‘Shared passion for community’ drives union campaign at Twin Cities climbing gyms

August 28, 2026 by

Bouldering Project workers formed a union with Workers United, an SEIU affiliate.

After a meeting with the CEO left more questions than answers, workers at two Bouldering Project gyms in the Twin Cities moved quickly to organize a union.

Workers voted to 79-7 to form a bargaining unit with Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees (SEIU), in a landslide election Aug. 6 overseen by the National Labor Relations Board.

The new unit brings together 117 workers at the St. Paul and Minneapolis climbing gyms, from climbing supervisors and youth programming staff to front-desk and maintenance workers.

The climbing industry has expanded steadily over the past decade, and with projections to continue growing, the industry is attracting outside investment, including from private equity.

Climbing workers, in turn, have been forming unions to protect their voice as the industry changes. Vertical Endeavors workers in the Twin Cities unionized in 2023 with the United Food and Commercial Workers. Bouldering Project gyms in Brooklyn and Boston saw successful union drives over the last year, and Workers United represents staff at over 30 climbing gyms nationwide.

The organizing bug reached Bouldering Project’s Twin Cities gym via an unlikely source: a gym member who traveled to Brooklyn and, by coincidence, met Bouldering Project workers there who had recently unionized. The member connected the Brooklyn worker with a Minneapolis worker after returning home.

From there, the campaign took shape, tapping into a growing sense that the culture at Bouldering Project was changing, according to Arrow Shipp, a supervisor in the St. Paul gym entering their fourth year on the Bouldering Project staff. Shipp said some workers trace the shift to a round of private-equity investment after the COVID pandemic.

“Part of the reason people want to be at the Minneapolis Bouldering Project is the community they’ve built – the vibes, the inclusivity, being local at the core,” Shipp said. “I think a lot of people were feeling like we’re pushing promos for new members more than we are building community with current members. We’re losing those core values that the company claims, and I think people were getting tired of the energy.”

Soon after organizing began, Bouldering Project CEO Trever Ackerman announced plans to hold town-hall meetings with workers across the U.S. When Ackerman came to the Twin Cities, workers – some involved in the not-yet-public union drive and some not – were ready with direct questions, expecting a give-and-take dialogue, Shipp said.

That wasn’t what they got.

“It felt very performative,” Shipp said. “We asked Trever questions directly, and he kind of danced around the answers.”

Ackerman asked for more time to process workers’ concerns and pledged to respond. That response came June 1 with a letter announcing wage rates would increase by 1% to 5% for nine Twin Cities positions, including six non-management roles.

But Front-desk workers like Shipp were excluded from the raises. Some workers Shipp talked to reported seeing raises of 13 to 25 cents per hour.

“Those raises felt kind of like a slap in the face,” Shipp said. “They weren’t hearing us; they were trying to appease us.”

Now that they’ve unionized, Twin Cities workers will look to address their issues with a seat at the bargaining table.

Priorities for a first contract, according to the union, will likely include job security and pay. The wages of some full-time workers are low enough that they could qualify for public assistance.

Shipp, 27, said the organizing process has deepened connections between co-workers, many of whom have never been members of a union before.

“We learned that we have a shared passion for community and the fight for workers’ rights,” Shipp said. “Spending time talking about that and getting together to work toward this common goal was really incredible.

“Sometimes society feels like it’s in a really tough spot right now. It’s so cool to have people come together and support each other.”

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

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Bouldering Project workers in Twin Cities file for union election

July 21, 2026 by

(Workers United photo)

Workers at Bouldering Project’s climbing gyms in Minneapolis and St. Paul went public with their organizing drive earlier this month.

The campaign would bring together a bargaining unit of about 130 workers, whose daily tasks include welcoming new customers, running youth programs and meet-ups, maintaining their facilities and supervising climbers.

“Building community with my coworkers has always been the best part of this job,” Arrow Shipp, an operations specialist at the St. Paul gym, said. “I want to build a better Bouldering Project.”

A delegation of Bouldering Project workers delivered a letter to management July 9 showing majority support for their union and requesting voluntary recognition, so that contract negotiations could begin.

The employer denied that request, and workers, with support from the Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board of Workers United, have since filed for an election with the NLRB.

