Union members at No Kings: ‘We have to show solidarity’

October 20, 2025 by

Union members gather outside the United Labor Centre in Minneapolis before walking together to “No Kings.”

At “No Kings” demonstrations across the state Saturday, Minnesotans turned their individual anger over the alarming, anti-democratic trajectory of President Donald Trump’s second term into a collective display of strength, unity and hope.

Many labor unions endorsed “No Kings” events both here and across all 50 states.

The Minnesota AFL-CIO, the state’s largest labor federation, teamed with three other groups to organize the peaceful march in Minneapolis that saw thousands clog downtown streets for several blocks Saturday afternoon.

Union members who joined the march cited a wide range of motivating factors. But they agreed that “No Kings” was an opportunity to leverage the power of solidarity against Trump’s far-reaching attacks – on federal workers and their unions, on democracy and the rule of law, on immigrants, on public services, on the LGBTQ+ community and more.

“I could keep going and going,” Education Minnesota Local 2209 member Beth Kowski laughed after beginning to list the concerns that inspired her to march Saturday.

Beth Kowski (L) and Education Minnesota retiree Marsh Jarvela.

Kowski, and educator in Intermediate District 287, joined a pre-march meetup for union members at the United Labor Centre in Minneapolis. After a brief rally, union members walked to “No Kings” together, forming a labor contingent of about 200.

“Unions have a collective power and voice that is crucial at this juncture,” Kowski said. “We have to be together and be firm in our conviction. Silence is complicity.”

AFSCME Local 2864 President Amanda Gustafson, who marched with fellow Hennepin County employees, agreed.

“We have to show solidarity with people who are seeing everything fall apart right now,” Gustafson said. “We see all of the communities that are being attacked, and many of us (in unions) are people who are members of those communities as well.”

That includes union members in the federal workforce. Trump has been attacking their jobs, their union rights and the services they deliver since January.

For Miranda Kiwelu, a program support assistant at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis, seeing so many people reject Trump’s agenda at “No Kings” felt “amazing.”

“We definitely have support, but I don’t know that federal employees feel that way now because it’s been nonstop attacks left and right,” said Kiwelu, a member of American Federation of Government Employees Local 1969 who serves as a young-worker coordinator for AFGE District 8.

Union members cross the Third Street bridge together on their way to “No Kings” in Minneapolis.

“No Kings” took place on the 18th day of a government shutdown, which the Trump administration has used as an excuse to continue its attempts – illegally, according to AFGE and several courts – to slash federal payrolls, redirect spending authorized by Congress and inflict pain on Kiwelu and other federal employees.

“By the time this is done, we’re going to have 1.3 million federal employees out of a job or impacted,” she said.

But in extending the shutdown, Trump and Republicans who control Congress are also refusing to address steep cuts to Medicaid and to subsidies that keep health coverage affordable on public exchanges like MNsure.

Health care workers like SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa member Viktor Solberg said they were marching at “No Kings” for themselves and the people who rely on them for care.

“It’s not just our jobs, it’s the ability of our clients to live their lives,” said Solberg, who provides in-home care funded by Medicaid.

“Health care is being cut by billions, and we can’t stand for that,” pharmacy tech Kyle Johnson, also an SEIU member, added. “We’re standing up for our profession and the community at large.”

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

Filed Under: Labor Voices, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hotel workers planning May Day march: ‘One job should be enough’

April 25, 2019 by

Ade Adigoun (L) and Jose Maquin

Last fall, nearly 8,000 Marriott workers in eight cities carried out the largest hotel strike in U.S. history. After two months on the picket lines, UNITE HERE members declared victory, ratifying new contracts that raised wages by as much as $4 an hour and established new protections against sexual harassment and assault on the job.

Marriott workers’ rallying cry – “One job should be enough!” – captured the struggle many families face to maintain healthy work-life balance. Wages aren’t keeping up with rising rents, health care costs and other expenses in many parts of the country, especially urban areas.

Now the slogan has been adopted by hotel workers in the Twin Cities, where 1,200 members of UNITE HERE Local 17 are bargaining contracts with eight hotels this spring. The union will mobilize hundreds of members and supporters for a march through the streets of downtown Minneapolis on International Workers’ Day, May 1, beginning at 4:30 p.m. in Peavey Plaza. (Click here for more information.)

In interviews, two hotel workers leading the contract campaign explained what’s at stake in this round of negotiations – and shared their experiences trying to survive on one job in our community. Jose Maquin of south Minneapolis has over 10 years’ experience working in hotels, most recently in room service at Hotel Ivy. Ade Adigoun of St. Louis Park has worked as a housekeeper at the Millennium Hotel for the last 15 years. Their remarks have been edited lightly for length and clarity.

