The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
Fifty years after the March on Washington, the march toward justice continues. That was the tone struck by union members, elected officials and civil rights advocates who gathered on the Capitol grounds in St. Paul today to honor the 50th anniversary of the watershed event in the civil rights movement. Nearly 200 people participated in […]
North Star Steel approached “a new level of absurdity” in an attempt to avoid negotiating a first contract with 30 clerical and sales employees at its Newport facility, The Advocate reported in August 1988. The workers had voted a year earlier to join the United Steelworkers, but management refused to bargain with the union. After […]
It only takes 15 minutes to make a difference at United Way Action Day! Union members can get involved in the second metro-wide volunteer event Aug. 14 by joining the St. Paul Labor Studies and Resource Center’s Community Services team. Union volunteers are needed at two events: • “Speed volunteering” downtown at Ecolab Plaza, 370 […]
Immigration reform is on the front burner in Congress this summer, but 10 years ago immigrant “freedom riders,” including some from Minnesota, traveled to Washington to raise awareness of the need for reform, including a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers. The Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride kicked off its Minnesota leg with an event at […]
The state legislator spending a week on minimum wage met today with three Minnesotans for whom the minimum-wage challenge is an everyday reality. Four days into his five-day walk in the shoes of the state’s lowest-paid workers, Rep. Jason Metsa listened as three minimum-wage earners related the experiences Metsa wouldn’t have during his five-day experiment. […]
The time for bipartisan action to fix the country’s broken immigration system is now, according to a diverse group of more than 100 activists who rallied downtown Minneapolis yesterday for “commonsense” immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship. The event, one of several immigration rallies held across the country yesterday, drew support from unions, […]
The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust announced Dec. 19 it would commit $23.5 million toward constructing the West Side Flats Apartments, a $31 million mixed-use development on the edge of downtown St. Paul. The project is expected to generate 160 union construction jobs at a time when unemployment in the industry remains high. The HIT is […]
The St. Paul Regional Labor Federation will co-sponsor a blood drive Dec. 4 with the federation’s AFL-CIO Labor Community Action Committee, the Greater Twin Cities United Way and the American Red Cross’ North Central Blood Services. The blood drive will run from 1 to 6 p.m. at the St. Paul Labor and Professional Centre, 411 […]
On a sunny Saturday morning Oct. 20, dozens of union volunteers trickled into a coffee shop downtown Burnsville. They paired up, gathered routes and handbills, and fanned out across the suburb, knocking on fellow union members’ doors and talking about their labor-endorsed candidate for Minnesota House, Will Morgan. Similar campaign activities have been taking place […]
It’s finally official: The AFL-CIO has endorsed a nationwide consumer boycott of American Crystal Sugar products in response to the company’s 15-month lockout of 1,300 workers at facilities in Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota. The boycott, which began Oct. 15, is part of the broader labor movement’s continued support for locked-out members of the Bakery, Confectionery, […]
Union Advocate 