Peter Rachleff: ‘You Betcha’ art exhibit explores solidarity between MN workers, farmers

February 5, 2025 by

Sculptures by Gita Ghei will be on display at the East Side Freedom Library this spring.

From its founding in the 1920s through its political dominance in the 1930s and its merger with the Democratic Party in 1944, the Farmer-Labor movement united Minnesota workers, farmers and the unemployed, building solidarity across regional, political and racial or ethnic divides. Combining electoral politics, year-round organizing and political education toward a vision of a “cooperative commonwealth,” this movement created a model for progressive change still relevant today.

Lost to history by political repression and the Cold War ideology of the 1950s, the Farmer-Labor tradition was rediscovered by a group of labor activists and educators in the 1970s. They formed the Farmer-Labor Education Committee (FLEC),  a non-profit organization with a mission to educate members of the public about the history and continued relevance of the progressive Farmer-Labor tradition. Like the movement they study, FLEC’s members are diverse and multi-generational, with rural and urban roots.

In 2022, FLEC produced “The Farmer-Labor Movement: A Minnesota Story,” a documentary about the history of the movement that has screened widely and prompted passionate conversations. There has been particular interest in the film’s contention that the Farmer Labor Party is best understood as part of a broader social movement that included co-operatives, educational institutions, newspapers and libraries, and cultural groups.

Now, FLEC has launched a new project, centered on art and artists.  FLEC’s activists write: “Today, as much as ever, our desire to rekindle the solidarity of the Farmer-Labor movement is profound. In honor of the 100th anniversary of the Farmer-Labor Party and the remarkable movement of solidarity that supported it, FLEC, with financial support from  Monument Lab’s Re-Generation initiative, commissioned public artist and teacher Gita Ghei to create a permanent traveling art exhibit commemorating the movement. FLEC and her team of artists have been working on the concept over much of last year and participating in a community engagement process that connects with the history and with Minnesotans throughout the state.”

Their work has been informed by their participation in community discussions following screenings of “The Farmer-Labor Movement.” Their goal is to promote further conversations not only between rural and urban residents, and members of different generations, but also between the past and present.

FLEC envisions the new exhibit, “You Betcha,” as a project of hope in challenging times. “Over the past decade, we have witnessed the resurgence of fascism and ultra-conservative organizing extending across the state,” they write. “At the same time, a divisive and reductive characterization of state political divisions has emerged, framing the Twin Cities as a progressive haven pitted against a white, conservative, and ‘backwards’ rural  monolith. ‘You Betcha’ uses history as a way to trouble those narratives and engage … in dialogue that might both build and unearth solidarity across differences.”

“You Betcha” will make its first public appearance Feb. 20, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier Street, St. Paul. Artists and FLEC members will be present to engage audience members in conversation. The exhibit will be on display at ESFL until May 4.  All are welcome to join in this conversation between past and present.

– Peter Rachleff is co-executive director emeritus of the East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul.

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Peter Rachleff: Looking for History Day help? Check out the East Side Freedom Library

December 9, 2022 by

Students and mentors worked on History Day projects at the ESFL last year.

The East Side Freedom Library invites the middle and high school students in your families to benefit from our rich resources and our experienced mentors.

National History Day is a great program in which students are challenged to develop a project as an illustration of a theme. Students, individually or in small teams, might take months developing their approach, conducting research and shaping their presentation. They take ownership of presenting their project – on a storyboard, in a paper, in a performance, in a video or via an interactive website. They not only present historical materials, but they must also make an argument about how their topic affected individuals, communities, nations or the world, changing the course of human society.

History Day students not only learn new things about history and learn the value of historical thinking, but they also develop their social skills and self-confidence.

The 2023 theme asks young people to think about how engagement with frontiers – in space, among people and in the emergence of new ideas – has shaped our history, in the U.S. and around the world.

This is a great theme within which they might explore labor activism, racial justice, women’s rights, the impact of GLBTQ+ movements, environmental activism and more. A frontier may be geographical – an area thought to be on the edge of a settlement – or a border between countries or peoples. Ideas can also be presented as frontiers.

