Striking janitors: ‘We do the dirty work, we deserve a better wage’

Union janitors are setting up picket lines across the Twin Cities today, raising the stakes in their fight to win a $15 minimum wage and address alarming workload issues. The one-day strike over unfair labor practices will impact nearly 200 office buildings in the area before the day is done, according to Local 26 of […]

Community support gives North Branch teachers momentum as contract talks resume

North Branch teachers rallied with supporters on back-to-back days this week, sending a clear message to school board members and administrators before contract negotiations resumed today. “We’re not in this alone,” industrial tech teacher Irv Geary said. “We’re all in this together. And it’s not just a teacher issue; it’s a community issue.” Geary, a […]

Twin Cities security officers announce tentative agreement with $15 guarantee

Most union security officers in the Twin Cities will earn at least $15 per hour – and future officers will be on track to do the same – under the terms of a tentative contract agreement struck late last night, according to union leaders. Local 26 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents more than […]

Fight for $15 putting upward pressure where it’s needed – on wages

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 […]

Nurses at five Twin Cities hospital systems to vote on tentative pact

One day after nurses at five Twin Cities hospital systems agreed to limit the scope of bargaining to wages, negotiators for the two sides reached a tentative agreement over the terms of a new, three-year contract that, if ratified by members, would go into effect June 1. The Minnesota Nurses Association, which represents more than […]

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 […]

Pilots unfazed by Sun Country owner’s downsizing threat

Sun Country pilots aren’t budging from the stance that they deserve better pay, not even after threats from their boss that the airline could be downsizing. Pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, have been in negotiations with Sun Country since their contract became amendable in April 2010. The two sides have been in […]

Pilots picket at MSP, protest Sun Country’s ‘unacceptable’ offer

In shifts of about 50, Sun Country pilots and their colleagues from other airlines marched silently in single file outside Terminal 2 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport this afternoon. The informational picket, attended by virtually all of Sun Country’s 247 active pilots who were not flying or in training, put the Minnesota-based airline on notice […]

Allina hospital workers ratify contract establishing $15 minimum wage

Capping a week that saw fast food workers, bank tellers, students and other workers across the Twin Cities mobilize for higher wages, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota announced today that members have ratified a new contract with Allina that establishes a $15 minimum wage at seven Twin Cities hospitals. Allina backed out of metro-wide negotiations between the […]

Workers unite for safe staffing, job security: ‘We are the face of Allina’

After hundreds marched together outside Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis yesterday, the picket line shifted to United Hospital in St. Paul today, as health care workers kept the pressure on Allina Health to get serious about contract negotiations with their union, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota. Workers like Dave Young, a nursing assistant at United, want Allina […]