The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
In a policy address at the University of Minnesota yesterday, the nation’s highest-ranking labor leader pointed to “thousands of little groundswells” from across the country, including in the Twin Cities, as signs of a renaissance for collective action in American culture. “Right now workers are standing together and asking for a better life – and […]
Unions representing about 4,000 workers in contract negotiations with the University of Minnesota took new momentum into a bargaining session today, after workers, students, faculty and other supporters rallied behind their fight for raises and respect. “We’re only going to get what we’re organized to take,” Mick Kelly, a cook at Centennial Hall, said […]
UPDATED 02/20/14 – AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka’s lecture scheduled for tonight at the University of Minnesota has been canceled as a result of the weather. “President Trumka’s flight into Minneapolis has been canceled due to the bad weather systems across the country,” said Kent Love-Ramirez, director of communications for the U’s Humphrey School of Public […]
Clarence Darrow was an attorney in transition when he traveled to St. Paul 100 years ago to give a lecture arranged by St. Paul labor leaders. Although known nationally as a labor lawyer, Darrow had by October 1913 fallen out of favor with many of the country’s unions. Bribery charges, incurred while defending a pair […]
Folk-rocker Billy Bragg gave a union rally on the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus a kick in the pants today, performing an impromptu, two-song set on the steps of Morrill Hall – and throwing his support behind the U’s frontline workers as they bargain for affordable health care coverage. [Click here to sign a […]
Fifty years ago, to the surprise of Minnesota’s labor community, Republican Gov. Elmer Anderson offered his opposition to a lethal brand of anti-union legislation unions are still fighting today. The Feb. 14, 1963, issue of The Union Advocate reported Anderson had issued a statement saying he would veto any “compulsory open shop legislation, which usually […]
The University of Minnesota Labor Education Service will offer six Labor Studies Skills Courses starting this fall, including its first-ever online class. The non-credit Labor Studies Skills Courses provide a foundation in “nuts & bolts” areas important to working people and are open to all. Sessions for in-person classes are held on the West Bank […]
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