Students might explore the work of individuals or organizations who have thought of new ways of organizing human life politically, economically, religiously or socially, and assess the impact of these new ideas. Frontiers are crossed by those who challenge conventional thinking. Students may find inspiration in the stories of those who have challenged traditional boundaries of race, class and gender.

Here’s one great example. In 1920, economist Carter L. Goodrich published “The Frontier of Control: A Study of British Workshop Politics.” At the heart of this book was his argument that every workplace has an invisible line dividing where management’s authority ends and workers’ authority begins.

Goodrich argued that these “frontiers of control” moved from the day shift to the night shift, from days with higher absenteeism (e.g., Mondays and Fridays) to fully staffed days. They moved in response to technological change and innovation, and, above all, in response to workers’ organization, in the workplace itself and, especially, in unions.

Today’s young scholars might use the “frontier of control” as a framework within which they can explore the impacts of computers and robots, the strengths or weaknesses of unions, even such contemporary concerns as “the great resignation” or “Striketober.” The concept is just one great door-opener into the dynamics of the world of labor. National History Day is a wonderful opportunity to introduce students to the rich world of labor history.

The East Side Freedom Library has rich resources available to students for their research projects. Our collections include labor newspapers from the 1930s, documentary videos, recordings of labor songsters, photographs of labor-themed visual art, union buttons and posters, and more.

Perhaps even more importantly, students will also find experienced mentors eager to help them shape their project. Our team of mentors include retired public-school teachers, college professors and college students. For eight years now, we have worked with students in the Twin Cities, some of whom have won recognition in local, statewide and even national competition.

Our mentoring team is on hand, now, every Saturday morning from 10 a.m. to noon. We ask that students make an appointment by emailing info [at] eastsidefreedomlibrary [dot] org, that upon their arrival they show proof of vaccination or a negative test within the previous two days, that they wear a mask and that they observe safety precautions while here.

After their initial mentoring consultation, students will be welcome to come at other times to use our resources, and our mentors will be available for one-on-one conversations, in person or remotely.

If you or your students would like to speak with us, call us at 651-207-4926. We look forward to working with them!

– Peter Rachleff is co-executive director emeritus at the East Side Freedom Library, an independent, nonprofit organization located at 1105 Greenbrier St.

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March events: Expo to connect women with pathways into trades

March 1, 2021 by

Photo by Bre Ana Henry, an apprentice with Ironworkers Local 512.

Women in Construction Week runs from March 7 to 13, and local tradeswomen, in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI), will celebrate with a virtual event showcasing career opportunities available in the unionized trades.

The Women Building Success Info Expo is open to women statewide who are interested in learning more about construction careers. The free event will run from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. March 11, and participants can join by phone, mobile device or a computer with internet access.

The expo will begin with a panel discussion featuring representatives from the DLI, Apprenticeship Minnesota, Building Strong Communities and Women Building Success. Local tradeswomen will share their firsthand experiences with the earn-as-you-learn apprenticeship model and working in the construction industry.

After the panel, guests will connect individually with registered apprenticeship programs and event sponsors using interactive chat or video technology. They can even apply for an apprenticeship on the spot.

Registration is required. Find a link at metroregioninteractive.easyvirtualfair.com.

Labor Education Service rolls out spring courses

Enrollment is open for spring courses offered by the University of Minnesota’s Labor Education Service.

Offerings include “Basic Steward Training” and “Bargaining from Margin to Center,” as well as an abolitionist study group.

Registration is required. Click here to learn more.

History comes alive at the Freedom Library

The nonprofit, independent East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul is a hub of labor-history programming. To receive event notifications in your inbox, sign up for the newsletter.

Of note this month is a March 6 virtual discussion of Donna Haverty-Stacke’s book “The Fierce Life of Grace Holmes Carlson: Catholic, Socialist, Feminist.” It’s part of the ESFL’s History Revealed series, a partnership with the Ramsey County Historical Society.