In a press release, Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees (SEIU) union, said an overwhelming majority of the potential bargaining unit signed onto the letter, which explained what Bouldering Project workers hope to gain through collective bargaining.

“We spend time here on our days off, we adore the work we do, and our coworkers have become like family,” the letter said. “We believe that to maintain the exceptional culture that is core to both (Minneapolis and St. Paul Bouldering Project locations), we need an equal voice at the table.”

Workers said they hoped to bargain for better wages and benefits that reflect the climbing industry’s rapidly increasing profits.

Workers United represents staff at over 30 climbing gyms across the U.S.

In Minnesota, about 100 workers at four Vertical Endeavors climbing gyms voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers in 2023 and ratified their first contract last year.

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Workers strike at South St. Paul tannery that supplies Red Wing Shoes

October 16, 2025 by

Striking members of Workers United Local 150 walk the picket line at Twin City Tanning.

About 65 workers at a tannery in South St. Paul that supplies leather for Red Wing Shoes are in the second week of a strike for higher wages.

Members of Workers United Local 150 walked off the job Oct. 9, accusing their employer, Twin City Tanning, of refusing to bargain in good faith. The union’s previous contract expired earlier in the month after workers agreed to a temporary extension.

The two sides met with a state mediator Oct. 14 but failed to reach an agreement. Local 150 representative Esau Chavez said another session was scheduled for Friday, Oct. 17.

Picket lines will remain up from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day except Sunday until the strike ends. The union welcomes community support on the line, located at 501 Malden St. in South St. Paul.

[Click here to sign a petition to Red Wing Shoes demanding support for striking workers.]

Bargaining began in late August, and Chavez said union members presented their full proposal at the first meeting. But Twin City Tanning failed to respond until a third session in September.

That response was an insult: raises of 25 cents per hour in the contract’s first year, 15 cents in the second and 10 cents in both the third and fourth. Union members entered bargaining with a demand of $3-per-hour raises, plus an increase to the regular bonus workers receive for perfect attendance.

Both sides moved some in sessions that followed, Chavez said, but workers voted down the employer’s last, best and final offer, with annual raises that averaged 80 cents over a three-year deal.

“We think we made a modest, fair proposal given the hard work that’s done here and the inflation we’ve seen since our last contract,” Chavez said. “These guys deal with chemicals, toxins, cow hides. It’s not easy work.”

The union, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, was picketing from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day except Tuesday and Sunday.

Rallies on the picket line drew support from elected officials in the area and members of other unions, including United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1189, which represents workers at Red Wing Shoes. Local 1189 had advised its members to honor Twin City Tanning workers’ picket line.

Twin City Tanning has been a union shop since 1990.

On the picket line, workers said plant management had turned over since the last round of contract negotiations. Mark Aufderhar, who has about 10 years of experience at Twin City Tanning, said the new plant manager may be “looking to make a name for himself by saving money.”

Aufderhar said he’s seen a similar approach – alarmingly – in his role on the facility’s safety committee. After a chunk of concrete fell onto the shop floor, he alerted the safety manager, but all the manager could do, Aufderhar said, “is write an email to the higher-ups just to cover their butt.”

“They just don’t want to spend the money on fixing these things,” he added. “This round of negotiations, it’s the same thing. It’s way different than the one before. It’s bad.”

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Twin City Tanning $1,920 for a “serious” citation in July.

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

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Flanagan marks first Workplace Rights Week at union laundry in St. Paul

September 25, 2024 by

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry is putting a spotlight on workers’ rights this week, with hundreds of outreach events across the state to educate workers and employers.

It’s the state’s first-ever Workplace Rights Week, and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan marked the occasion today at an industrial laundry facility on St. Paul’s East Side, where she and DLI Commissioner Nicole Blissenbach met with union workers and plant managers.

“This is a place where workers can feel supported and know their rights,” Flanagan said. “We can help spread that word to other worksites across the state of Minnesota.”

Health Systems Cooperative Laundries (HSCL) employs 230 people who pick up, clean and deliver linens to 600 clinics and 28 hospitals. The 80,000-square-foot facility, located on the former Hamm’s brewery site, processes up to 1 million pounds of laundry each week.

Members of three unions work at HSCL: the SEIU-affiliated Workers United, Operating Engineers Local 70 and Teamsters Local 471. The workforce is diverse, with 12 different languages spoken at the facility.

