City of St. Paul employees volunteer to help build Habitat house in Frogtown

City of St. Paul employees serve the public every day at work. But this summer, some are using their vacation time to give back to the community as well. In a coordinated effort among the city’s agencies and departments, city staffers are adopting six daylong volunteer shifts on a Habitat for Humanity construction site in […]

In contract talks, state workers beat back health care concessions, win raises

After reaching a tentative agreement with the state July 1, members of two public-employee unions are set to vote this month on a two-year contract that includes annual raises of 2.5 percent. Bargaining teams from both Council 5 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees […]

Unions back Move MN rally for comprehensive, long-term transportation fix

Marcus Smith would like more reliable bus service from south Minneapolis to his job in St. Paul. Jessica Treat wants dedicated lanes that make bicycling to work safer. James Boney hopes rebuilding and repairing the state’s roads and bridges will mean jobs for workers who need them. From bicyclists to Building Trades members, public employees […]

AFSCME members defend public service during Council 5’s Day on Hill rally

  “Everyone in this room is an expert in public service,” AFSCME Council 5 Executive Director Eliot Seide told nearly 1,000 members of the union during its Day on the Hill rally yesterday. “You’ve forgotten more than (politicians) will ever know.” After the rally, held at a downtown St. Paul hotel, union members bused to […]

Unions: Surplus more proof Minnesota is on right track

Minnesota’s projected $1.9 billion state budget surplus, announced today by Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Myron Frans, is proof that progressive policies pushed by DFL lawmakers over the last two years have helped foster economic growth, the state’s unions said. The Minnesota AFL-CIO, the state’s largest labor federation, representing more than 300,000 union members, said […]

Labor federation looks to put union members on ‘Path to Power’

Lynn Barten stood up in a conference room Sunday morning in St. Paul and gave a stump speech for a campaign she isn’t running – not yet, anyway – before a roomful of people who couldn’t vote for her anyway. Barten, an AFSCME member from Alexandria, was one of more than 70 people who enrolled […]

Parental leave policy a ‘giant leap forward’ for City of St. Paul employees

April VanMassenhove gave birth to her second child, Miles, last Tuesday. A clerical worker in the City of St. Paul’s Public Works department, VanMassenhove will exhaust her paid-sick days, then her vacation time and, finally, land on short-term disability in order to maintain an income while she cares for her newborn son. Fortunately for parents-to-be […]

A governor who will ‘go all Scott Walker’ on Minnesota? No thanks, unions say

Jeff Johnson, the Republican nominee for governor, doesn’t have much executive experience, but the former state legislator provided a glimpse of his leadership style May 15, telling a Tea Party group he would “go all Scott Walker on Minnesota” if elected. “I don’t know exactly what that means,” Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson responded, “but […]

Income on the rise in Dayton’s Minnesota, falling in Walker’s Wisconsin

Jeff Johnson, the Republican nominee for governor, provided a glimpse of his leadership style May 15, telling a Tea Party group he would “go all Scott Walker on Minnesota” if elected Nov. 4. So what is it about Walker’s Wisconsin that Johnson believes is worth replicating? To answer that question – and to get a […]

Collective Bargaining: Under attack in Wisconsin, on the rise in Minnesota

Jeff Johnson, the Republican nominee for governor, provided a glimpse of his leadership style May 15, telling a Tea Party group he would “go all Scott Walker on Minnesota” if elected Nov. 4. But what is it about Walker’s Wisconsin that Johnson believes is worth replicating? To answer that question – and to get a […]