Additionally, the ESFL is connecting students working on National History Day projects with mentors. To line up a Zoom session, email info [at] eastsidefreedomlibrary [dot] org.

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Union volunteers introduce youth to ice fishing

January 24, 2020 by

Volunteer Mike Rodger (center) of Cement Masons Local 633 shared ice fishing tactics with a pair of young participants. (submitted photo)

Elevator Constructors Local 9 and the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance co-hosted Take Kids Ice Fishing Day last Saturday on frozen Chisago Lake, where dozens of union volunteers introduced more than 75 young anglers to the sport.

“We had a great turnout, and the event went really well,” project leader and Local 9 member Dave Morin said. “It’s awesome to see all these kids getting out to experience ice fishing, some for the first time.”

The event was free for all registered kids, who came from across the Twin Cities metro area to enjoy hands-on ice fishing instruction and access to state-of-the-art fishing gear.

“This is a really cool idea,” said David Brandner of Inver Grove Heights, who brought his son Mason to the event. “You’re getting kids involved in the outdoors, which is wonderful. Plus how many people can say they took their kid fishing and got a free fishing pole?”

At the conclusion of the event, participants received an ice-fishing starter kit, which included a Pure Fishing ice fishing rod and reel, game calls from Plano Synergy and other goodies. Additionally, unions and other sponsors donated over $3,000-worth of door prizes for participants.

“We’re grateful for everyone who put this event together,” said Tony Wilking, a retired U.S. Army veteran who attended with his 6-year-old son, Jack. “Activities like ice fishing are so much better for kids than sitting inside playing video games.”

In addition to Local 9, event sponsors included the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund, IBEW Local 110, Operating Engineers Local 49, Cement Masons Local 633, Pipefitters Local 539, UA Plumbers Local 15, Roofers Local 96 and the Minneapolis and St. Paul Building and Construction Trades councils.

Take Kids Ice Fishing Day is an initiative of the Sportsmen’s Alliance Work Boots on the Ground conservation program, supported by Bass Pro Shops, Plano Synergy, Provost Umphrey Law Firm, Pure Fishing, Remington Arms and the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation. Additional corporate partners included Clam Outdoors, Joe’s Sporting Goods, Maynard’s Tackle, Northland Fishing Tackle and Today’s Tackle.

“My wife is an AFSCME union member and we’re both happy to be out here doing something positive for our community,” Cement Masons Local 633 member Jarrod Asleson said. “This is our second time volunteering at a Union Sportsmen’s Alliance youth ice fishing event, and we’re already looking forward to next year.”

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Women in Construction plan two events this month

October 9, 2018 by

Two events this month will bring together women who work in construction or are considering a career in the Building Trades.

The St. Paul Building and Construction Trades Council will sponsor Women Wear Hardhats! – a networking event for women interested in learning more about the career opportunities available in the union trades – from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17, at the St. Paul Labor Center, 353 W. 7th St.

Organizers promise an “interactive, informational event,” with representatives of local unions and apprenticeship programs taking part in an open panel discussion.

The event is free and open to all. Union representatives interested in participating should RSVP to Tasha Lawrence at 612-709-8240 or tasha.lawrence@metromech.us.

Tradeswomen from several area states will travel to Bloomington Oct. 26-27 for the National Association of Women in Construction’s Midwest Region Fall Conference.

Find information about convention business and registration here.

Read more about efforts to recruit more women for careers in construction – and the challenges they face in the industry – here.

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Drawing closer to union elections, Delta workers plan April 4 rally

March 19, 2018 by

Delta Air Lines is the world’s second-largest carrier and a highly profitable corporation, but its 40,000 baggage handlers and flight attendants do not have a union on the job. Not yet, anyway.

Both groups of Delta employees are organizing with the International Association of Machinists, and the union plans an April 4 rally in St. Paul to show labor and community support for the workers’ organizing drive.

“Delta uses all their friends and allies to defeat unions,” former Delta baggage handler and longtime union activist Kip Hedges said. “We must do the same to win union representation.”