Workers United Vice President Kathy Hanshew spoke during an event at Health Systems Cooperative Laundry during Workplace Rights Week.

Workers’ rights on the job are the same no matter what language they use, Flanagan noted, crediting HSCL and its unions for working together to educate all employees about their protections and benefits.

Kathy Hanshew, vice president of Workers United, said union members at HSCL “have no trouble … defending themselves, defending their fellow workers and standing up for what’s right inside the workplace.”

“We understand that a safe, supportive and fair environment to work in is not only essential for our success as a company, but also to the individual employee,” HSCL Director of Operations Tabitha Zieman said. “I’m proud to work alongside these 230 employees who come from various backgrounds.”

DLI rolled out Workplace Rights Week in response to a flurry of new labor laws passed by state lawmakers since 2023, when union-endorsed DFLers took control of the Legislature.

The changes include an earned sick and safe time law, new protections for pregnant and lactating parents, and safety standards specific to the meatpacking and warehouse industries. Other laws crack down on wage theft, ban noncompete clauses and prohibit employers from holding captive-audience meetings about politics, religion or collective bargaining.

Blissenbach said the agency hopes its weeklong push will “reach workers, managers and owners with the message and materials” they need to maintain compliance with the new regulatory landscape – and ensure Minnesota remains “one of the best places for workers and their families.”

“We know that it takes everyone to maintain a safe and healthy work environment, where every worker realizes protections afforded to them in the law,” she said.

Learn more about Workplace Rights Week, which runs through Sept. 28, at https://dli.mn.gov/rights-week.

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Bussin’ baristas take Starbucks union campaign on road

July 10, 2023 by

Starbucks workers launched their bus tour a block from the Capitol in St. Paul.

Set to embark on a nationwide tour to pressure Starbucks into bargaining in good faith with their union, members of Starbucks Workers United rallied today in St. Paul with labor activists, community supporters and U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, who encouraged the baristas to keep up their fight for a union contract.

“I know firsthand the courage it’s taken to do what you’re doing today, and I salute you for it,” said McCollum, who represents Minnesota’s 4th Congressional District.

Workers at over 300 Starbucks locations nationwide, including six in the Twin Cities, have voted to unionize with the Service Employees (SEIU) affiliate since December 2021. None of them has a contract yet.

In Minnesota, bargaining committees from three stores – including the location at 300 Snelling in St. Paul – have held negotiating sessions, but the company’s representatives walked out of each meeting in less than five minutes, according to union members.

Rather than negotiate with its union, Starbucks has cut hours, closed unionized stores and intimidated workers – all textbook union-busting tactics, Wisconsin barista Charles Poulter said.

“It is my opinion that the Starbucks corporation intends to ignore this union to death,” Poulter said during a press conference outside a coach bus emblazoned with union logos and slogans. “They will slash hours until every union partner is forced to move on. And when they bargain with us, they will not bargain in good faith.”

Rep. Betty McCollum encouraged Starbucks workers to keep up their contract campaign.

Their union has appealed – successfully in most cases – to the National Labor Relations Board to force Starbucks to reinstate fired workers, reopen closed stores and bargain in good faith.

Workers United says 19 of 20 decisions handed down by the NLRB have been favorable for the union, with the agency finding Starbucks has committed 194 labor law violations. Another 77 complaints, encompassing over 1,300 alleged violations, are still pending.

But as the NLRB process plays out, union members are hoping to ramp up public pressure on the corporation with a summer road trip, building solidarity among workers at unionized stores, encouraging others to join and calling out members of Starbucks’ board of directors – like Beth Ford, president and CEO of Arden Hills-based Land O’Lakes Inc.

Minneapolis barista Rev Beeby called Workers United’s bus tour a “new, big counteroffensive” in the contract campaign.

“We’re highlighting the victories we’ve had and the new stores that have organized, and we’re going directly to the board of directors and telling them to negotiate,” Beeby said. “Starbucks is scared of us. They know they’re losing, and they know that once we win a strong contract, even more workers will be inspired to join and organize and exercise their power.”

Locally, union baristas have shut down several stores with short-term strikes, protesting unfair labor practices, the company’s failure to bargain and short staffing in their cafes.

