Labor federation looks to put union members on ‘Path to Power’

Lynn Barten stood up in a conference room Sunday morning in St. Paul and gave a stump speech for a campaign she isn’t running – not yet, anyway – before a roomful of people who couldn’t vote for her anyway. Barten, an AFSCME member from Alexandria, was one of more than 70 people who enrolled […]

SEIU home care workers reach tentative agreement with state

Five months after their historic vote to form a union, home health care workers represented by SEIU Healthcare Minnesota today announced they have reached a tentative agreement on a first contract with the State of Minnesota. The agreement includes several gains for the new bargaining unit of 27,000 workers in publicly funded home care programs […]

Minnesota state, local taxes fairer than most, report finds

Minnesota’s tax structure is among the fairest in the country, according to the results of an annual analysis of state and local tax systems released today by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The report, “Who Pays,” looks at how states generate tax revenue – and how much it costs taxpayers at different […]

Move MN pitches 10-year plan to fund needed transportation improvements

Unions joined businesses, non-profits and local governments today in unveiling a 10-year plan to finance improvements to the state’s highways, bridges and transit systems. Gov. Mark Dayton and legislative leaders have said transportation will be a top priority during the 2015 session. Move MN, a broad-based, transportation-focused coalition of more than 200 groups, jumped right […]

Forum to consider East Metro’s transportation issues

What can East Metro residents do to increase their access to effective transportation, and what should lawmakers do about the issue when the Legislature convenes in next year? That’s the topic of a free, public program in Oakdale next month. What: “Getting There from Here: Transportation Challenges in the East Metro When: 7 to 8:30 […]

A governor who will ‘go all Scott Walker’ on Minnesota? No thanks, unions say

Jeff Johnson, the Republican nominee for governor, doesn’t have much executive experience, but the former state legislator provided a glimpse of his leadership style May 15, telling a Tea Party group he would “go all Scott Walker on Minnesota” if elected. “I don’t know exactly what that means,” Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson responded, “but […]

Income on the rise in Dayton’s Minnesota, falling in Walker’s Wisconsin

Jeff Johnson, the Republican nominee for governor, provided a glimpse of his leadership style May 15, telling a Tea Party group he would “go all Scott Walker on Minnesota” if elected Nov. 4. So what is it about Walker’s Wisconsin that Johnson believes is worth replicating? To answer that question – and to get a […]

As Election Day nears, unions join rally to get Minnesotans to the polls

The two candidates atop the DFL ticket this election year know better than most the importance of getting out the vote, the theme of a rally staged by the party today outside the Minnesota Capitol. Four years ago Gov. Mark Dayton “won by a large, large margin as far as I’m concerned – 8,800 (votes),” […]

Dayton: Allegations of union payback ‘reckless, irresponsible and wrong’

BLOOMINGTON – Addressing 500-plus union activists dressed in T-shirts bearing his likeness, Gov. Mark Dayton took direct aim Saturday at accusations that his support for a new law extending collective bargaining rights to child care providers and home care workers amounts to “payback” for unions’ backing. Dayton called those allegations – a preferred talking point […]

Report: No earned sick time for 41 percent of Minnesota workers

Four in 10 Minnesota workers face a choice between showing up for work sick and forfeiting a day’s pay. What’s more troubling, most of the 1.1 million Minnesotans who lack access to earned sick time off work in low-wage jobs. Those are among the findings of a report on earned sick time benefits, released today […]