St. Paul nursing home workers want respect for their essential work, and they’re on strike to get it

July 20, 2020 by

Cerenity Humboldt nursing assistants Helen Boayle (L), Jennifer Balanay and Janice Dunbar (R), members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, walk the picket line July 20.

On a day when working people in over 25 cities across the U.S. joined a union-backed Strike for Black Lives, nursing home workers at Cerenity Humboldt Care Center in St. Paul staged a 24-hour strike, demanding a contract that reflects their essential work.

Members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota who work at Cerenity Humboldt set up a picket line July 20 after a majority voted to authorize a strike over unfair labor practices.

The health care workers say contract talks with the employer have broken down despite seven meetings between representatives for the two sides over the last six months.

As bargaining has dragged on, the novel coronavirus has spread widely in Minnesota’s long-term-care and assisted-living facilities. Their residents account for more than three-quarters of the state’s COVID-19 deaths, and some 7,500 known cases have been traced back to congregate living facilities.

Despite the risks SEIU members are taking, Cerenity Humboldt, workers say, has refused their demand for pay increases that reflect their critical service during the pandemic. Worse, management continues to make proposals that would move some union members backwards.

Rhonda Little, who has been a cook at Cerenity for over 5 years and member of the union’s negotiating team, said management “just doesn’t seem to want to negotiate” when the two sides meet.

“During this pandemic we’ve kept COVID away from our patients, and it is time our facility steps up to respect our work,” Little said. “We only can put up with so much. We have lost so many employees because of turnover, but they don’t want to give us a fair raise – and they are talking about taking away paid sick time.”

Little said she worries high turnover will impact the quality of services SEIU members provide at Cerenity Humbold. In the last year, 17 people have left her department alone.

The SEIU bargaining unit includes 85 cooks, housekeepers, janitors, nursing assistants, laundry aides, dietary aides and restorative aides who work inside the facility.

“Our pay is some of the lowest around for our work,” she said. “St. Paul minimum wage is going up towards $15, and people starting here don’t even make $15. Enough is enough. We want them to realize that we are tired of not being taken seriously. By going on strike, we are standing together and standing up for ourselves.”

Cerenity Humboldt workers went on strike the same day as other nursing home workers across the country, as well as fast-food, hospital, airport and other essential workers participating in the “Strike for Black Lives.” Strikers highlighted the risks essential workers, who are disproportionately people of color, face during the pandemic, often without sick pay or good health care, without proper protective equipment and for poverty wages.

In Minnesota, striking workers joined together with MSP Airport workers, currently fighting for a $15 minimum wage at MSP, for a car caravan highlighting their unity, despite working in different industries, in the fight for economic and racial justice.

Filed Under: Organizing, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , ,

Dave Zirin: The ‘megaphone of sports’ is more global, powerful than ever

January 31, 2018 by

As the NFL staged its Opening Night Party in St. Paul Monday, protesters shut down streets downtown, calling on Super Bowl sponsors to support local schools and racial equity.

Donald Trump has made politics part of nearly every reporter’s beat. The president’s policy proposals and inflammatory public comments spark reaction and resistance that spill beyond the Beltway, outside the traditional spaces reserved for political debate.

Nowhere, perhaps, has the spillover been more apparent – or uncomfortable – than in the world of sports.

When Colin Kaepernick chose not to stand during the national anthem at a preseason game in 2016, the “take a knee” movement against police brutality in communities of color caught fire. TV networks squirmed over the impact on their ratings, shock jocks lit up sports radio with hot takes, and sports reporters started asking questions that went beyond X’s and O’s.

Dave Zirin has been asking those questions for a long time. A former student at Macalester College, he is the author of “A People’s History of Sports” and other books on how sports and progressive movements intersect. Zirin is at work on a book with Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett, and he writes and podcasts regularly at edgeofsports.com. He offered up his thoughts on what Minnesotans can expect during – and after – Super Bowl week in this interview, which has been edited (albeit lightly) for length (he had lots of good things to say).

UA: Teachers, low-wage workers and progressive groups here are using the Super Bowl spotlight to lift up their own campaigns, and some of their messages are obviously inspired by the way pro athletes have used their platform lately. This isn’t a new phenomenon in sports, but to what degree are we witnessing something historic?

Dave Zirin (photo credit: Jen Maler)

DZ: We’re certainly looking at a massive uptick in what is a historical continuum. Sports has always been this very powerful place. We’re taught that sports is this level playing field, this epitome of America, where anybody who’s good can make it. Yet the reality of sports is it’s a very unlevel playing field. It’s also one of the few places that if you come from a working-class or poor background, you have this immense cultural capital to tell your story – and to speak about what’s happening in the world.

