over the past six years has cornered too many Minnesota families […]

House bill targets high injury rates in Amazon’s MN warehouses

The bill would prohibit warehouses from disciplining workers for failing to meet a quota that does not account for legally allowed breaks.

Twin Cities Starbucks workers join union wave

Workers at two Starbucks locations in the Twin Cities today announced they are forming unions, becoming the first Minnesotans to join a nationwide surge of worker organizing at the world’s largest coffeehouse chain. In letters emailed to Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson and hand-delivered to their store managers this morning, baristas at 300 Snelling Avenue in […]

As staffing crisis deepens, DFL lawmakers respond with bill to keep nurses at bedside

Sen. Erin Murphy, a registered nurse and the bill’s chief author, called the measure “a hyperlocal, hospital-by-hospital approach” to dealing with the staffing crisis.

Burnham sworn in as first person of color to lead MN AFL-CIO

“We must stay united against the forces that try to divide us,” new Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bernie Burnham said.

As session begins, Minnesota unions see opportunity for investments in infrastructure, frontline workers

It’s a bonding year, but a record budget surplus and unspent federal pandemic relief funds could allow for more broad spending measures, including long-delayed compensation for frontline workers.