The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
Two years ago, Congress opened the door for troubled pension funds to cut retirees’ benefits, after Rep. John Kline slipped the provision into a must-pass bill keeping the federal government open. Now, with Congress poised to pass a similar stopgap bill, Kline is back with another “pension reform” bill, and it’s just as bad […]
They fended off drastic cuts to their pension benefits earlier this year, but Teamsters retirees aren’t resting on their laurels. Instead, they are organizing to stop a new bill gaining momentum in Congress that would weaken, rather than strengthen, the funding of defined-benefit pension plans. It’s known in Washington as the “composite bill,” and retirees […]
I’m not much into political candidates. Maybe it’s because I was born in Chicago, where the party was the important thing. I was living in Illinois the first year I could vote. I just pulled the lever at the top for the Democratic ticket. In 1967 and early ’68, I volunteered for Gene McCarthy’s presidential […]
Looking to combat popular myths and widespread misinformation surrounding Social Security and Medicare, the Minnesota State Retiree Council, AFL-CIO, is bringing a presentation on the federal safety-net programs to churches, union halls and civic centers across the state this election year. Tom Beer, president of the retiree council in Minneapolis, said the presentations are designed […]
Barry ZeVan – “the weatherman” to television viewers in Minnesota and across the country – has written a memoir that looks back on his career in broadcasting and show business, and he’s donating a share of proceeds from the book to two union charities. The 78-year-old ZeVan self-published “My Life Among the Giants” earlier this […]
As Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and other presidential hopefuls wooed party leaders in Minneapolis during the Democratic National Committee meetings last weekend, local worker and retiree groups mobilized inside and outside the event, looking to push their concerns to the forefront of the 2016 campaign. On Friday, activists with 15Now Minnesota rallied for a […]
“GOP tightens grip on white working class,” read the headline on an Oct. 31 Wall Street Journal story datelined Aitkin, Minn. The story reported how Democrats have been losing their hold on rural Congressional districts with largely white populations, where incomes lag the national average and college graduates are relatively sparse. The authors quoted men […]
Doors to the Social Security Administration’s field office in Minneapolis were locked at 3 p.m. yesterday, and they could stay locked permanently – in Minneapolis and at field offices across the country – if the federal agency gets its way. That’s the warning sounded by federal workers rallying on the street outside the Chicago Avenue office […]
The Minnesota State Retiree Council, AFL-CIO, will hold its Eleventh Annual Fund Raiser from 2 to 6 p.m. May 3 at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 10 Hall, 1681 Cope Ave., in Maplewood. Admission is free, and there will be free food, free parking and music. This is not an occasion for retirees only. Rather, […]
Addressing a roomful of union retirees in Maplewood today, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton recounted his morning meeting with members of Laborers Local 563 who are on strike, fighting to ensure a secure retirement of their own. Dayton’s remarks to the Minnesota State Retiree Council’s 17th convention came on the heels of a dialogue with workers […]
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