Workers at the 300 Snelling location have been on strike five times since forming a union in April 2022. The St. Anthony location saw picketing June 28 in response to allegations that Starbucks banned some LGBTQ Pride Month decorations.

With the bus tour, dubbed “The Union Is Calling,” Starbucks workers plan to extend those worksite actions to a larger public audience.

“By going on tour, these Starbucks workers are raising the stakes and escalating their fight, and Minnesota’s labor movement stands in solidarity with the thousands of Starbucks workers who are fighting for their right to form a union across the country,” St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Kera Peterson said.

After the kickoff event at the Minnesota AFL-CIO’s offices in St. Paul, Starbucks workers traveled to Land O’Lakes headquarters, where they called on Ford to oppose union busting at Starbucks. Later this morning the bus stopped outside two non-union stores, where union members distributed campaign materials.

The bus leaving from St. Paul will wind its way to Buffalo, NY, where workers made history in forming the first union at a corporate-owned store in the U.S. Another bus tour is scheduled to launch later this week on the west coast, with union members traveling to the company’s headquarters in Seattle.

Supporters can follow the tour online.

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St. Paul baristas to Starbucks: ‘We’re not going away’

May 19, 2023 by

Baristas at the Starbucks on Snelling and Stanford avenues in St. Paul went on strike for the fourth time since winning their union election a year ago.

Workers at Minnesota’s first unionized Starbucks store, at Snelling and Stanford avenues in St. Paul, went on strike for a fourth time April 27 – on the one-year anniversary of their historic union election – after management unlawfully removed their union bulletin board.

Workers on the picket line said the bulletin-board stunt is emblematic of Starbucks’ do-nothing approach to labor relations since a wave of successful union drives began sweeping across the country 18 months ago.

Pulling down a union bulletin board isn’t just disrespectful – it’s illegal, too.

But breaking labor law has become the norm for Starbucks’ since the union organizing spree began. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), through its regional offices, has issued over 80 official complaints against Starbucks, alleging over 1,400 charges of unfair labor practices since late 2021. The charges include illegal surveillance of workers, firing union supporters and failing to bargain in good faith.

Workers at Minnesota’s six unionized shops can attest to Starbucks’ failure to bargain.

The company’s representatives walked out of separate meetings with bargaining teams from St. Paul and unionized locations in St. Anthony and Minneapolis after just five minutes – and has refused to meet since.

Workers chalked the union’s logo onto the sidewalk outside the store.

The same scene has played out in over 100 bargaining sessions nationwide, according to Starbucks Workers United.

“Recently, a (district manager) came in to the store, and she asked if I needed anything from her,” barista Graciela Nira said. “I told her I needed some bargaining dates.”

“It’s been a year and we still haven’t had any bargaining sessions that Starbucks has shown up to,” another barista, who requested anonymity, said. “They have refused to release benefits to our store that they’ve released to other stores. They’ve cut down our hours so that we’re extremely short staffed, more so than since I’ve been here. And then they took down our union board.”

The NLRB process is grinding, but Nira, who serves on the union’s national bargaining committee, said she is hopeful it will push Starbucks back to the bargaining table.

Meanwhile, baristas around the country are continuing to organize with Starbucks Workers United, which now represents some 8,000 workers at over 300 U.S. locations.

The national union recently released a list of its contract demands. They include a $20 starting wage, with cost-of-living adjustments for baristas in high-cost areas.

The union also says it will bargain for grievance procedures, employer-paid health insurance with mental-health coverage, consistent schedules, higher staffing levels and more.

On the picket line in St. Paul, workers said staffing is at the top of their concerns. Their bargaining unit had 20 members when workers petitioned for a union election a year ago. Now it’s down to 12.

Nira was one of two baristas who clocked into work at 5 a.m. April 27. Two hours later, as the store was set to open, about 20 co-workers, customers and community supporters showed up in solidarity as they walked off the job.

It was the first strike at the St. Paul location that involved a walkout, and union members said they pulled it together in about 48 hours.

“We just want to sit down and bargain,” Nira added.

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St. Paul Starbucks workers win union election

April 27, 2022 by

Starbucks workers supporting the union drive at the Snelling and Stanford location include (L to R) Max Chang, Colton Johnson, Sohyeon Yun, Graciela Nira, Asusena Barragan, Lola Rubens and Sitra Abdulkadir.