Delta, headquartered in the anti-union South, has a shameful track record of union avoidance going back 80 years. After acquiring Twin Cities-based Northwest Airlines in 2008, Delta management won a series of narrow workplace elections that shed the company of most collective bargaining agreements.

In the fall of 2010, flight attendants voted 51 percent to 49 percent against union representation with the Communications Workers of America. Baggage handlers and passenger service representatives rejected Machinists representation by similarly narrow margins.

Both the CWA and Machinists accused Delta of running an illegal campaign to intimidate and harass its employees into voting “no” – bribing workers, monitoring them with surveillance and meddling in the secret-ballot process. Just weeks before voting began, Delta distributed “bonuses” to non-union staff – a final nail in the coffin for the union drive.

Hedges said the company is up to its old tricks again.

“Workers face a Delta management team that is entrenched in its opposition to unionization and proud of their 80-year record as a non-union carrier,” he said. “Delta regularly tries to narrow the ability of rank and file organizers to reach their coworkers through intimidation and rules that flirt with the edge of federal law.”

Still, Hedges reported a “sharp uptick” in the number of Delta workers signing union cards, a trend driven by “ever-harsher working conditions.” And despite record returns, Delta scaled back its profit-sharing initiative last year, frustrating workers even more.

Organizers hope to file for organizing elections with the National Mediation Board in 2018.

The April 4 rally will feature speakers, food and music beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the St. Paul Labor Center, 353 W. 7th St. Doors will open at 6 p.m.

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‘Women in Construction Week’ begins Monday

February 28, 2018 by

2018wwheaderMinnesota Building Trades unions will join the construction industry in celebrating women workers March 4 to 10. Women in Construction Week will feature series of local networking events, panel discussions, workshops and festivities.

The events are open to tradeswomen, project managers, engineers, estimators, students, designers and anyone interested in learning more about a career in the construction industry.

Of particular interest to union tradeswomen is a discussion Tuesday, March 6, with representatives of several Building Trades unions: “It’s YOUR Union.” The event is hosted by St. Paul Plumbers Local 34, and it will run from 2 to 5 p.m. at the St. Paul Labor Center, 353 W. 7th St. Finger food and drinks will be served.

Women in Construction Week events are free, but some have limited space. To view the events and register, go to www.eventbrite.com and search “WIC week 2018.”

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Union volunteers building Super-sized ice palace in St. Paul (photos)

January 17, 2018 by

Building Trades volunteers are building the city’s most ambitious ice palace in over a decade.

Construction of the 4,000-block, 70-foot tall structure began last week, and it’s on track to wrap up before the St. Paul Winter Carnival begins its 17-day run Jan. 25. Festival organizers anticipate Super Bowl visitors will flock to Rice Park for a look.

As it has in recent years, the St. Paul Building and Construction Trades Council is supplying labor for construction of the Winter Carnival Ice Palace. Most of the work involves unloading, stacking and securing 500-pound blocks of ice, harvested earlier this month from a lake near Spicer, Minn.

Members of several unions will march together in the Winter Carnival’s King Boreas Grande Day Parade. Click here for more information the Jan. 27 festivities.

Dick Kentzelman, a retired Bricklayer, shaves down an ice block – an example of how work on the Winter Carnival palace allows volunteers to step out of their element. “It’s out of the ordinary for anyone in the trades to be using a chainsaw on the jobsite,” longtime volunteer Terry Wong said.
Terry Wong (R) watches an ice block take flight with other volunteers.
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Prominent activist to talk $15, #MeToo with tipped workers in St. Paul

January 16, 2018 by

Saru Jayaraman

A leading voice in the nationwide campaign to improve wages and working conditions for restaurant workers will meet tomorrow with tipped workers fighting for a $15 minimum wage in St. Paul.

In a 7 p.m. presentation at the St. Paul Labor Center, Saru Jayaraman will examine the connection between efforts to raise the minimum wage and the #MeToo movement to stop sexual harassment in the workplace. The event is free and open to the public.

