With pension and bonding bills, Dayton saves best for last

Dayton has “firmly cemented his legacy as a champion for working people,” Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy said.

Kera Peterson: Political action critical to defending our basic freedoms

We are strongest when we come together in union. This November, voters will be asked to choose between candidates who support this basic freedom and those who don’t.

Construction jobs get bipartisan support at Capitol rally

Gov. Dayton touted his proposed $1.5 billion public works bill. Republicans pledged to shift mining and pipeline projects out of neutral.

Builders past, present honored for work on Minnesota’s Capitol

Renee Gisch brought her grandchildren to the Capitol so they could see the restoration work she and hundreds of other tradespeople did over the last four years. Nearby, Daniel Reibestein and his mother, Donna, paid tribute to the work his great grandfather put into the landmark building’s original construction more than a century ago. Construction […]

Transit operators, riders urge Dayton to stand strong against cuts

Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed a transportation bill Monday that would have slashed funding for Metro Transit bus and rail services by $17.5 million over the next two years. Transit riders and operators cheered the governor’s veto at a rally Tuesday outside the Capitol, urging Dayton to continue standing firm against service cuts and fare hikes. […]

On annual service day, union plumbers provide $70,000 in service, repairs

Volunteer plumbers provided an estimated $70,000 worth of service and repairs to senior, low-income and disabled homeowners in Minnesota during their unions’ annual Water’s Off day of service March 25. The program, begun in 1994, is a joint effort sponsored annually by Minnesota plumbers’ unions and their contractors to give back to the community – […]

Home care union, state reach tentative agreement on new contract

After negotiations that took nearly four months to conclude, home care workers are poised to vote on a tentative agreement for a new union contract with the State of Minnesota that would raise their wage floor from $11 to $13. The home care workers’ union, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, announced the tentative agreement in a press […]

‘Minnesotans are the losers’ when divided Legislature plays politics with transportation

Republicans and Democrats rarely agree, but when the Minnesota Legislature convened in January 2015, leaders of the GOP House and the DFL Senate were sounding an awful lot alike. It was time to address the state’s transportation needs, they agreed. And the state could not afford to wait. Nearly two years later, Minnesotans are still […]

On 37th day of strike, nurses reach tentative agreement with Allina Health

Striking nurses will take down picket lines outside five Twin Cities facilities tonight after their bargaining team reached a tentative agreement with Allina Health on a three-year contract early this morning. Nurses will take a ratification vote Thursday. Their approval would trigger a separate agreement, also reached during overnight talks hosted by Gov. Mark Dayton […]

Volunteer Pipefitters keep heat on for area low-income, elderly homeowners

Volunteer members of St. Paul-based Pipefitters Local 455 serviced and repaired furnaces free of charge to disabled, elderly and low-income homeowners in the Twin Cities area Saturday during their annual HEAT’S ON day of service. The volunteer effort drew 51 volunteer members of Local 455, as well as other Pipefitter locals in Minnesota. Union contractors, […]