The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
In his State of the State Address last night, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton called on legislators to join him in addressing the state’s racial and geographic disparities, and in making needed investments in public education, transportation and infrastructure. Afterward, union leaders from across the state praised Dayton’s speech. Education Minnesota President Denise Specht called Dayton […]
They may no longer be on the brink of a Supreme Court-imposed Right-to-Work rule, but Minnesota’s public-sector union members aren’t celebrating. They’re organizing. “What we got was a reprieve, not clemency – and surely not a pardon,” Education Minnesota attorney Meg Luger-Nikolai warned a standing-room-only audience of activists last night at the East Side Freedom […]
Currents across the country created a wave of support for $15 as a just minimum wage last year, with fast-food workers in New York and airport workers in Seattle scoring high-profile victories in the so-called “Fight for $15.” But the rising tide is lifting wages for local workers as well, including some who carry union […]
The Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday in a case with big implications for Minnesota firefighters, teachers and other public-sector workers who benefit from the collective bargaining process. At a press conference inside the Firefighters Hall and Museum in Minneapolis today, public workers warned that the case, Friedrichs v. CTA, is an attempt by corporate […]
Frontline workers at the University of Minnesota stood together for nearly six months, waging a contract campaign for raises and respect. Now that strategy is paying off, as three bargaining units – Teamsters Local 320 and AFSCME Locals 3800 and 3801 – have announced tentative agreements with the U that include 2 percent wage increases, equitable family […]
The projected $1.2 billion state budget surplus, announced by state officials today, creates an opportunity for lawmakers to strengthen communities and continue growing Minnesota’s middle class in the 2016 legislative session, union members and allies said. And the first place lawmakers should look to invest is education. That’s the message three Metro-area legislators heard […]
In a policy address at the University of Minnesota yesterday, the nation’s highest-ranking labor leader pointed to “thousands of little groundswells” from across the country, including in the Twin Cities, as signs of a renaissance for collective action in American culture. “Right now workers are standing together and asking for a better life – and […]
Contracts covering about 27,500 state employees, including members of AFSCME Council 5 and the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, will go into effect next month after a legislative subcommittee failed to reject or approve the agreements. Members of the Subcommittee on Employee Relations split along party lines in a 5-5 vote yesterday. Under state law, […]
As Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and other presidential hopefuls wooed party leaders in Minneapolis during the Democratic National Committee meetings last weekend, local worker and retiree groups mobilized inside and outside the event, looking to push their concerns to the forefront of the 2016 campaign. On Friday, activists with 15Now Minnesota rallied for a […]
There is safety in numbers and strength in a union. Security officers at HealthEast hospitals are organizing to achieve both. Officers say they’ve been warning management for years about dangerously low staffing levels among their ranks. HealthEast usually keeps just two security officers on duty at each of its four East Metro hospitals – […]
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