Visit the Labor Pavilion at the Minnesota State Fair!

August 22, 2014 by
Ken Young of Sheet Metal Workers Local 10 puts the finishing touches on a copper rose at the Labor Pavilion on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.

Ken Young of Sheet Metal Workers Local 10 puts the finishing touches on a copper rose at the Labor Pavilion on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.

Heading to the great Minnesota get-together? Stop by the Labor Pavilion for live music and entertainment, interactive exhibits and several opportunities to take action in support of working Minnesotans.

The Labor Pavilion is open daily throughout the fair at the corner of Dan Patch and Cooper, 1657 Dan Patch Ave.

The Minnesota AFL-CIO coordinates daily programming at the pavilion, featuring professional entertainers who are members of the Twin Cities Musicians Union, the Screen Actors Guild and other unions. The Minnesota AFL-CIO’s Labor Pavilion blog provides a guide to programming.

Individual unions and labor organizations also host kiosks on the pavilion. Here’s a rundown of some of this year’s offerings:

• Trades demonstrations

Several Building Trades unions are putting their crafts on display at the Labor Pavilion. That includes members of Sheet Metal Workers Local 10, who craft copper sheets into roses – complete with prickly thorns – from their Labor Pavilion kiosk. The roses are awarded to fairgoers who answer a trivia question correctly.

Operating Engineers Local 49 hosts a “sandbox simulator,” offering kids (or adults) an opportunity to try their hand an excavator – on a much smaller scale, of course; and members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers power a laptop at their kiosk with a solar panel attached to the roof.

web.StateFair14-postal• Stop Staples

Twin Cities Letter Carriers and Postal Workers are co-hosting a kiosk to promote the nationwide boycott of Staples. All four postal unions have backed the “Stop Staples” campaign, prompted by the U.S. Postal Service’s pilot program to place service counters inside Staples stores.

The counters are not staffed by sworn USPS employees, but by Staples employees who, when working full time, earn about $18,000 per year – and receive minimal training on how to handle the mail.

At the Labor Pavilion kiosk, supporters can sign a postcard to Staples executives pledging to join the boycott. They also can read a heavily redacted copy of the agreement between the USPS and Staples.

Active and retired members of AFSCME Council 5 support transportation funding at the Fair: (L to R) Tony Peterson, Judy Schultz and Christine Main.

Active and retired members of AFSCME Council 5 support transportation funding at the Fair: (L to R) Tony Peterson, Judy Schultz and Christine Main.

• Moving Minnesota

Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees are using the fair to make a public case for new investments in the state’s transportation infrastructure.

Visitors to AFSCME Council 5’s kiosk can sign up to support Move MN, a coalition of more than 200 non-profit and union organizations pushing for long-term, sustainable transportation investments, including roads, bridges, transit, bike and walk connections.

“Our infrastructure is in such bad shape,” Council 5 retiree Tony Peterson said. “We want a permanent solution for the whole state of Minnesota – not just another makeshift solution or quick-fix. We need lawmakers to act now to support Minnesota 20 years down the road.”

Jess Alexander demonstrates Working America's "scheduling puzzle."

Jess Alexander demonstrates Working America’s “scheduling puzzle.”

• The scheduling puzzle

Last year at the fair, unions and Working America, an organization for workers who do not have the benefit of a union on the job, used the State Fair to ramp up their successful campaign to raise Minnesota’s minimum wage. This year, Working America is making the transition to a new campaign to give more workers access to paid-sick days and fair scheduling.

“Raising the wage doesn’t help if you don’t get enough hours, or you don’t get paid on days when you’re not working because you’re sick,” said Jess Alexander, an organizer for Working America in Minnesota.

An interactive display at the Working America kiosk allows fairgoers to visualize their “scheduling puzzle” using blocks that represent time spent on work, family time, sleep, etc.

Linda Leighton, a descendent of one of the leaders of the 1934 Teamsters strike, is enlisting support for a historic monument in Minneapolis.