Baristas in St. Paul won their union election today, giving Minnesota its first corporate-owned, unionized Starbucks.

In an election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, workers at Starbucks’ 300 Snelling Ave. location voted 14-1 in favor of joining Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

The NLRB tallied votes, which workers cast by mail earlier this month, in Minneapolis today. Workers and representatives of the company were able to watch a live video stream of the tally, said pro-union barista Lola Rubens, who tuned in from the cafe before her shift began.

“My heart was pounding,” she said. “I probably looked like a fool in the cafe because every time they would show a yes vote, I would do a little dance.

“There’s so much joy in this moment, and I’m so excited that we did this and so excited for all the things that are to come. We have the opportunity to take part in creating a contract that reflects us, the people who work here. It’s an amazing feeling that now we have that say.”

Rubens and other Twin Cities baristas have said they want to bargain for higher wages, better training opportunities and more support for employees from marginalized communities.

Workers at four other Twin Cities Starbucks have filed for union elections. The NLRB will tally votes cast by workers at the Starbucks located at 4712 Cedar Ave. in Minneapolis next Monday.

“We are hopefully the first of many stores in Minnesota who are going to succeed in unionizing,” Rubens said. “There are just stores filing left and right, and I hope that our victory is going to give them more momentum.”

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Twin Cities Starbucks workers join union wave

February 11, 2022 by

Starbucks workers supporting the union drive at the Snelling and Stanford location include (L to R) Max Chang, Colton Johnson, Sohyeon Yun, Graciela Nira, Asusena Barragan, Lola Rubens and Sitra Abdulkadir.

Workers at two Starbucks locations in the Twin Cities today announced they are forming unions, becoming the first Minnesotans to join a nationwide surge of worker organizing at the world’s largest coffeehouse chain.

In letters emailed to Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson and hand-delivered to their store managers this morning, baristas at 300 Snelling Avenue in St. Paul and 4712 Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis demanded recognition of their bargaining units.

“We are organizing a union at the Snelling and Stanford store in Saint Paul to improve our workplace for ourselves, for members of our community, and for Starbucks as a whole,” St. Paul workers wrote.

An “overwhelming majority” of employees at each location signed cards requesting union representation, according to the union behind the Starbucks organizing campaign, Workers United. It petitioned the National Labor Relations Board today for union elections at the two Twin Cities stores.

Workers United has filed for elections at over 70 Starbucks locations nationwide in recent months. That includes the Elmwood Village café in Buffalo, N.Y., where workers succeeded in forming the first union at a corporate-owned Starbucks in the U.S.

Organizing efforts moved quickly in the St. Paul and Minneapolis Starbucks, which employ about 50 workers combined.

Lola Rubens, a barista at the Snelling location, said she and her co-workers pulled together enough signatures to file for an election in just one week. They pushed the pace, she said, in part to show solidarity with seven union supporters fired by Starbucks in Memphis Tuesday.

“The message we’re trying to send, in general, to other Starbucks workers in Memphis and Buffalo is that we’re behind them, that we support them,” Rubens said. “Nobody is in this alone anymore.”

Rubens and other Twin Cities baristas said they want to bargain for higher wages, better training opportunities and more support for employees from marginalized communities.

Most of all, Starbucks workers want a seat at the table in decisions that affect their working conditions, said Kasey Copeland, a barista at the Cedar Avenue coffeehouse. For many baristas, she added, the company’s approach during the pandemic did not seem to prioritize their health and safety.

“We really feel like a lot of the policies and procedures in place, they don’t take our perspective into account,” said Copeland, who has three years of experience with the company. “We really want to make Starbucks the best possible place it can be. We want it to live up to the mission and values they put forward, but it’s impossible for them to do that without our eyes on the ground.”

Starbucks’ values have come under scrutiny since workers in Buffalo took their union drive public last fall.

Despite its reputation as a progressive corporation, Starbucks executives unleashed an aggressive campaign to pressure Buffalo workers into voting down union representation. And the firings in Memphis suggest the company’s tactics are escalating as the union wave spreads.

“It’s just so disappointing,” Copeland said of Starbucks’ union busting. “While I didn’t necessarily expect better, I did hope for better. It’s going to be very interesting to see how long they can get away with that without losing support from their customers.”

