The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
He is gruff and often combative, principled and usually blunt. But above all else, Bernie Hesse is a trade unionist. From his days as a grocery clerk to his current work as director of special projects for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1189, Hesse has made himself ubiquitous in St. Paul’s labor community. If […]
We all do better when we work together. That’s the lesson teachers and support staff in the North Branch Area Schools learned from the district’s first successful referendum campaign in at least 15 years. And it was a valuable lesson, as voters in a special election May 23 approved all three of District 138’s funding […]
Some 21,000 AT&T wireless workers in 36 states – including about 2,000 in Minnesota – plan to strike this weekend, a show of frustration over the company’s failure to negotiate a new contract that protects good, family-supporting jobs. The strike is set to begin at 2 p.m. tomorrow unless AT&T and the Communications Workers of America, which […]
It seemed to Dustin Hudak that any time he made progress on his goals, disaster was bound to strike. One step forward, two steps back. But things are finally looking up for Hudak and his family, thanks to an apprenticeship with St. Paul-based Local 110 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and support from […]
Allina nurses voted yesterday to ratify a three-year contract and end their historic strike at five Twin Cities facilities, but their fight for workplace safety, adequate staffing and respect on the job isn’t over. And after spending nearly a month and a half on the picket line this year, nurses know it’s a fight they […]
Last month at the East Side Freedom Library, I joined a roundtable discussion with historians, artists, trade unionists and community activists on the subject of solidarity. It was a lively, challenging and essential dialogue, and it served as another reminder of how fortunate we are in St. Paul to have a space like the […]
Last-ditch talks between Allina nurses and management broke off early this morning after a marathon, 22-hour negotiating session failed to yield agreement on a new contract. As a result, nearly 5,000 members of the Minnesota Nurses Association plan to begin an open-ended strike Monday morning. If picket lines go up on Labor Day, nurses will count on broad […]
Join a “thoughtful discussion on solidarity” Sept. 12 at the East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul. The forum, timed to coincide loosely with Labor Day, is free and open to the public from 7 to 9 p.m. at 1105 Greenbrier St. Library co-director Peter Rachleff will offer a brief history of the concept of […]
After banding together with workers at 11 other newspapers owned by the same hedge fund, union members at the St. Paul Pioneer Press won their first wage increase in seven years, part of a new three-year contract they voted to ratify Aug. 9. Members of the Minnesota Newspaper and Communications Guild will receive 3-percent raises […]
Allina nurses are walking the picket lines outside five Twin Cities health care facilities this week, but they aren’t walking alone. Patients, doctors and other health care workers have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with members of the Minnesota Nurses Association over the last four days. So have members of other unions – teachers, musicians, construction workers […]