Linda Leighton, a descendent of one of the leaders of the 1934 Teamsters strike, is enlisting support for a historic monument in Minneapolis.

• Remembering Teamsters’ strike

The Remember 1934 Committee, which hosted an 80th anniversary commemoration of the historic Minneapolis Teamsters strike earlier this summer, is using the Labor Pavilion to continue its efforts to put a plaque on the site where two strikers were killed.

Linda Leighton, granddaughter of strike leader Ray Dunn, staffed the Remember 1934 kiosk on the opening day of the fair. She said the goal is to raise $5,000 to place a historic marker at 3rd Street and 6th Avenue North in Minneapolis.

• Patient safety campaign

Members of the Minnesota Nurses Association are enlisting supporters for their Safe Patient Standards campaign at the fair. Molly Henderson, a nurse at United Hospital in St. Paul, said unsafe staffing levels continue to threaten patient care at hospitals across the state.

“We’re here letting people know that this campaign isn’t really about us as nurses, it’s about you, as the public,” Henderson said. “It’s about caring for patients, keeping them safe. And we can’t do that if there isn’t the right number of nurses to care for the number of patients in the hospital.”

St. Paul Firefighter Dominic Novak, a member of Fire Fighters Local 21, demonstrates how not to put out a grease fire at the Labor Pavilion.

St. Paul Firefighter Dominic Novak, a member of Fire Fighters Local 21, demonstrates how not to put out a grease fire at the Labor Pavilion.

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Tom Sundly of Operating Engineers Local 49 gives Bloomington 10-year-old Tyler Kauffman a crash course in using the controls of a model excavator.

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Deal with Postal Service lands Staples on labor’s ‘Don’t Buy’ list

June 3, 2014 by
St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Bobby Kasper speaks at the Stop Staples rally in Roseville.

St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Bobby Kasper spoke at the Stop Staples rally in Roseville on a nationwide day of action April 24.

staples-dont-buyThe boycott of Staples is official. The AFL-CIO last Friday approved the American Postal Workers Union’s request to add the office-supply retailer to the national federation’s list of endorsed boycotts.

The APWU and other postal unions launched the “Stop Staples” campaign earlier this year, after the U.S. Postal Service announced plans to expand a pilot program placing service counters inside Staples stores.

The counters are not staffed by sworn USPS employees, but by Staples employees who, when working full time, earn about $18,000 per year – and receive little training on how to handle the mail.

Postal Workers, Letter Carriers and other union members at a rally outside Staples in Roseville, part of a nationwide day of action April 24, decried the pilot program as a privatization scheme that threatens both middle-class jobs and the security of the mail.

With the recently approved boycott, postal unions are taking the “Stop Staples” campaign to the next level.

“Our brothers and sisters in the labor movement are key allies in this struggle and we greatly appreciate their support,” APWU President Mark Dimondstein said. “The ‘Don’t Buy Staples’ campaign is an essential component of the movement to stop the dirty deal between the U.S. Postal Service and Staples.”

St. Paul Area APWU President Todd Elkerton said Staples is already feeling the heat.

“In the Boston Globe on May 21, in an article titled ‘Postal union targets Staples over mail service program,’ a Staples executive is quoted as saying that Staples is not interested in getting in the middle of a fight between the post office and its union,” Elkerton said. “It goes on to say this executive acknowledges that it could become a problem if more unions backed the postal workers.”

All four unions representing USPS workers – the APWU, the National Association of Letter Carriers, the National Postal Mail Handlers and the Rural Letter Carriers – have backed the “Stop Staples” campaign, and the AFL-CIO’s boycott will tap into the consumer power of 56 nationwide unions representing 12.5 million members.

Teachers, in particular, will play a key role in the boycott, Elkerton hoped. According to some estimates, about one-third of Staples’ revenue comes from the sale of school supplies.

The American Federation of Teachers, which represents 1.5 million teachers nationwide, is expected to consider a ‘Don’t Buy Staples’ resolution at its national convention in July.

