Dreaming big on Labor Day: What if union membership tripled nationwide?

September 2, 2026 by

Baristas at Starbucks have organized at over 700 locations nationwide, including in St. Anthony.

About 15 million American workers are union members, but polling shows that some 50 million more would join a union today if they could.

What if that happened?

That’s the question researchers at the Economic Policy Institute sought to answer in a first-of-its-kind report, “The Case for Tripling Union Membership,” published in July.

Tripling union membership, from roughly 10% of the workforce to 30%, would restore union density to levels not seen since the 1950s, when union power delivered rising wages for working people, helped narrow racial wage gaps and built a thriving middle class.

In their new report, EPI researchers argue that similar benefits are possible today: higher wages across the board, lower inequality, stronger communities and a healthier democracy. The report also shares a policy roadmap to boost union membership and expand the benefits of collective bargaining.

“Tripling union membership is not a nostalgic pipe dream,” EPI President Heidi Shierholz said. “It is exactly what workers want, and federal and state policymakers have a clear roadmap to make it happen.

“Collective bargaining is the most effective tool for workers to raise their wages and secure a fair share of economic growth. If policymakers are serious about tackling affordability problems, expanding union membership and collective bargaining should be at the center of their agenda.”

The report estimates that tripling union membership would:

  • Deliver a 14.5% raise for the median worker, amounting to more than $7,700 annually – or nearly $270,000 over a 35-year career. Increases would apply union and nonunion workers alike.
  • Shift $1.2 trillion to workers annually. This would reverse one-third of the increase in inequality experienced since 1979.
  • Raise worker earnings in every state, including by an estimated $6,500 annually in Minnesota and $9,200 in Wisconsin.
  • Significantly narrow racial wage gaps. Because unions tend to boost wages more for Black and Hispanic workers than for white workers, tripling union membership would close racial wage gaps by more than one-third.
  • Increase the number of people covered by health insurance. Greater collective bargaining power would reduce the number of nonelderly people going without health insurance by about 25%.
  • Strengthen communities. States with high union density invest more in public education, have higher unemployment insurance recipiency rates and have all adopted Medicaid expansion.
  • Protect democracy. Unions boost voter turnout, equip workers with civic skills and actively defend voting rights. States with high union density have passed far fewer voter restriction bills than low-density states.

Of course, tripling union membership won’t actually happen overnight. Organizing is deliberate work that requires the investment of energy and resources – a commitment the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, made at its constitutional convention in June, pledging to organize 2 million new members over the next five years.

Unions have also pushed policymakers to modernize federal labor law and even the playing field in workplace organizing drives.

The report unveils two new policy proposals designed to grow collective bargaining and union density – proposals that, authors say, are “built to work alongside” organized labor’s top policy priorities, the PRO Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act.

One proposal would guarantee annual raises for newly unionized workers. A mandatory cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) would provide a meaningful guardrail for workers whose first contract bargaining ends up in arbitration – and undercut the employer’s ability to drag out the process.

The other ambitious proposal: require collective bargaining as the default option when CEO-to-worker pay ratios exceed 100-to-1. “Declining unionization and the stratospheric rise in CEO pay are deeply connected,” EPI’s researchers said. “Strengthening the bargaining power of workers in severely imbalanced companies would enable them to capture a larger share of the wealth their work creates.”

The report also calls on states to repeal so-called “right-to-work” laws and ensure collective bargaining rights for all public-sector workers, which alone would increase union density nationally from 9.9% to 14.4%.

Filed Under: Organizing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Gap between CEO, worker pay continues to widen, report shows

August 28, 2026 by

The nation’s top executives gave themselves far bigger raises than the average worker saw last year.

The AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch report, released earlier this month, found that the pay gap between CEOs and the rest of us widened in 2025, with companies on the S&P 500 paying their chief executives 312 times more than the median U.S. worker, a 21% increase over 2024.

The nation’s largest labor federation analyzes compensation data each year to produce the report.

