The voice of Saint Paul's working families since 1897
Four workers from St. Louis will not be alive to observe Workers Memorial Day on April 28 this year. Their unnecessary deaths earlier in the month are a stark reminder that despite calls for cutting back government regulations, we cannot allow workplace safety standards or enforcement to be reduced. At about 7:30 a.m., Monday, April […]
Standing with leaders of unions representing workers across Minnesota, members of the Minnesota Nurses Association today announced they have delivered notice to Allina Health of their intent to begin an open-ended strike on Labor Day at five Twin Cities facilities. The two sides “regressed” in mediated talks earlier this week, MNA director Rose Roach […]
The nature of work is changing dramatically, and it’s creating new challenges – and pitfalls – for regulators charged with protecting workers’ health and safety. The highest-ranking official at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health called on academics gathered Wednesday at the University of Minnesota to dig deep into the implications of emerging […]
SuperAmerica continues to stonewall workers looking to meet with corporate leadership to discuss concerns about low pay, favoritism and poor working conditions. Workers from the St. Cloud area, organizing with Working America and the Greater Minnesota Worker Center, brought their campaign to the Twin Cities yesterday. Joined by allies in the labor movement and students […]
School board members in Mendota Heights yesterday awarded construction contracts to two firms despite concerns about unsafe working conditions and poor oversight on other projects handled by the contractors. Independent School District 197 accepted bids to oversee renovation work on two elementary schools from Derau Construction and Ebert Construction – both “problem contractors,” Mendota Heights […]
The frenzied finish at the Capitol yielded mixed – and uncertain – results for Minnesota’s working families. Although the Legislature approved a record investment in long-term care before adjourning last night, unions said lawmakers squandered an opportunity to use the state’s $1.9 billion budget surplus to restore cuts to public schools, expand access to pre-kindergarten […]
After an organizing drive fueled by young activists and backed by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, workers at the Varsity Theater in Dinkytown have a union. It’s the first successful organizing campaign for IATSE Local 13 in “many years,” according to Michael Abramson, co-chair of the Twin Cities-based union’s Young Worker Committee. The […]
Maplewood Police Chief Paul Schnell warned senators on the Health, Human Services and Housing Committee that the video footage he would show in their hearing yesterday, taken during a patient’s attack on nurses at St. John’s Hospital last year, was disturbing and violent. The footage showed a typical hospital workstation that, in an instant and […]
Health care workers at eight Twin Cities hospitals are poised to enjoy greater health and safety protections on the job as part of their new union contract. SEIU Healthcare Minnesota announced today that its members have reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract covering about 3,500 workers at five health systems: Children’s Hospitals, […]
The Minneapolis Building and Construction Trades Council will launch a mobile ad campaign tomorrow warning Ridgedale Center shoppers of serious safety hazards at the Minnetonka mall. The coalition of 28 unions opted to ramp up the campaign after Ridgedale tenants and the mall’s Chicago-based ownership group, General Growth Properties (GGP), largely ignored complaints of serious […]
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