The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
We all do better when we work together. That’s the lesson teachers and support staff in the North Branch Area Schools learned from the district’s first successful referendum campaign in at least 15 years. And it was a valuable lesson, as voters in a special election May 23 approved all three of District 138’s funding […]
Bold investments in public schools and early learners. Higher education that’s affordable for working families. An aggressive approach to narrowing the achievement gap between white students and students of color. Labor-endorsed candidates have high hopes when it comes to education in Minnesota, but they will need to win a majority in the House – and […]
Last-ditch talks between Allina nurses and management broke off early this morning after a marathon, 22-hour negotiating session failed to yield agreement on a new contract. As a result, nearly 5,000 members of the Minnesota Nurses Association plan to begin an open-ended strike Monday morning. If picket lines go up on Labor Day, nurses will count on broad […]
Standing with leaders of unions representing workers across Minnesota, members of the Minnesota Nurses Association today announced they have delivered notice to Allina Health of their intent to begin an open-ended strike on Labor Day at five Twin Cities facilities. The two sides “regressed” in mediated talks earlier this week, MNA director Rose Roach […]
Union families put their pride on display yesterday at the Ashley Rukes GLBT Pride Parade in downtown Minneapolis. The Minnesota AFL-CIO has organized a contingent in the annual parade, part of the Twin Cities Pride Festival, for years. Turnout was particularly strong this year in the wake of the June 12 mass shooting inside a […]
Earlier this month, teachers at Community School of Excellence in St. Paul pushed back against administrators’ plan to cut classroom programming and lay off personnel, including most members of the fledgling staff union’s bargaining team. Now, not only have several programs been taken off the chopping block, but members of the Federation of Charter […]
Allina nurses are walking the picket lines outside five Twin Cities health care facilities this week, but they aren’t walking alone. Patients, doctors and other health care workers have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with members of the Minnesota Nurses Association over the last four days. So have members of other unions – teachers, musicians, construction workers […]
A St. Paul charter school’s campaign to deny employees a voice on the job reached a new low yesterday, when administrators announced a wave of staff cuts eliminating several key areas of classroom programming and decimating the union’s bargaining team. The number of teachers and support staff let go remains in flux, union leaders said […]
Labor History Month kicked off in St. Paul last night with a discussion of history in the making, as panelists offered insight into public-sector workers’ recent push to breath new life into their unions and defend their right to a voice on the job. The public forum, titled “The Friedrichs Case and the Future […]
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday rejected an attempt by corporate interests to weaken public-sector workers’ unions and, in the process, undermine the public services they provide. The court’s decision in Friedrichs v. CTA is a victory for “teachers, nurses, firefighters and public-service workers nationwide,” said Eliot Seide, director of AFSCME Council 5, which represents 43,000 […]