“We greatly appreciate the expressions of solidarity from the teachers’ unions,” Elkerton said. “Educators and all union members will be key allies in this campaign.”

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Postal workers to Staples: ‘The U.S. mail is not for sale!’

April 30, 2014 by

web.staples-staplesU.S. Postal Service employees from the Twin Cities rallied with supporters April 24 outside a Staples store in Roseville, part of a nationwide day of action opposing plans to put USPS service counters inside Staples locations across the country.

Already, 82 Staples stores in Georgia, California, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts house USPS service counters, and postal administrators hope to expand to other locations – and, potentially, other retail chains – if the pilot program is successful.

But union members at the rally decried the pilot program as a privatization scheme that threatens middle-class jobs and undermines the security of the mail.

Supporters of the Stop Staples campaign march outside the Roseville location during a nationwide day of action.

Supporters of the Stop Staples campaign march outside the Roseville location during a nationwide day of action.

All four unions representing USPS workers – the American Postal Workers Union, the National Association of Letter Carriers, the National Postal Mail Handlers and the Rural Letter Carriers – are united in opposition to the program.

“For a while we splintered, but we’re standing together on this,” said Dan Garhofer, president of St. Paul-based Branch 28 of the Letter Carriers.

“If you pick on one of us, you get all of us,” added Mike Zagaros, president of Branch 9 in Minneapolis. “That’s what unions are all about.”

Increased access – at a cost

The Staples plan won support from Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe as a way to increase public access to postal services, but postal union members raised several objections at the rally.

Allowing Staples employees to do postal work, they said, undermines the security of the mail. Uniformed postal workers swear an oath to protect the safety and security of the mail. They must pass a background check before being hired, and, once on the job, they go through trainings that equip them to uphold their oath.

Additionally, workers say the pilot program threatens USPS jobs, which offer middle-class wages and benefits, in favor of low-wage, high-turnover jobs like the ones at Staples.

“This is an attack on the postal unions,” Zagaros said. “This is an attack on the middle class. This is an attack on good-paying jobs.”

AFSCME Council 5's Eliot Seide pledges support for postal workers.

AFSCME Council 5’s Eliot Seide pledges support for postal workers.

Community support

The rally drew about 100 people, including U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, a DFLer from Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, and Mike Obermueller, the DFL-endorsed candidate in the state’s 2nd District.

Ellison called the Postal Service “the great American melting pot” when it comes to providing middle-class employment, and he noted its commitment to hiring military veterans upon their re-entry into the workforce.

The strong turnout, Ellison added, was proof postal workers are not alone in the fight to stop Staples. “May America always stand with the post office,” Ellison said. “You are not alone. We are with you. Do not put our mail up for sale.”

Representatives of other unions, including the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, also pledged support for the Stop Staples campaign.

“We want the profits from the Postal Service to go back into the Postal Service, not some CEO’s pocket,” Minnesota Nurses Association President Linda Hamilton said.

Added Eliot Seide, director of Council 5 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees: “Staples can sell paperclips, but they can’t sell the mail. We won’t stop until Staples gives up its claim, and the mail is handled by professional postal employees.”

St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Bobby Kasper speaks at the Stop Staples rally in Roseville.

St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Bobby Kasper speaks at the Stop Staples rally in Roseville.

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Postal unions plan ‘Stop Staples’ protests April 24

April 2, 2014 by

stop-staples-275Staples and the U.S. Postal Service have cut a deal that will replace full-service post offices with privately run post offices inside Staples stores. These knock-off post offices will not be staffed with Postal Service employees.

This back-room deal jeopardizes the mail service, local post offices and thousands of middle class jobs, postal workers say. That’s why the American Postal Workers Union is organizing “Stop Staples” events nationwide April 24.

Locally, activists will target one or more Staples stores in the Twin Cities. Monitor The Advocate’s website for details.

The APWU’s Stop Staples campaign has the backing of the National Association of Letter Carriers, as well as the mail handlers’ and rural letter carriers’ unions.

Visit www.stopstaples.com for more details and to sign a petition in support of the campaign.

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