While the nationwide ratio for CEO-to-worker pay last year was 312-to-1, the ratio was even greater at six Minnesota-based, publicly traded firms:

  • Life Time Group Holdings: 1,814- to-1 (CEO earned $15.2 million)
  • Target: 794-to-1 ($21.8 million)
  • UnitedHealth Group: 748-to-1 ($60.9 million)
  • Best Buy: 542-to-1 ($16.1 million)
  • Ecolab: 326-to-1 ($17.4 million)
  • 3M: 316-to-1 ($21 million)

This year, researchers chose to exclude one CEO – Elon Musk – from their calculations. Musk’s $158.3 billion pay package, which made him the world’s first trillionaire, would have skewed the data, they said.

Still, with an average pay of $22.8 million last year, other CEOs on the S&P 500 enjoyed their highest level of compensation in the three decades that the AFL-CIO has been producing the report.

That marks “a new, shameful high,” AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond said at press conference to unveil the findings.

Redmond also noted that President Donald Trump has raked in $2.2 billion in income – much of it from crypto deals that cash in on his influence – since returning to the White House last year.

“Meanwhile, working Americans are struggling to feed their kids and pay their electric bills,” Redmond said.

Indeed, workers’ share of U.S. national income has fallen to its lowest level since World War II, per to the report.

Recent surveys show workers are increasingly concerned about affordability and economic uncertainty: 16% of U.S. adults cannot pay all their bills in full, 26% have skipped medical care due to cost and 37% do not have enough cash to cover a $400 emergency expense.

The AFL-CIO’s report takes aim at several companies on the S&P 500 where CEO pay continues to soar as an outsized share of their employees rely on public assistance, like Medicaid and SNAP, to make ends meet, including Amazon, Dollar Tree, FedEx, McDonald’s and Walmart.

Last summer, as part of the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” Trump and Republican majorities slashed federal support programs to pay for tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans – a sign of misplaced priorities in Washington, Redmond said.

“There’s a better economy we can build for working people,” he added. “That’s why the labor movement will continue to fight for every worker to have a union contract that begins to level the playing field and ensures they take home the share of the profit they create.”

Find the report online at paywatch.org.

Filed Under: Labor Voices Tagged With: , , , , ,

Union volunteers welcome America’s labor movement to Minnesota

June 8, 2026 by

Volunteers staffing the welcome booth on Day 1 of the convention include (L to R) Megan Lockhart (Painters Local 61), Mary Sansom, Hana Yoshida (SEIU Healthcare) and Miriam Wynn.

Local union volunteers are welcoming the nation’s labor movement to Minneapolis this week and helping the AFL-CIO ensure its biggest event runs smoothly.

About 40 retired and active union members answered the call for volunteers during the AFL-CIO’s 30th Constitutional Convention, which began yesterday and runs through June 10 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Volunteers are stationed throughout a bustling exhibition space, located just off the meeting floor. The space features vendor booths, informational displays, interactive training spaces, a live stage and more.

Barbara Andrew, a member of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa, traveled from Rochester yesterday to volunteer with her SEIU sister Leslie Kaup of Albert Lea. As delegates entered the convention space, Andrew and Kaup encouraged them to write their personal definitions of “solidarity” on a poster-filled wall.

Leslie Kaup and Barbara Andrew

For Andrew, talking solidarity with strangers was a welcome opportunity. She works in food service for a Mayo Clinic contractor, where workers organized a union nine years ago – after Mayo outsourced their department.

“I fell in love with unions,” she said. “I’ve seen how it helped me and my fellow co-workers.”

It’s a feeling Mary Sansom, a retired member of Machinists (IAM) Local 1833, has known for five decades.

Greeting delegates and answering questions at the welcome booth yesterday, Sansom said it was exciting to see the faces that make up the labor movement – from IAM’s elected leaders to members of the AFL-CIO’s 64 other affiliated unions – as they entered the convention space.

“I’m a 53-year union member, and this is our legacy coming in,” she said. “I’m feeling really proud right now.”

Staffing the swag table (L to R): Sara Miele, Larry Nelson (former CWA) and Bernadine Engeldorf (retired MNA).

