The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
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 […]
We are at another crossroad. The Minnesota labor movement holds its destiny in its own hands. In 2012 we ran one of the most successful political programs in the country. We took back the Minnesota House and Senate. We took back seats that our own polling said it was highly unlikely we would win. As […]
Labor Day marks more than just the end of summer. It’s a celebration of American workers and the contributions they make to the strength, prosperity and economic well-being of our country. This Labor Day, the continued need for sustainable, living wage jobs is first and foremost on my mind. As a state legislator, the decisions […]
Home health care workers in Minnesota have spoken, and they voted decisively to form a union, the state’s Bureau of Mediation Services announced yesterday. Now the fight to improve the lives of home care workers and the people they serve shifts from the organizing field to the negotiation table – and back to the State […]
On the 94th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the U.S., a panel of three state lawmakers from the East Metro discussed the gains women workers in Minnesota made with passage of the Women’s Economic Security Act this year – and the work for equality that remains to be done. Sen. Sandy Pappas of St. Paul, […]
From TV ads to robocalls, technology has changed the way political campaigns communicate with voters, but the most effective form of voter contact remains the same: one-on-one conversations. That’s the guiding principle for Labor 2014, the statewide push to get union members to the polls in support of labor-endorsed candidates up and down the Nov. […]
ROCHESTER – With two new stadiums in the works and $1 billion in new state infrastructure investments – as well as jobs-creating regional improvements like the Destination Medical Center here – the Building Trades unions in Minnesota are riding a wave of momentum. That momentum is at stake in elections up and down the Nov. […]
Minnesota has an urgent transportation problem that’s making it difficult for Minnesotans to get to their next destination, whether that’s work, school, play or family. Transportation is about opportunity for all no matter who you are or where you live. Workers need safer roads and better public transit to get to work. Our seniors need […]
The state’s largest labor federation, the Minnesota AFL-CIO, added to its list of endorsed candidates for state and federal offices yesterday, as Labor’s 2014 political push continued to take shape locally. Most notably, the Minnesota AFL-CIO backed 55 DFLers running for the Minnesota House of Representatives. The DFL Party will look to defend its 12-seat […]
The $1 billion package of public infrastructure investments approved by state lawmakers earlier this year includes $250,000 for a mural and other improvements that will complete the Minnesota Workers Memorial Garden in St. Paul. Construction of the memorial, located near the intersection of 12th and Cedar in the southeast corner of the Capitol grounds, wrapped […]
Union Advocate 