Teamsters cite ‘shady business practices’ at Finish Line Express

MAPLE GROVE – Heartbreaking, gutless and dishonest were among the ways workers, union leaders and high-ranking elected officials described a Roseville trucking firm’s decision to withhold pay from 90 members of Teamsters Local 120 after abruptly closing the week of Thanksgiving. Out-of-work Teamsters staged a rally last night outside Finish Line Express, a Maple Grove-based […]

Teamsters retirees warn of lame-duck push for legislation gutting pension benefits

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 […]

Dunn retires after nearly three decades of leadership at Teamsters Service Bureau

Over the last 28 years, the Minnesota Teamsters Service Bureau has progressed from an idea on paper to a fully realized human-services agency that serves both Teamsters families and non-Teamster dislocated workers statewide. The woman who served as executive director of the Service Bureau for all 28 of those years, Jean Dunn, retired June 27, […]

UPDATED: Teamsters authorize strike at St. Paul Park refinery

Workers at Northern Tier refinery in St. Paul Park voted Dec. 16 to authorize their leadership to call a strike if the company continues to demand cuts that, workers say, “could dramatically undermine the safety of operations” at the facility. Northern Tier is in contract negotiations with about 200 members of Teamsters Local 120 who […]

UPDATED: Drivers end strike at Minneapolis metal manufacturer

After voting unanimously to reject management’s final contract offer, seven members of Teamsters Local 120 who work at Minneapolis-based Metal-Matic, Inc. went on strike Tuesday morning. They remained on the picket line this afternoon. The workers, drivers for the steel-tubing manufacturer, rejected what Local 120 representative Bill Wedebrand called “extreme concessions” regarding their pension benefits. […]

Labor 2012: Minnesota unions eye legislative seats in suburban areas

On a sunny Saturday morning Oct. 20, dozens of union volunteers trickled into a coffee shop downtown Burnsville. They paired up, gathered routes and handbills, and fanned out across the suburb, knocking on fellow union members’ doors and talking about their labor-endorsed candidate for Minnesota House, Will Morgan. Similar campaign activities have been taking place […]