IUE-CWA members shine light on Walmart’s role in offshoring good jobs

Walmart’s supplier of LED light bulbs has announced plans to shift production to China, a move that will cost some 80 members of IUE-CWA Local 84704 in Bucyrus, Ohio, their jobs. The GE-Savant plant has had a presence in the Ohio community for nearly a century, and union members aren’t going down without a fight. They’ve […]

#NAW2016: Apprenticeship helps MN manufacturers boost skills, stay competitive

  About 85 percent of registered apprentices in Minnesota are employed in the construction trades, but federal grant funds are helping more of the state’s manufacturers harness the power of apprenticeship to boost their employees’ skills – and remain competitive in a global economy. Hood Packaging is among a growing number of firms taking advantage […]

Public finally gets a look at TPP – and it isn’t pretty

Labor, environmental and other fair-trade activists are getting their first look at the Tran-Pacific Partnership, released to the public overnight. Their initial reaction? It’s worse than expected. “It’s absolutely not a progressive trade deal,” Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition director Kaela Berg said after an early analysis of the text. “It’s clear that TPP will perpetuate […]

Franken takes the lead in Senate effort to sway Trans-Pacific trade negotiations

As negotiations on the latest U.S.-backed free-trade agreement resumed in Australia this week, U.S. Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota led a bipartisan appeal to President Obama, urging his administration to craft an deal that protects American jobs and workers’ rights worldwide. Franken, a DFLer, joined Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine in authoring a letter […]