I would argue that events like the Super Bowl become more and more these kind of global political events, almost like an economic Trojan horse in these communities. The spotlight is so bright. We’ve never been at a point where the megaphone of sports is more global and more powerful.

UA: What would you say to local activists looking to divert that spotlight into the streets?

DZ: I would say that they are doing the right kind of work. They are part of a tradition that’s really fired up recently in Olympic host cities, World Cup host countries and Super Bowl host cities, where people use the fact the world is watching this particular space to speak about everyday injustices in that space – and also how those injustices are aggravated by hosting these mega-events. People who are homeless find themselves under attack, sex workers find themselves under attack, union workers who might want to exercise their rights for the next week find themselves under attack. It’s not just about leveraging the spotlight, it’s about mounting a very real defense campaign against what these mega-events bring.

We’re talking about an increased police presence, the privatization of public space. We’re talking about the fact that the city is bending over backward to almost create a Potemkin village for the 1 percent that’s coming in. They seek to create this fake veneer of what the city actually is… And then as soon as those people leave and the media leaves, it all gets torn down. And when it all gets torn down, that’s also when it gets really dangerous for people because there’s this push to try to keep some of what’s been in there, whether you’re talking about stepped up police presence or closed-circuit TV cameras. I’ve been to so many Super Bowl host cities and Olympic or World Cup host cities, and that’s what they always say, that there becomes this mission creep…

UA: Twin Cities corporations spent $52 million to lure the Super Bowl to town, and the NFL won’t pay for much of anything this week as a result. What’s the local cost of this willingness to bend over backwards for the NFL and other pro sports leagues?

DZ: We have to suss through this. The actual cost, tragically, is not something that we’re going to be able to know until weeks, if not months, after the event itself. There should be an economic forensic exam, and the unions should take the lead on that. We can’t expect Democrats to do it for us… When they say they don’t have enough money for schools, for health care – this isn’t a question of having enough money, it’s about priorities.

UA: Are attitudes toward mega-events changing?

DZ: You are seeing changes. Cities are rejecting the Olympics, from Boston to Krakow. Cities have stood up to hosting these games because of the economic costs and political costs. Cities have started demanding concessions from the NFL and from local officials, like offsets so that every dollar that goes to the Super Bowl also goes to our schools, or goes to health care. Until that happens, we’re going to keep having this privatization of public wealth, which is really what the Super Bowl is once all the smoke and glitter clears.

UA: Going back to the player protests, how vital have players’ collective bargaining agreements been to this movement?

DZ: The collective bargaining agreement in the NFL has meant everything to these protests. While I would certainly argue that they have the First Amendment right to protest during the anthem, I really do think a lot of NFL players would have just been fired outright if it wasn’t for the fact that the CBA in the NFL has very specific language about whether players have to stand at attention. To compare and contrast, the NBA, which has much more political foment in it, has different language in their CBA that actually directs players to stand at attention. I think that’s one of the reasons you haven’t seen those kinds of protests in the National Basketball Association. They’re just not protected.

If the NFL had just started firing players left and right, they would have been at dire risk of invalidating the entire collective bargaining agreement. They would have given the union, which is already setting up in the next year for contract negotiations, an unfathomable amount of leverage …

As someone who’s interviewed a lot of these players, something that makes me really angry is that the players who are political also tend to be the players who are most community minded, bighearted and down to earth. There’s something so repellent to me that they’re the ones who are demonized by Trump and by certain members of the NFL ownership community. They’re the ones who really do represent the best – not just among NFL players, but among trade unionists in general.

UA: Trump’s use of the NFL – from tweeting about players who kneel to picking on the league at rallies – is remarkable. Why do you think it strikes such a chord with his supporters?

DZ: Like so much with Trump, while it strikes a chord with his base, it has not expanded his base. The polls I see show as many as three-fourths of people do not agree with how he has dealt with this issue. More people, after Trump got involved, were actually on the side of the players than before because he is so toxic.

But this is rank racism. There’s no other way to say it. These are players who are trying to start a conversation – not about the anthem or patriotism, but about racism and police violence. You think Donald Trump wants to have that conversation? Of course not. So he demonizes and attacks these players for being ‘ungrateful.’ One player said to me that ‘ungrateful’ is like Trump’s n-word, something he reserves for only black athletes. This is a very old script, and it resonates because you tap into envy. As if these ‘ungrateful’ athletes … haven’t worked their entire lives to make their way in the world.

UA: But you see backlash against this script?

DZ: Let’s talk about the No. 1 way we can tell that it didn’t work. When he called players SOB’s and used profanity before a rapturous crowd, where was he? He was in Huntsville, Alabama. What happened in Alabama? Somehow the Republicans lost a Senate race…

UA: Are you the guy no one wants to sit next to at the Super Bowl party?

