Strike threw a monkey wrench into Montgomery Ward’s holiday plans 75 years ago

More than 30 workers in St. Paul threw a monkey wrench into Montgomery Ward’s holiday-shopping rush Dec. 6, 1937, walking off the job after management at the mail-order company’s University Avenue plant refused to negotiate with their elected union representative, Warehouse Employees Local 20,297. The picket line drew 300 supporters on the strike’s first day, […]

October 2012: Remember when farmers and union members worked together?

With families across the Midwest struggling to keep their farms out of bank foreclosure, union members rallied with farmers Oct. 10, 1987, at the Heartland Jobs with Justice rally on the Iowa State Fairgrounds. About 40 Minnesotans were among the estimated 1,500 to 1,700 union members at the rally, Union Advocate Editor Barb Kucera reported […]

September 2012: CIO sympathizers routed at statewide AFL convention in ‘37

Delegates to the Minnesota AFL-CIO’s 51st Constitutional Convention will gather in Rochester Sept. 16-18. It is certain to be a much more harmonious affair than the statewide labor convention held in Hibbing 75 years ago, when AFL delegates snuffed out an attempt by “CIO sympathizers” to gain a foothold in the organization. “Minnesota Labor took […]

August 2012: Electrical Workers Local 110 formed a century ago

It’s not a “golden anniversary” – that would be 110 years – but Local 110 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers will turn 100 years old this month, and members planned to celebrate July 28 with a picnic on Harriet Island. The St. Paul-based union traces its roots to a division that took place […]