Some local volunteers had already made new connections on Day 1 of the convention.

A United Steelworkers delegate asked Miriam Wynn, financial secretary of Minnesota-based Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1005, to record a message of support for workers in Mississippi who will vote soon in a union election.

“Just to know that they are organizing in Mississippi while our union is organizing here in Rochester, it was actually encouraging for me, and hopefully I was encouraging them,” Wynn said. “Labor everywhere, we need to come together, and that’s what’s happening here.”

For other union members, volunteering at the convention was an opportunity to put Minnesota’s best foot forward after Operation Metro Surge.

Volunteers at the entrance to the convention floor (L to R): Rachel Andersen, Richard Rosivach (Mounds View Education Association), Tess Darmer (Painters Local 61) and MN AFL-CIO organizing director Todd Dahlstrom.

Posted at the entrance to the convention floor, Southdale Hospital nurse Rachel Andersen, a member of the Minnesota Nurses Association, said the convention buzzed with much-needed “good energy.”

“It fills my cup, after everything Minnesota’s been through, to see that we still care about each other,” Andersen said. “We’ve been saying ‘solidarity’ for years, but this winter really put the rubber to the road, and it was there when we needed it.”

Some delegates were eager to recognize the resilience Minnesota showed over the winter, retired Minneapolis educator Sara Miele said. And Miele, who lives downtown, said she is eager in turn to show them everything else that her city and state have to offer.

“I’m so excited about making sure people have a wonderful experience here – and come back and back and back,” she laughed.

 – Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

Filed Under: Community, Politics Tagged With: , , ,

AFL-CIO convention spotlights strength, solidarity of Minnesota’s labor movement

June 7, 2026 by

Minnesotans who joined the solidarity efforts during Operation Metro Surge take the stage on Day 1 of the convention. (AFL-CIO photo)

Union leaders and activists from across the U.S. are gathering in the Twin Cities this week for the 30th AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention, the American labor movement’s biggest event.

The national labor federation picked Minneapolis as the site of its four-day convention well before a violent surge of federal agents in Minnesota drew worldwide outrage over the winter. But among the first orders of business on Day 1 was a recognition of local unions’ role in organizing resistance to the occupation.

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, reelected to a five-year term later in the day, turned the Convention Center stage over to three local leaders, Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bernie Burnham, St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Kera Peterson and Minneapolis RLF President Chelsie Glaubitz Gabiou.

The presidents offered visiting delegates an overview of unions’ response to Operation Metro Surge – and the work that prepared Minnesota’s labor movement to meet the moment with solidarity.

The federal occupation saw unions raise funds for mutual aid and legal defense of detained members. Unions tapped into local solidarity networks, hosting training sessions for constitutional observers and preparing members to respond if ICE showed up on their worksite. And union members not only showed up in the streets as observers and demonstrators, but dozens of activists trained to become “union peacekeepers,” who kept marches safe and orderly.

“They thought Minnesota nice meant we would stand by quietly while federal agents disappeared our friends, neighbors and co-workers,” Burnham said. “But they mistook kindness for weakness. They invaded a winter people in winter, and our solidarity froze them in their tracks.”

(AFL-CIO photo)

Delegates on the convention floor rose for a standing ovation as Burnham welcomed anyone in the room who joined the solidarity efforts in Minnesota onto the stage.

“Now they know Americans are not afraid,” Burnham said. “They know if they send ICE into any of your communities, you will fight just as hard.”

Shuler thanked Minnesotans for their “sacrifice and resilience” before returning to the business of the convention – committee reports, elections and a roll call of affiliated unions, which included the 2-million-member Service Employees (SEIU) for the first time in 21 years.

The AFL-CIO also recognized seven new affiliates representing professional athletes, including WNBA players, who this year won historic gains in a new union contract, and Major League Baseball players, who are in a bitter round of negotiations with owners intent on suppressing their pay with a salary cap.

