The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
Supporters of raising the state’s minimum wage – and indexing it to keep up with the cost of living – kept the pressure on state senators today, delivering more than 7,000 postcards from constituents demanding action. The postcards are the product of conversations with Minnesotans that began, Raise the Wage Coalition spokesperson Jennifer Munt said, […]
School board members weighed into the minimum-wage debate this week, when all seven members of St. Paul’s Board of Education signed a letter urging state senators to help close achievement gaps in their district by supporting a substantial wage hike this session. Louise Seeba, a board member and AFSCME Local 3757 member, spearheaded efforts to […]
One day after a rally in support of raising Minnesota’s minimum wage rocked the Capitol rotunda, nearly 100 activists took their message to the skyways of Minneapolis, calling on Target and other corporations to join the fight against poverty wages. The lunch-hour march yesterday snaked through the skyways and into Target’s flagship store. Inside, demonstrators […]
“It’s an accident waiting to happen.” That’s rail worker Corey Plath’s assessment of Canadian Pacific Railway under the direction of CEO Hunter Harrison, who has made a career of cutting costs and, union members say, cutting corners when it comes to the safety of workers and the public. Plath and fellow Minnesota-based members of the […]
Wearing red scarves, hats and shirts to show their solidarity with union teachers, families packed the parking lot outside St. Paul Public Schools headquarters yesterday during a rally in support of smaller class sizes, expanded pre-kindergarten and other community-driven priorities teachers have brought to the table in contract negotiations with the district. “Parents are standing […]
Parents, students and other activists demonstrated this morning outside a hotel downtown St. Paul, site of a business-backed conference on education reform that featured Michelle Rhee, a prominent national voice for weakening the influence of teachers and their unions. Not surprisingly, presenters at the Education Summit, sponsored by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, did not […]
On days when the cold or snow delays the start of school, some students trickle into Ryan Long’s classroom at American Indian Magnet school, while others stay home altogether. Sadly, it’s on these rare occasions that Long and other St. Paul teachers glimpse what it’s like teaching a manageable class size of students. “All of […]
Negotiations on a new contract are dragging into the new year, but nurses at Regina Medical Center in Hastings, members of the Minnesota Nurses Association, continue to resist Allina Health’s effort to treat them differently than nurses in every other Allina hospital in the Twin Cities Metro Area. The two sides returned to the bargaining […]
State and local taxpayers are backing a $50 million expansion project underway at Gerdau’s St. Paul steel mill with a package of incentives, grants and forgivable loans. But members of St. Paul Pipefitters Local 455 say the project has left local workers out in the cold. The dispute stems from Gerdau’s decision to accept a […]
Nurses at Regina Medical Center in Hastings will hold a candlelight vigil tonight, keeping hope alive for a new contract with the hospital that retains the level of nursing care the Hastings community expects. The vigil will take place at 4:30 p.m. in the parking lot at the intersection of Highways 55 and 61. Nurses also […]
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