UA: What issues are most important to you in this round of contract negotiations?

JM: Not so much my department, but housekeeping. Ninety percent of housekeepers are minorities or immigrants. They are the most vulnerable group of employees in a hotel. They work hard; I see that every day. And I see that they are shy, they are quiet and they don’t always feel comfortable speaking up when they are hurt or feel unsafe. And they often work paycheck to paycheck. I feel we need to stick together.

UA: What improvements are you seeking?

JM: Wages. The minimum wage is going up, and that is good. But I feel like housekeepers should earn higher than just the minimum. I make the minimum, and I’m OK with that because I get tips. Unfortunately, I don’t think people who stay at hotels think they should tip their housekeeper. Sometimes they do, but housekeepers should be compensated better.

UA: The slogan of the May 1 march is “One job should be enough.” How hard is it for you and your co-workers to survive on one hotel job alone?

AA: People are doing two jobs because the hotels are not paying enough money. I’ve been working at Millennium for 15 years, and I still only make $15 an hour. It’s not enough; I’ve looked for a second job. People need to make $20, $25 an hour or more.

JM: I have two jobs. I have a baby with my wife. She works, and she just got a second job. We had to. It’s hard to survive without a second job. So when I hear “one job should be enough” – I wish that would be the case. If I’m absent from home because I have to work to survive, then I don’t have as much quality time with my baby.

When you think about it, there are so many social issues that arise because we are not able to spend time with our children, because we have to work a second shift. Otherwise, we won’t be able to eat or pay the mortgage or rent.

UA: As a union, you’ve reached out to workers in other unions for support. Why is that important?

AA: We have a lot of other union groups who want to support us, people who fight for good employment, good wages. We tell everyone, don’t just bring yourself. Bring your friends, your wife, your boyfriend, your kids – everyone who can walk.

JM: An issue like fair wages, it doesn’t affect just us. It affects everybody. As workers, we need to support each other in order to accomplish anything we want to accomplish.

UA: This is the highest-profile contract campaign at Twin Cities hotels in at least a decade. Is there a sense of urgency?

AA: In a day, we might make $100. But every day one housekeeper makes $3,000 for the hotel. You give me $100 out of $3,000 or more? That’s cheating. We want to eat a little of their cake…

JM: The hotels are making record profits. They have a lot of money. If we don’t ask them to share it with us, to give us a little part of the pie, they won’t.

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

Call to end poverty wages rings out from Black Friday protests in Twin Cities

November 29, 2013 by
Carrying a banner that read "End Poverty Wages in Minnesota," demonstrators march past the Midway Walmart's entrance in St. Paul on Black Friday.

Carrying a banner that read “End Poverty Wages in Minnesota,” demonstrators march past the Midway Walmart’s entrance in St. Paul on Black Friday.

Hundreds of people flocked to the Midway Walmart in St. Paul today, but it wasn’t deep discounts or door-buster deals they wanted. It was justice for workers who make the holiday season happen.

Members of the non-union worker group CTUL who clean area retail stores march in St. Paul. They picketed outside Target in Minneapolis earlier in the day.

Members of the non-union worker group CTUL who clean area retail stores march in St. Paul. They picketed outside Target in Minneapolis earlier in the day.

Black Friday protests in the Twin Cities took on a renewed vigor this year, as activists from labor, faith and community groups capped off a week of demonstrations calling out low-wage employers like Walmart and Target – and building momentum for a legislative push to raise the state’s minimum wage.

The protests began early this morning, when janitors who clean Target stores throughout the metro area went on strike. Picketing outside the company’s flagship store downtown Minneapolis drew more than 100 supporters.

The action then shifted to University Avenue in St. Paul. Demonstrators marched past Target and Walmart stores on their way to the Snelling Avenue intersection. As hundreds of supporters cheered from the sidewalk, 26 people linked arms and sat down in the middle of the intersection. They were arrested, one by one, in acts of civil disobedience.

Organizers estimated turnout for the march was 1,000 people. St. Paul Police shut down several blocks of University, Snelling and other streets to accommodate the large crowd.

Walmart worker Mike Ahles (green shirt), who was disciplined by the company for participating in a strike earlier this year, prepares to take part in an act of civil disobedience.

Walmart worker Mike Ahles (green shirt), who was disciplined by the company for participating in a strike earlier this year, prepares to take part in an act of civil disobedience.

Jessica English, a single mother and member of TakeAction Minnesota, was among those arrested for civil disobedience.