The theme for the 2026 convention is “With You, It’s Better in a Union.” Organizers expected between 1,500 and 2,000 delegates and guests to attend the four-day affair.

Delegates from the AFL-CIO’s 65 affiliated unions and from state and local labor councils come together at conventions to conduct required business and chart the future of the labor movement.

The event will feature prominent guest speakers and expert panelists to discuss issues facing workers and their families, from artificial intelligence to the rising cost of living.

AFL-CIO Minneapolis convention, Sunday June 7, 2026. Afternoon plenary. Photo: Jay Mallin
AFL-CIO Minneapolis convention, Sunday, June 7, 2026. Photos: Jay Mallin

The convention put a spotlight on Minnesota again on Day 1 when the AFL-CIO recognized the state’s labor movement as one of two recipients of the 2025 Meany-Kirkland Human Rights Award, celebrating the most powerful examples of solidarity in action from across the world.

Minnesota shares the award, presented during a dinner reception, with the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP).

The federation’s executive board announced winners of the award in March. Its announcement cited Minnesota union activists’ “courage and commitment to fighting for democratic rights” during the surge that began last December.

Peterson, president of the St. Paul RLF, said the convention was an “exciting opportunity for our nation’s union movement to find inspiration and advance the coalition work that will meet the challenges ahead for working people across the country.”

“The world watched as Minnesotans joined together last winter to protect our neighbors and defend our democracy, and local unions and federated labor bodies, through their organizing work, helped build power and solidarity to meet that moment,” she added.

Both Shuler and Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond were re-elected on Day 1 after no other nominations emerged from the floor.

Watch video of the convention’s proceedings at aflcio.org.

— Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

Filed Under: Community, Politics, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Poll shows workers trust unions to deliver AI guardrails

May 20, 2026 by

The AFL-CIO released new polling this month that shows overwhelming support for union protections against job losses and invasions of privacy caused by artificial intelligence (AI).

The nation’s largest labor federation called the report, which draws on surveys, polling and focus groups, the most in-depth study to date of workers’ attitudes toward AI.

It found broad-based support for the AFL-CIO’s Workers First Initiative on AI, a set of guiding principles, released by the federation earlier this year, for the development and implementation of AI that ensures workers share in its benefits.

In polling, more than 9 in 10 respondents supported most of the initiative’s guardrails, including requirements for training, transparency and accountability. And workers said they trusted unions – more than either political party – to protect their jobs and privacy.

“The vast majority of America’s workers agree on how to move forward on AI and who they trust to do it, and it’s not Democrats, Republicans, Big Tech, or their employers – it’s the labor movement,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said. “We’re at the most important fork in the road our economy has faced in the last 100 years, and workers are united in our power.”

While AI’s impact will be felt across the economy, workers in Minnesota are especially at risk, according to a report issued last year by the Minnesota-based North Star Policy Action think tank. It ranked Minnesota 10th nationally and second in the Midwest for vulnerability to AI, with 500 17% of the workforce – at “high risk” of having their job altered by the emerging technology.

Those impacts could be positive for workers, researchers stressed, but only if workers have a voice in the process.

The AFl-CIO polling suggests workers are ready to assert that voice – through unions.

Unions were the only institution with net positive trust (+26) on the issue, scoring higher than both political parties and employers as the institution most likely to protect workers from AI harms.

Worker survey results included in the report found support for every worker protection outlined in the federation’s Workers First Initiative on AI, with 7 of 10 respondents or better agreeing that transparency, human oversight and worker voice are key in AI implementation.

Meanwhile, just 7% of survey respondents who are currently working say their employer has disclosed how or when AI is monitoring their work, and 94% say workers should know if AI is being used to monitor their work.

The findings suggest an opportunity for unions to mobilize workers around AI-related issues during contract, organizing and lobbying campaigns.

Some unions already have seized on the issue of AI, most notably the Writers Guild. In negotiations with entertainment studios in 2023, the union won language that allows them to use AI as a tool for script writing, but protects against the use of fully AI-generated scripts.

