It’s a bonding year, but a record budget surplus and unspent federal pandemic relief funds could allow for more broad spending measures, including long-delayed compensation for frontline workers.
As session begins, Minnesota unions see opportunity for investments in infrastructure, frontline workers
January 31, 2022 by
Kera Peterson: Political action critical to defending our basic freedoms
April 27, 2018 by
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.
Ken Peterson: Safety legislation offers lesson in policy over party
April 26, 2018 by
April 28 is Workers Memorial Day, meant to remember those who were killed at work and to advocate for improved worker safety and health. The day is also a useful reminder that elected representatives don’t need to be locked in acrimony and positional politics and that they can help. Though the pain is great with […]
Candidates for governor vie for labor support at state AFL-CIO forum
February 16, 2018 by
The four DFLers were united in opposing right-to-work legislation and supporting union organizing and collective bargaining.
Richard Trumka: The choice we face Nov. 4
October 23, 2014 by
Almost no one in America is satisfied with the imbalance of our economy. We’re working harder and harder for less and less. This isn’t a partisan opinion. All across this country, in poll after poll after poll, we hear self-described Democrats, independents and Republicans say, “We want an economy that works for everyone, not just […]
Bobby Kasper: A successful session – with room for improvement
May 30, 2013 by
We here at the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation entered this session with high hopes. Having claimed the state-government trifecta – pro-worker majorities the House and Senate, as well as a pro-labor governor – for the first time in more than two decades, we believed that with some hard work lobbying and some help from […]
State’s transportation needs can’t wait, coalition warns
April 24, 2013 by
Support for transportation and transit investments among state lawmakers this session appears lukewarm at best, and that baffles Rep. Alice Hausman. “With all the grumbling and complaining about roads and potholes, you wouldn’t think funding transportation would be this hard,” the DFLer from St. Paul said. Hausman, who chairs the House Capital Investment Committee, joined […]
Union agenda includes minimum-wage hike, privacy protections for Minnesota workers
January 29, 2013 by
Emboldened by victories won at the polls in November, the state’s largest labor federation will push an ambitious legislative agenda that calls for hiking the state’s minimum wage, extending unemployment benefits for locked-out workers and expanding the freedoms and protections Minnesotans enjoy in the workplace. The Minnesota AFL-CIO, which represents more than 1,000 affiliate unions […]
Letter to the Editor: Bachmann isn’t invincible
November 29, 2012 by
Election night was a great night for Democrats across Minnesota, with the exception of three congressional races. Three Republican incumbents won re-election to the U.S. House, including Michele Bachmann in the 6th District. To say that Congresswoman Bachmann is a polarizing figure in American politics is an understatement. Bachmann is so extreme that the GOP leadership […]
Labor 2012: Minnesota unions celebrate clean sweep of top priorities
November 7, 2012 by
Minnesota unions achieved a clean sweep of their top priorities for the Nov. 6 election, as voters elected pro-labor majorities to the Legislature, tossed a Tea Party incumbent out of office in the 8th Congressional District and rejected a pair of constitutional amendments opposed by labor. It was a resounding victory for the Labor 2012 […]
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