“I worked 15 years for poverty wages,” English said, adding that she and her child recently found themselves homeless. “I’m here today to fight to make sure that doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

“These are the workers who make the holidays happen,” TakeAction member Cliff Martin said. “We fight in solidarity today to say no to poverty wages … and to say yes to dignity, yes to a living wage and yes to justice.”

The Target strike, organized by supporters of the non-union worker center CTUL, is the third walkout cleaning workers have staged in the last year.

“We hope it’s the last one, so they give us fair wages for our families,” said Enrique Barcenas, an employee of Prestige Maintenance who earns $8 per hour cleaning the Apple Valley Target.

He said 63 workers from 40 stores committed to participating in the one-day strike.

The workers are not employed by Target, but by several different cleaning contractors like Prestige. Barcenas said the contractors in recent years have driven down wages and increased workloads in an effort to win the “race to the bottom” for contracts with Target and other retailers.

“People made $10 or $12 per hour before, with six people cleaning each store,” Barcenas said. “But our wages have gone down, while our workload has gone up. That’s why we’ve been organizing for the last three years.”

Other highlights from the week of action include:

web.BlackFriday-scene

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

Time is now, marchers say, for House to pass immigration reform

October 5, 2013 by
Supporters of immigration reform march from the Basilica to Government Plaza downtown Minneapolis.

Supporters of immigration reform march from the Basilica to Government Plaza downtown Minneapolis.

Supporters of comprehensive immigration reform clogged the streets of downtown Minneapolis today, joining a “National Day of Action for Dignity and Respect” and amplifying the call for Congress to fix the nation’s broken immigration system.

More than 1,000 people – a crowd heavy on families and children – marched from the Basilica of St. Mary to the plaza outside the Hennepin County Government Center. They carried signs and flags, and put up calls of “Si se puede!” and the mantra of the day, “The time is now.”

Members of District Council 82 of the Painters and Allied Trades and their families march together, wearing black union T-shirts.

Members of District Council 82 of the Painters and Allied Trades and their families march together, wearing black union T-shirts.

Pockets of union members were scattered throughout the crowd, including about 100 members of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 82 and their families, who marched behind their union’s banner.

“We’re here to represent our union – not just members but their families,” Painters organizer Francisco Altamirano said. “It’s a family movement. It’s about human rights and keeping families together. That’s why we need to support immigration reform.”

The Service Employees International Union, the United Food and Commercial Workers, UNITE HERE and Education Minnesota also were well represented, and the Minnesota AFL-CIO and regional labor federations from St. Paul and Minneapolis provided logistical support.

The march opened with a prayer vigil, led by diverse collection of religious leaders, on the Basilica steps. It culminated with a rally in Government Plaza. Javier Morillo, president of SEIU Local 26, co-emceed the rally, noting wryly that it was a rare event when he shared the stage with someone from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

Immigration reform, though, has support from “a broad group of Minnesota business owners,” Chamber Vice President Bill Blazar told the crowd. The reason, he said, boils down to two words: the economy.

“Minnesota’s economy needs the contribution that immigrants make,” both as workers and as entrepreneurs, Balazar said.

“It is time for all workers to be treated equally under the law,” Minnesota AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Steve Hunter said. Workers are entitled to a safe workplace, wage-and-hour protections and collective-bargaining rights regardless of their immigration status, Hunter added.

Reform efforts have bipartisan support in Congress, and the Senate has passed a bill to modernize the country’s immigration system. The House will do the same only if members hear from their constituents.

“We need people to move a mountain,” said UFCW Local 1161 President Mike Potter, “and we’ve got a mountain to move in Washington, D.C.”

Click here to contact your representative in Congress, and tell them to support comprehensive immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship!

web.CIRmarch-kid-scene

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

Day of Action for immigration reform planned Oct. 5

September 27, 2013 by

immigration-logoThe U.S. immigration system is broken, and both new American immigrants and American-born workers are suffering the consequences.

On Oct. 5, supporters of comprehensive immigration reform will take part in a National Day for Dignity and Respect, with events in more than 40 cities nationwide.

Locally, activists will gather at 12:30 p.m. at the Basilica of St. Mary, 88 N. 17th St., Minneapolis, for an interfaith prayer service, followed by a 1 p.m. march.

The event is being sponsored by the Minnesota chapter of the Alliance for Citizenship, a diverse coalition of that includes members of Minnesota’s faith, business, labor, law enforcement and immigrant communities.

The Oct. 5 events, organizers say, are intended to pressure Congress to take a vote on immigration reform, including a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers already in the country.

For more information on the National Day for Dignity and Respect, go to ilcm.org.

Filed Under: Union Events Tagged With: , ,