Closer to home, nearly 2,000 members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa who work at HealthPartners settled a contract earlier this year that established a new labor-management committee to focus on the impact of AI on both patient care and workers.

That’s the kind of action North Star’s report last year recommended Minnesota unions start taking, whether it’s organizing new workers susceptible to AI’s impacts or bargaining to protect their current members.

There’s a role for lawmakers to play, too, North Star Policy researcher Aaron Rosenthal, author of the AI report, told Minnesota lawmakers during a House Labor Committee hearing earlier this year. Rosenthal encouraged action to protect workers against the “three D’s of AI risk:” digital surveillance, decision-making (in employment matters) and displacement.

“We are, I think, on the precipice of a 21st century industrial revolution, and we are, as a state, woefully unprepared to meet the moment,” he said.

The Legislature adjourned this week without taking action to protect workers from AI, although Gov. Tim Walz did sign into a law a bipartisan measure targeting so-called “nudification” technology.

Notably, the Trump administration has sought to block states from regulating AI on their own. An executive order issued in December instructs the attorney general to seek to overturn state laws that fail to advance the “United States’ global AI dominance.”

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

Filed Under: Labor Voices Tagged With: , , , ,

Despite tough climate for organizing, unions notched gains in 2025

February 27, 2026 by

The number of American workers represented by unions grew to 16.5 million in 2025, its highest point in 16 years. Still, the gap between the share of workers who say they want a union and the share of workers with one remained stubbornly high.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its annual report on union members in the workforce last month. It showed modest growth for unions both nationwide and in Minnesota, where 15.8% of workers were represented by unions in 2025, an increase of 1%.

Nationally, the rate of union representation increased by one-tenth of a point, to 11.2%. The total number of workers represented by unions grew by 463,000.

Labor leaders said the data underscores how difficult it remains to organize unions under current labor law. They pointed to the tension between current union density and recent survey data showing near-record highs in unions’ approval ratings.

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, the nation’s highest-ranking union officer, said the increase in unionization last year reflects years of sustained effort among workers to organize and win elections – a lengthy process that is met with hostility in most workplaces.

“Billionaire bosses and union-busting politicians have tried to throw the kitchen sink at working people and their unions – slashing our jobs and rigging the rules to scare us out of organizing – but they are failing,” Shuler said in a response to the report.

Shuler took aim at the Trump administration for modeling an anti-union approach since the start of its second term, with mass layoffs and executive orders that have attempted to strip federal workers of their collective bargaining agreements.

She also noted that the government shutdown put a pause on National Labor Relations Board elections, further delaying the organizing process for thousands of workers.

“Workers have felt President Trump’s billionaire-first agenda in action and are hungry to take back their power,” Shuler said. “Workers know that the best check on a bad boss is a strong union contract. In 2026, workers will continue to organize in every corner of the country and build power to fight for the lives they deserve.”

Notable takeaways from the BLS report include:

• Signs of growth in the South, after a sustained push to organize in so-called “right to work” states. Nearly half of all union growth last year came from Southern states, with younger workers organizing at a rapid pace, too.

• Public workers are looking to unions, especially at the federal level. Union density among federal workers grew to over 31% – the largest single-year increase since 2011. Overall, the number of public-sector workers represented by a union grew by 236,000, or 36.4% of that workforce.

• Private-sector workers made organizing gains in health care, retail, education services and construction. North America’s Building Trades Unions reported gaining 4 over 47,000 new members across 14 crafts last year, despite widespread industry disruption. NABTU President Sean McGarvey cited “sound public policy,” in part, for the unions’ growth.

“The prior administration and Congress prioritized real investments in infrastructure and energy…” McGarvey said. “While the current administration has announced future foreign investments in the U.S., none have yet produced a single work hour for our members.

“Instead, cancellations, delays, withdrawn permits, withheld funds and policy uncertainty have jeopardized these anticipated domestic investments.”

• The number of Minnesota workers represented by unions increased from 394,000 to 431,000 last year. The state ranked 10th-highest for share of the workforce with union representation.

