AFSCME members restock Neighbors Inc. food shelf

AFSCME members helped restock a Dakota County food shelf during Council 5’s annual convention in Bloomington Sept. 11-13, raising $11,271 and collecting 539 pounds of groceries for Neighbors Inc. The food shelf assists more than 600 families each month in Inver Grove Heights, South St. Paul and West St. Paul. Food shelf director John Kemp […]

Dayton: Allegations of union payback ‘reckless, irresponsible and wrong’

BLOOMINGTON – Addressing 500-plus union activists dressed in T-shirts bearing his likeness, Gov. Mark Dayton took direct aim Saturday at accusations that his support for a new law extending collective bargaining rights to child care providers and home care workers amounts to “payback” for unions’ backing. Dayton called those allegations – a preferred talking point […]

Visit the Labor Pavilion at the Minnesota State Fair!

Heading to the great Minnesota get-together? Stop by the Labor Pavilion for live music and entertainment, interactive exhibits and several opportunities to take action in support of working Minnesotans. The Labor Pavilion is open daily throughout the fair at the corner of Dan Patch and Cooper, 1657 Dan Patch Ave. The Minnesota AFL-CIO coordinates daily […]

Jennifer Munt: Let’s move Minnesota in 2015

Minnesota has an urgent transportation problem that’s making it difficult for Minnesotans to get to their next destination, whether that’s work, school, play or family. Transportation is about opportunity for all no matter who you are or where you live. Workers need safer roads and better public transit to get to work. Our seniors need […]

Judy Wahlberg: The sexist agenda hidden in Harris v. Quinn

Any day now, the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on Harris v. Quinn, the most important labor law case in decades. The lawsuit is another attempt to kill off public employee unions. It centers on a small group of Illinois home care workers who sued to avoid paying fees to the very union that would […]

AFSCME members lend Ramsey County golf courses a steady hand amid changes

It’s Mark Newton and Eric Swanson’s job to maintain the grounds at historic Keller Golf Course in Maplewood, but the members of AFSCME Local 1935 haven’t moved a pin or filled a divot in over a year. Newton and Swanson will shake off the rust July 19, when Keller reopens for public golf after closing […]

Bobby Kasper: Super Bowl will showcase union workers

It doesn’t take most people very long to realize I’m not a native Minnesotan. My New York accent is usually a dead giveaway. But after living here for 20-plus years, Minnesota is the place I’m proud to call home. That’s why I was thrilled to learn the Twin Cities will play host to Super Bowl […]

Unions: Dayton, DFL legislators delivered for working families

Progress is what Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton promised he’d deliver if given pro-worker majorities in the Legislature. Progress on job creation, better schools, economic justice and budget stability is what Dayton and House DFLers will point to when they campaign for re-election this fall. In the 2014 session, Dayton and legislators picked up where they […]

In Forest Lake, Electrical Workers picket City Hall construction site

FOREST LAKE – Construction of a new City Hall in this northeast suburb slowed to a snail’s pace yesterday, as members of Local 110 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers erected a picket line to protest the city’s use of an electrical contractor that, members say, undermines area standards for wages and benefits. Efforts to […]

Postal workers to Staples: ‘The U.S. mail is not for sale!’

U.S. Postal Service employees from the Twin Cities rallied with supporters April 24 outside a Staples store in Roseville, part of a nationwide day of action opposing plans to put USPS service counters inside Staples locations across the country. Already, 82 Staples stores in Georgia, California, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts house USPS service counters, and postal […]