Still, workers in the Twin Cities have the benefit of knowing what to expect in the coming weeks.

Copeland said she anticipates a parade of “district and regional managers coming into our stores and looking over our shoulders.” Rubens said she and her co-workers have already begun preparing a response, with support from Workers United, to the pressure tactics and talking points executives are likely to use in captive-audience meetings.

“We are very fortunate that there have been workers at many stores who have paved the way for us,” Rubens said. “Starbucks still believes they can throw more money and lawyers at this to make it go away. The amount of money they’re willing to put behind this is shocking.”

The anti-union campaign may be coming, but today workers were intent on celebrating some history in the making. They hope it’s just the start of bigger things to come.

“I think what we did will really get the ball rolling in Minneapolis,” Copeland said. “This is becoming a significant movement, and it will mean a lot not just for Starbucks employees, but for baristas and essential workers everywhere.”

“It’s going to be hard, but I hope no one is letting it get in the way of their joy and excitement,” Rubens added. “This is a joyous time for us, a time to speak our minds and advocate for ourselves, and Starbucks can’t take that away from us, no matter how hard they might try.”

Workers United is an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. Starbucks workers in the Twin Cities are organizing with support from the union’s Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board.

Workers United representative Esau Chavez urged other Starbucks workers interested forming a union to email sbworkersunited@gmail.com, and to follow the campaign on social media, including @SBWorkersUnited on Twitter.

As for members of the community, placing an order at the Cedar or Snelling stores under the name “Union Yes” is a “great way to show support for these workers,” Chavez said.

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Guthrie scenic artists voting in union election this month

February 1, 2022 by

Workers at he Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis are set to vote by mail in a union election this month conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.

The Guthrie’s scenic artists petitioned the labor board in December after an organizing drive supported by United Scenic Artists Local 829. The IATSE affiliate represents over 5,000 set designers across the U.S.

Fifteen workers are eligible to vote in the mail-in election. The NLRB will tally votes Feb. 22.

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Strike vote nets Minneapolis laundry workers a better deal

November 3, 2021 by

Ehler Moo joins a union rally outside the Aramark laundry facility in Minneapolis.

After voting 97-1 to authorize a strike last week, laundry workers at Aramark’s northeast Minneapolis facility today accepted an improved offer from their employer, roughly doubling the wage increase included in the contract.

The laundry workers, members of CMRJB Workers United, had planned a rally this afternoon to alert the company they were ready to strike if negotiations over a new contract did not progress before Friday, when the previous agreement expires.

Instead, workers found themselves voting on a new offer, one that included annual wage increases of 75 cents – up from around 35 cents in previous offers, according to a representative of the union.

That’s a 5% raise for workers like Ehler Moo, who makes $15 per hour loading and offloading trucks at the facility, a job he has had for over five years. Moo, who lives in St. Paul, said he and other workers needed to see more money in their next contract to keep up with the rising cost of living.

“I live with my parents, and I have to take care of my parents,” Moo said. “I pay the electricity bill, other bills. We need more money.”

Aramark is a Fortune 500 food and facilities-service company that reported over $14 billion in revenues in 2018. Workers at its northeast Minneapolis site clean linens, towels and clothing for facilities in the area.

Aramark worker Rita Yee speaks to a TV reporter during the rally.

Starting pay at the laundry is between $14 and $15, workers said.

Rita Yee, who sorts towels and uniforms after they are laundered, said she still makes an hourly wage of $15 after nearly 14 years with the company. Some workers with more than 25 years of service make around $17 per hour, she added.

The work is hard, Yee said as she pointed to her back, which hurts as a result of lifting 50-pound hangers throughout the workday. She said she approached management about a raise after being moved into the position from a less taxing one, but her request was denied.

She will get that raise soon.

“Gas, groceries, everything is going up,” the St. Louis Park resident said. “Everyone is sticking together because we want more money.”

CMRJB Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), represents thousands of workers across the Midwest in laundries, hotels, hospitals, distribution centers, food service, apparel, textile factories, light manufacturing and other industries.

“You absolutely deserve a fair union contract,” Phillip Cryan, executive vice president of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, told Aramark workers. “You deserve raises, and you deserve respect.”

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