• Union members continued to out-earn their non-union peers. The median weekly earnings for all workers last year was $1,204. Union members had median weekly earnings of $1,487; for non-union workers the median was $1,174.

– Michael Moore, UA editor

Filed Under: Organizing, Union Events Tagged With: , , , ,

Families, educators, food shelves brace for SNAP cutoff: ‘This is a policy choice’

October 31, 2025 by

Matteo Halbesleben speaks at a press conference outside a St. Paul food shelf.

Matteo Halbesleben of Minneapolis is among 42 million people nationwide, including 440,000 in Minnesota, who will see food assistance from the federal government, known as SNAP, disappear tomorrow.

Benny Roberts is executive director of the Hallie Q. Brown Food Shelf in St. Paul, where demand already has doubled this week, prompting staff to put out a call for donations – money, food, clothes, toiletries and volunteer help.

Devina Moore teaches at nearby Benjamin E. Mays elementary school, where over half of students qualify for free or reduced school lunch. She and other educators are trying to keep things “as consistent as possible” for children – 150,000 of whom rely on SNAP in Minnesota – while scrambling to connect families with other resources.

As they brace for the impacts on their families and their community, Halbesleben, Roberts, Moore and others are also calling out the driving force behind the SNAP cutoff and ongoing federal government shutdown.

“Greed,” Roberts said during a press conference outside his food shelf in the city’s Rondo neighborhood, arranged by unions, faith groups and progressive organizations.

“This isn’t a charity issue,” St. Paul school board member Erica Valliant added. “This is a policy choice.”

Sitting on $5 billion

The motive behind that choice, union leaders say, is especially callous – an attempt by President Donald Trump and Republicans to use hunger as political leverage. Why else would the administration refuse to release more than $5 billion in SNAP contingency funds?

The AFL-CIO and 26 labor unions today sent a letter demanding Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins release the contingency funding. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said Trump is “deliberately inflicting pain on workers by cutting jobs, slashing food assistance and ripping away livelihoods.”

“The administration could continue SNAP without a hitch,” she added. “Instead, it’s inflicting cruelty on people and treating this crisis as some sick political game.”

SNAP cuts will only add to the pain inflicted on workers during the shutdown.

The administration has forced 730,000 federal workers to do their jobs without pay, locked 670,000 federal workers out of their jobs, threatened to destroy 130,000 health care jobs and sidelined hundreds of thousands of workers in construction, transportation and energy by canceling infrastructure projects.

Pain spreads

As the shutdown enters a second month, more Minnesotans, like Halbesleben, will feel the pain.

He began accessing SNAP benefits several years ago, after a string of health crises – skin cancer, reconstructive surgery and a car accident – left him unable to work. Halbesleben is now able to work part time, but still cannot stand for more than four hours without needing to lie down for a physical-therapy exercise that resets his rib cage.

“My story is my own, but there are other stories out there – people who have families who are trying to keep their kids fed, elderly (people) who can’t work anymore and whose retirement doesn’t pay enough for them to (buy) food.”

He said SNAP benefits allow him to put money he does earn toward keeping his home. He already lost the home where lived at the beginning of his health troubles.

Valliant and Moore said they worry that losing SNAP benefits will create a similar snowball effect for SPPS families, making it even harder to afford housing, transportation, energy and other costs.

“It’s overwhelming to see what our families are already going through, the needs that they already have,” Moore said. “Our youngest citizens are being affected the most, and they can’t do for themselves.”

‘We need community’

Valliant noted that Minnesota students will continue to have access to free breakfast and lunch on school days, and Gov. Tim Walz and some counties have tapped emergency funds to help prepare local food shelves like Hallie Q. Brown for a surge in demand.

But it won’t replace SNAP.

“For every meal a food shelf provides, SNAP provides nine,” Valliant said. “We’d be hard pressed to replace that with donations and good will alone, and we should not have to.”

Roberts agreed, calling the shutdown a continuation of “overt and covert practices that pick on the vulnerable for the profit of the comfortable” – a nod to the political fight behind the government shutdown, which pits tax cuts for the wealthy against funding that keeps clinics open and health insurance affordable.