DZ: No, people like sitting next to me. I always bring out the good food. I clean my house so I give people a nice place to sit. I usually spend the first 30 minutes of the Super Bowl in my own personal protest, live tweeting an episode of the “Facts of Life.” People on Twitter tend to go crazy. I lose a couple hundred followers, but I find it funny. I call it the Tootie Bowl.

UA: Who wins? Who are you rooting for?

DZ: I hate the New England Patriots because they always win and they’re arrogant and they’re obnoxious. But I’m sure you’ve heard people say that when the Patriots win it feels like Trump wins all over again. Slow your roll. They’re not Team Trump. Don’t take it that seriously please.

But I’m rooting for the Eagles, and I’ll pick the Eagles. I’ll never root for the Patriots. Ever.

Filed Under: Labor Voices, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Colleagues, labor community mourn Teamster fatally shot during traffic stop

July 7, 2016 by

castile-320

Philando Castile, the man fatally shot during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights last night, was a cafeteria supervisor at J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School in St. Paul and a member of Teamsters Local 320.

Officers of Castile’s union today expressed grief at the sudden loss of their union brother, “an amazing person who did his job at St. Paul Public Schools because he loved the children he served,” Local 320 President Sami Gabriel said.

Grief gave way to frustration today, as hundreds gathered outside the Governor’s Residence in St. Paul to remember Castile and demand justice for his family. Classmates and colleagues from the school district took the microphone to express anger at seeing another interaction with law enforcement turn fatal for a person of color.

St. Paul Federation of Teachers Local 28, which represents teachers and support staff in the St. Paul district, released a statement calling Castile’s shooting “unjustifiable” and urging members to attend a vigil for his family at J.J. Hill, 998 Selby Ave., at 5:30 p.m. tonight.

“Structural racism is real and present in our country and our community,” SPFT’s statement said. “We are horrified by the number of black citizens and youth dying as a result of police shootings. These are incidences our students are watching and living daily. We can, and must, do better.”

‘Enthusiasm and fist bumps’

Castile, who was 32, began working for the St. Paul school district in 2002. A graduate of St. Paul Central High School, he was well known among students and staff at J.J. Hill, Principal Fatima Lawson said in a letter to the school’s families and staff.

“He welcomed students to the lunchroom with enthusiasm and fist bumps,” Lawson wrote. “Teachers and staff loved working with him and he frequently greeted former colleagues with a smile and a hug. This is a tragic loss for our school, our staff and his family. Our hearts go out to all who knew him and we will definitely miss his presence this fall.”

Minnesota teachers asked for a moment of silence to remember Castile during the National Education Association’s assembly in Washington D.C. this morning, joining teachers from Louisiana who mourned the loss of another black man, Alton Sterling, shot by police Tuesday in Baton Rouge. (Video)

Central High School teacher Kimberly Colbert asked delegates to “send prayers and healing thoughts” to St. Paul. “Please remember him, as we remember all the victims of the horrible violence that’s been going on in our country,” she added.

Demonstrators gathered outside the Governor's Residence in St. Paul today to call for justice in the shooting of Phil Castile.

Demonstrators gathered outside the Governor’s Residence in St. Paul today to call for justice in the shooting of Phil Castile.

A double standard

The shootings of Castile and Sterling drew nationwide attention, including condolences from the nation’s highest-ranking labor leader, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

“Philando Castile was a union member, and so his family is our family,” Trumka said.

Earlier this year the AFL-CIO brought its Commission on Racial and Economic Justice to the Twin Cities, and both Trumka and Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy reiterated their commitment to dealing with racism as a labor issue.

“Labor cannot and will not sit on the sidelines when it comes to racial justice,” Trumka said. “It is not enough to simply say ‘Black Lives Matter.’ We must and will continue to fight for reforms in policing and to address issues of racial and economic inequality.”

McCarthy, meanwhile, called for a thorough, impartial investigation of Castile’s death, while acknowledging a troubling “double standard” African Americans face in dealings with police.

Castile is the 136th black person fatally injured by law enforcement in the U.S. this year, according to The Guardian, which tracks people killed by U.S. law enforcement agencies on its website. Blacks and Native Americans have been much more likely to be killed by police in 2016 than any other ethnic group, according to the site.

“Whether the bias is intentional or not, too many African American men find themselves on the receiving end of deadly force,” McCarthy said. “There are no quick and easy solutions to this all too familiar incident. These are complex problems that will require tough conversations and decisions.

“Minnesota’s Labor movement remains committed to helping address the racial inequalities, in both the economic and criminal justice systems, that continue to persist in our state and nation.”

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Striking workers revive campaign for Working Families Agenda

November 10, 2015 by
Striking workers and their supporters rally outside a McDonald's and Super America in Northeast Minneapolis.

