Kera Peterson: Organizing surge shows what’s possible at the polls

August 30, 2022 by

Kera Peterson, shown speaking at a union rally in the Chisago Lakes School District, is president of the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation.

We’ve all seen the headlines: From Amazon warehouses to hospitals and clinics, from bookstores to coffee shops, we are in the midst of a historic upswing of labor organizing. Working people in Minnesota and across the country are coming together to fight for better wages, safer workspaces, and dignity and respect on the job. And they are looking to our unions for solidarity and support in that fight.

Unions are more popular this Labor Day than they have been in the past 50 years. We have seen a surge in U.S. workers looking to exercise their freedom to stand together in unions, driving up the number of petitions filed at the National Labor Relations Board by 69% compared to last year.

And more often than not, those NLRB elections are going workers’ way here in Minnesota. Our state’s union density – the share of union members in the total workforce – has increased in each of the last two years, bucking a national trend. More than 16% of Minnesota workers are union members. We are 416,000 members strong and growing!

This momentum is exciting and inspiring. It is also the product of decades of worker frustration, driven by low wages, unsafe workplaces, unaffordable health care, and a lack of respect and dignity on the job. When we join together in union as workers, we have the opportunity to make better lives for ourselves and our families. Our unions help ensure safer workplaces, and our union contracts help build a stronger and more fair economy by raising standards for all workers, whether they are union members or not.

But working people are also looking to the labor movement to restore balance to our economy, which for too long has been stacked in favor of corporations and the wealthy.

Corporate special interests have lobbied successfully for massive tax breaks and deregulation, while financing legal attacks on workers’ rights and protections. Companies like Amazon pit states and municipalities against each other for public subsidies and incentives, while avoiding billions in federal taxes. Meanwhile, working families paying their fair share in taxes have seen the cost of health care, child care and energy cut deeper into their paychecks. Sometimes it feels like the deck has been stacked against us, and in many ways it has.

As a labor movement, it’s imperative that we take the same momentum driving this surge in workplace organizing and use it to mobilize union members to get to the polls and vote in our General Election on or before Nov. 8. The progress that we’ve fought for and our future and freedom as workers are on the ballot this fall. Only the power of organized labor can combat the power of organized money, corporate special interests and the billionaire CEOs who aggressively attack our fundamental freedom to have a voice on the job.

We’re excited to take on that work here at the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation. Between now and Election Day, union volunteers will be reaching out to fellow union members on the phone and at the doorstep to connect about what’s at stake in this election and which candidates share our values. Our federation will coordinate dozens of phone banks and door knocks – opportunities for union members and retirees to make a real difference this election cycle.

We’ll never outspend the corporations and billionaires, but we can always outwork them. Organizing gives us a chance to have our voices heard and to call out the powerful, both at work and at the ballot box. Together, we can help elect pro-worker candidates who support our freedoms to join a union, to earn a good living, to access affordable health care and to vote for our representatives in free and fair elections. I hope you’ll join me in this work.

– Kera Peterson is president of the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. The SPRLF unites over 50,000 union members who live and work in Chisago, Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties. Learn more about the federation, its endorsed candidates and how to volunteer with the Labor 2022 campaign at stpaulunions.org.

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Labor Bowl fundraiser nets $14,000 for AFL-CIO Community Services program

May 17, 2012 by

Click to view a photo gallery from Labor Bowl 2012.

The St. Paul Regional Labor Federation’s annual Labor Bowl event May 3 raised more than $14,000 raised for the St. Paul Labor Studies and Resource Center, making it the most successful Labor Bowl the Regional Labor Federation has ever hosted.

The bowling fundraiser at Midway Pro Bowl in St. Paul drew 16 teams. Sponsors included local unions, labor federations and area businesses.

View team photos in the Labor Bowl photo gallery.

The Labor Studies and Resource Center is the non-profit arm of the St. Paul RLF. The LSRC’s primary venture is the AFL-CIO Community Services Program, which provides direct assistance to union members facing financial or other crises.

This year’s Labor Bowl winners, who received gift certificates to Mancini’s, include Caleb Bain (high game), Kerry Wenger (two-game high) and Uriel Perez Espinoza (low game). Frank Loeffler won a raffle for Twins tickets.

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Union reaches tentative agreement with The Saint Paul Hotel

May 9, 2012 by

The Saint Paul Hotel became the target of several union demonstrations as negotiations with UNITE HERE Local 17 stalled last winter.

After six months of unusually bitter contract negotiations, union workers at The Saint Paul Hotel will vote May 17 on a tentative agreement with the company on a new three-year contract.

Leaders of UNITE HERE Local 17, the union that represents about 170 workers at the downtown hotel, are recommending members vote to accept the tentative agreement. Local 17 President Nancy Goldman would not comment on details, but said the agreement includes “everything we asked for and more.”

The union’s previous contract with The Saint Paul Hotel expired Dec. 1, 2011.

Local 17 has represented the hotel’s workers since 1984, but when contract talks began last November, management surprised union negotiators by insisting on steep concessions from the hotel’s workers.

According to Goldman, the company sought to dramatically decrease its contribution to workers’ health insurance and pension benefits. Management also proposed rolling back new employees’ wages by as much as $8 per hour.

While The Saint Paul Hotel insisted on concessions, it never pleaded poverty in negotiations, Goldman said.

“We have never had this sort of dispute go on (at The Saint Paul Hotel), and there was absolutely no need for it,” she said. “Management never claimed to have an economic problem. I asked them outright, ‘Is it because you can’t afford it?’ and they said no.”

With negotiations deadlocked, Local 17 ratcheted up public pressure on the high-profile hotel, mobilizing a network of supporters throughout the community that included labor federations, progressive groups and faith-based organizations.

Twice over the winter, the union turned out dozens of people for informational picketing outside the hotel. Supporters also called and e-mailed management to voice their disgust.

Goldman said the public response forced hotel negotiators to “come off their position” of demanding concessions.

“So many people called and e-mailed the hotel,” she said. “I know several organizations pulled their business out of there, and a lot of people stayed out of the hotel. Several large pieces of business for the hotel booked their functions elsewhere.”

Local 17’s successful contract campaign, Goldman added, speaks to the value local unions gain from being a part of the larger labor community. The St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, she said, played a key role in building public pressure on the hotel to negotiate fairly with its workers.

“President Bobby Kasper and the Regional Labor Federation were extremely helpful in this,” she said. “Bobby made phone calls, he spoke directly to the manager and the general manager over there, and the RLF assisted with rallies and getting people there.”

Filed Under: Organizing, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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