“We’re going to brace for harm – in community,” Roberts said. “We’re going to support each other – in community. We’re going to do our best, but we need community.”

Looking to access food, donate or volunteer with a local food shelf? Click here for a map of locations across Minnesota.

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

Filed Under: Community, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Kera Peterson: Workers deserve freedom, fairness and security

August 25, 2025 by

St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Kera Peterson is pictured speaking at the 2022 MN AFL-CIO Convention.

As American workers, our labor takes many forms. We create wealth, build communities and deliver the goods and services that grow our economy. We serve the public, care for the sick and create a safety net for the most vulnerable. We educate, advocate and strive for a better world. But no matter where we work, no matter who signs our paychecks, we all share the dignity that our work brings.

That’s what we, as Americans, celebrate on Labor Day – the struggles, values and shared interests that united previous generations in the fights for child-labor laws, health and safety standards and the eight-hour day. Throughout our history, the labor movement has had the vision to imagine a life for working people that didn’t exist yet. As union members, we stand on the shoulders of workers who found the collective will to make that vision a reality. On Labor Day we honor their sacrifices, and we renew our commitment to carrying on the fight for what all workers deserve: freedom, fairness and security.

That’s what our labor movement is fighting for every day, and we’re doing it in the face of unprecedented attacks from union-busters – and that includes the Trump administration. Union members know firsthand the value that comes with the freedom to form a union, to bargain a contract and to speak up with one powerful, unified voice. It’s a freedom that the American public overwhelmingly supports. It’s a freedom we can’t afford to take for granted. Right now, unions are fighting back in court to stop the president and his crony cabinet from stripping federal workers of their union contracts, and from seizing control of the National Labor Relations Board, an independent agency charged with upholding collective bargaining rights.

Our unions also lead the fight for fairness, for a just share of the wealth that workers create and for a square return on a hard day’s labor. Workers deserve an economy built on fairness, too, but the president and Republicans in Congress are taking our country in the opposite direction. The AFL-CIO’s annual “Executive Paywatch” report, released last month, found that the CEOs S&P 500 Index companies out-earned their workers by a 285-to-1 ratio, on average, last year. That means the median employee would have had to start working in the year 1740 to earn what the average CEO raked in last year alone. And the president’s signature tax and spending bill, which overwhelmingly benefits corporations and the wealthy, will only make inequality worse.

Meanwhile, the rest of us are left to weather rising health care costs, cuts to public services and the economic uncertainty resulting from the president’s tariffs. When we say American workers deserve security, we mean a country where children and families don’t have to struggle to afford food, housing and health care. We mean a nation where no one is targeted for who they are or where they were born, and where we can raise children and retire in dignity. That’s what our unions are fighting for.

Our movement faces attacks on multiple fronts right now, and that can feel overwhelming. No single march, protest or campaign will deliver the kind of change we know our country needs, the freedom, fairness and security that workers deserve. But every organizing drive, every strike, every time workers and their allies take action together is an act of radical hope. We bet on our solidarity and our collective power because we’ve seen it work before. Yes, the moment is tough, but toughness defines working people.

That’s what we celebrate on Labor Day.

– Kera Peterson is president of the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, which brings together 140 local unions representing workers in Ramsey, Dakota, Washington and Chisago counties. Learn more about the federation and its work at stpaulunions.org.

Filed Under: Labor Voices Tagged With: , , ,

Unions brace for impact of Medicaid cuts, vow accountability

July 22, 2025 by

Quentin Ocama, a kindergarten teacher at Maxfield Elementary and member of the St. Paul Federation of Educators, spoke during the “Stop the Billionaire Giveaway” bus tour stop.

President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans slashed funding for health care, nutrition programs and public schools, repealed tax incentives that create union construction jobs and authorized adding $3.5 trillion to the national debt – all to pay for a tax cut that overwhelmingly benefits corporations and the wealthy.