Striking workers and their supporters rally outside a McDonald’s and Super America in Northeast Minneapolis.

 

Fast-food workers and retail janitors from 70 Twin Cities stores joined a nationwide strike today, rallying early this morning with other low-wage workers in support of a $15 minimum wage, paid sick days and other policies in the stalled Working Families Agenda.

Workers in 270 cities planned to join the strike, which mostly targeted fast-food employers. Organizers said it was the largest strike of the Fight for $15 campaign to date – a sign of growing support for workers’ demands of $15 and union rights.

Locally, striking workers also included retail janitors, who, like fast-food workers, are organizing with the Twin Cities-based worker center CTUL, a Spanish acronym for Center for Workers United in the Struggle. Home care workers, bank workers, childcare providers, temp workers and Black Lives Matter activists bolstered their ranks on early-morning picket lines outside McDonald’s and Macy’s in Minneapolis.

Steven Suffrage, who works at a fast-food restaurant in Minneapolis, fires up the crowd.

Steven Suffrige, who works at a fast-food restaurant in Minneapolis, fires up the crowd.

Guillermo Lindsey, who works at a McDonald’s in Roseville, said he and other strikers are among “thousands of low-wage workers in  Minneapolis and in the nation who have taken bold action for change in their communities.”

The strikers seized on the nationwide events as an opportunity to renew pressure on the Minneapolis City Council to pass the Working Families Agenda – a $15 minimum wage, paid sick time, fair scheduling and increased enforcement of wage theft.

Mayor Betsy Hodges and a majority of council members recently backed away from their support of sick time and scheduling ordinances. Workers planned to march from a picket line outside Macy’s on Nicollet Mall to City Hall to serve notice that the fight was far from over.

“Seattle is getting $15. New York is getting $15,” 16-year fast-food veteran Steven Suffrige said. “Why can’t we get $15?”

Recent polling indicates the public is on Suffrige and other low-wage workers’ side. Among likely voters in Minneapolis, according to a poll conducted by Minnesotans for a Fair Economy, 82 percent support raising the minimum wage to $15 now or over time, and 91 percent support fair scheduling and paid time off for illnesses or family emergencies.

By delaying action on the Working Families Agenda, strikers said, city officials are further denying justice to low-wage workers, many of whom are women and minorities.

“I work seven days a week,” said striking worker Michaela Hudson, who cleans the Macy’s in Ridgedale Mall. “I don’t get a day off; I don’t get any benefits.”

DSC_0217 (2)Lena Gardner, a leader of the Black Lives Matter movement in Minneapolis, said the average worker of color in Minneapolis earns $28,000 annually, compared to $74,000 for the average white worker. “They want our bodies to control for their profits, but they don’t want our lives to matter,” Gardner said.

In addition to targeting fast-food restaurants and retail cleaning contractors, the strike took aim at Super America. The Minnesota-based chain of gas stations has come under fire from workers in St. Cloud, organizing with Working America and the Greater Minnesota Worker Center, for its hiring practices.

Workers have been asking the company for a meeting about the issue for months, said Makaida Garrett, a mother of five who has worked at a Super America in St. Cloud for about a year. Meanwhile, she continues to earn just $9.50 per hour and was recently passed over for a management-track position.

“There are many women and people of color who work at this company but are not properly represented in management,” Garrett said. “We are no longer asking for that meeting; we are demanding that they meet with us.”

Filed Under: Organizing, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

CWA rallies support for members charged in Black Lives Matter protest at MOA

February 6, 2015 by

MN Guild new logo 3-4-13The Communications Workers of America is rallying support for two members of the union who face criminal charges resulting from their participation in the massive protest against police brutality and racism at Mall of America in December.

Todd Dahlstrom and Kandace Montgomery, members of the Minnesota Newspaper and Communications Guild, TNG-CWA Local 37002, are among 10 activists charged with unlawful assembly, trespassing and other crimes that, Bloomington authorities allege, occurred during the peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstration that drew thousands to the mall Dec. 20.

Guild President Janet Moore and CWA State Council President Mona Meyer have made appeals to union members in recent weeks, seeking support for a defense fund established for the accused activists, who face thousands in legal fees and potential fines. [Click here to contribute.]

“It’s another twist on the corporate dominance in our country,” Meyer said in an e-mail appeal. “The Supreme Court in Citizens United gave corporations the right to steamroll our democracy by lifting all limits on spending corporate profits to silent our voices in the name of corporate free speech. Now those same profits are being used in the court system against our members to silence them for having actually exercised free speech.”

Dahlstrom is organizing director of the state’s largest labor federation, the Minnesota AFL-CIO. Montgomery is an organizer with the progressive advocacy group TakeAction Minnesota.

TakeAction workers voted to form the Guild’s newest unit last fall.

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