Jayaraman is co-founder of the Restaurant Opportunities Center and director of the University of California-Berkeley’s Food and Labor Research Center. An advocate of one fair wage for hospitality workers, Jayaraman walked the red carpet at the Golden Globes last week with Amy Poehler, one of several actresses who invited #MeToo activists as their guests.

Jayaraman’s visit to St. Paul reflects growing momentum in support of a citywide $15 minimum wage. Minneapolis put a strong $15 ordinance on the books last year, and St. Paul’s newly elected mayor, Melvin Carter, made $15 a rallying cry during his 2017 campaign.

A key question elected officials will face as they craft a minimum-wage ordinance is whether St. Paul, like Minneapolis, should establish one fair wage or carve out a subminimum wage for tipped workers, known as a tip penalty.

Restaurant industry groups fought hard for a tip penalty in Minneapolis, serving up doomsday predictions of layoffs and restaurant closings if servers’ wages increase. The same arguments already are surfacing in St. Paul.

Jayaraman’s work, meanwhile, has exposed the tip penalty’s troubling impact on working conditions in the restaurant industry. Tipped workers in two-tiered minimum wage states experience sexual harassment at nearly double the rate of their counterparts in states like Minnesota with no subminimum wage.

Learn more about the Jan. 17 event, RSVP and invite others to attend on Facebook. The St. Paul Labor Center is located at 353 West 7th Street.

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Teachers look beyond ‘cookie-cutter’ signs and banners with community art build

November 8, 2017 by

A flier for the community art build shows some of the artist-submitted designs volunteers will screen print this weekend.

Teachers in St. Paul are throwing out the playbook in contract negotiations with the district this year.

Banners, signs and posters in the union’s storage closet are on the way out, too.

Educators, parents, students and community stakeholders will work together on new, artist-designed signs and banners this weekend at a “community art build” co-hosted by the St. Paul Federation of Teachers and its sister local in Minneapolis. Organizers hope the event will provide momentum – and unique visuals – for contract campaigns on both sides of the Mississippi.

The public is welcome to participate in the art build, which will take place Friday afternoon through Sunday at the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers’ offices, 67 Eighth Ave. NE, Minneapolis. (View the event page on Facebook to learn more or sign up for a shift.)

Shortly after the school year began, SPFT and MFT put out a call to local artists seeking designs that would evoke support for public education. A committee of educators selected a handful of submissions, which volunteers this weekend will screen print onto signs and paint on large banners – and even a parachute, for those looking down on a rally from above.

Sam Yelk, an art teacher at Linwood Monroe Arts Plus school in St. Paul, served on the committee. He said the submissions, particularly from student artists, left him “impressed and pleasantly surprised.”

“In a class of 28 sixth-graders, there might be 28 different ideas,” Yelk said. “Any time I’ve given an assignment to students, whatever the level, they always come back with such powerful imagery and ideas. It’s a breath of fresh air.”

Such creativity is in keeping with the spirit of SPFT’s groundbreaking contract campaign.

Rather than focusing on wages, benefits and work rules, St. Paul teachers want the district to partner with their union in pressuring corporations and large, tax-exempt organizations to pay their fair share toward closing a projected budget shortfall of $27 million.

“We have a different set of proposals than have really ever been put forth before,” SPFT organizer Mike Asmus said. “We’re trying to facilitate a conversation that’s different, and the art build gives us an opportunity to make something different from the cookie-cutter signs and banners you normally see at union rallies.”

The idea stems from an event held by public school teachers in Milwaukee last year, and at least one Milwaukee teacher will travel to Minneapolis to share advice and show solidarity.

Yelk said he envisions a powerful, positive event that brings together families who share a belief in the promise of public schools.

“We’ll be there to have fun and to express our shared hopes,” he said. “This is what’s right for our families and our students; this is what we should be doing.”

“It’s a bunch of people getting together to do artwork. I’ve never seen that turn into a brawl.”

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