The tax and spending legislation, signed by the president July 4, did not garner a single Democratic vote, as unions and other progressive groups slammed the bill – arguably the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in U.S. history – as it advanced through the House and Senate.

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, head of the nation’s largest labor federation, vowed to continue holding supporters accountable as the so-called big, beautiful bill’s ugly consequences become clearer.

“The AFL-CIO promises to put thousands of people to work canvassing colleagues, friends and families, reminding all, every day, of the Trump-GOP law’s harms,” Shuler said. “Campaigners will beat the drum from now through November 2026, and beyond.”

Union members in the Twin Cities wasted little time in doing just that. Several local unions rallied July 2 in a Minneapolis park, site of a nationwide “Stop the Billionaire Giveaway” bus tour stop.

The tour, sponsored by Fair Share America, aimed to raise awareness of the tax bill and its impact on families, communities and the economy. Health care workers, state employees, public educators and local lawmakers took turns describing the importance of federal funding to their communities and constituents.

“Without Medicaid, I would not be able to survive,” said Ace Taylor, a home care worker whose job caring for her disabled aunt is funded through Medicaid.

Claudia Hochstein, a state employee and member of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, said Medicaid’s burdensome new eligibility requirements serve a “dual goal” of frustrating people into giving up on their benefits – and giving political opponents of Medicaid fodder “to complain about government red tape.”

“They’re trying to break our public systems so they can make money off of privatizing them,” she added.

Accountability was on every speaker’s mind.

Taylor, a member of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa, traveled with other Medicaid advocates to Washington D.C. in June to urge representatives not to cut the program. Taylor recalled being told by one Republican congressperson, “You’ll be alright.”

“I guess we’ll just have to be louder,” she said.

– Michael Moore, UA editor

Filed Under: Labor Voices, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Grecia Palomar: Building a stronger future for Twin Cities Latino workers

April 9, 2025 by

When we started the LCLAA Twin Cities Chapter a year ago, we had a simple yet powerful goal: to create a safety net for our community and provide a space where union leaders and workers could come together to advocate for our rights.

We knew the daily challenges Latino workers face – wage theft, racial profiling, worker misclassification and the constant fear of worksite raids. These are not new problems, and they have intensified, making it harder for our communities to thrive.

The reality is stark. Many of our brothers and sisters fear going to work, sending their children to school or even walking through the town. The possibility of being separated from their families looms over them, and as a result, many hesitate to report labor violations, speak up about unsafe working conditions or demand fair wages.

When workers are afraid, employers with bad intentions take advantage. They misclassify workers, cut corners on safety and drive down wages. When legal status and language barriers come into play, it becomes even harder for workers to fight back. The blame, unfortunately, often falls on the workers themselves rather on the companies violating their rights.

This is why LCLAA, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, exists.

Since its founding in 1972, LCLAA has been at the forefront of the labor movement, ensuring that Latino workers have a voice. From advocating for fair wages and safer workplaces to fighting for immigrants’ rights and political inclusion, we have spent more than 50 years standing up for our communities.

Here in the Twin Cities, we are working to continue the legacy. Just last month, we hosted an event where an immigration attorney answered urgent questions from our members. We also distributed “Know Your Rights” cards, provided legal resources through the AFL-CIO, and made sure our community members had the information they need to protect themselves and their families.

But we know that one meeting is not enough. This is just the beginning.

Our LCLAA Twin Cities chapter is committed to ensuring that workers feel supported, informed, and empowered. We want to see more union members getting involved, more leaders stepping up and more allies joining us in the fight for dignity and respect.

The challenges ahead are real, but so is our determination. We are here to say that Latino workers are not alone. We are here to organize, to advocate, and to ensure that no one has to live in fear.

At LCLAA Twin Cities, we are just getting started.

– A member of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) Local 386, Grecia Palomar serves as president of the LCLAA Twin Cities Chapter. She is a drywall finisher/safety instructor at the Finishing Trades Institute of the Upper Midwest. To learn more about LCLAA, email twincities [at] lclaa [dot] org.

Filed Under: Labor Voices Tagged With: , , , , ,
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