Workday Magazine (https://workdaymagazine.org/2015/06/page/3/)
With a close U.S. House vote looming on so-called presidential “fast-track” free trade authority, unionists and their allies stepped up their campaign to get lawmakers to turn down the scheme that would grease the skids for secret trade pacts.
Workers from over 50 Twin Cities stores staged a one-day strike Tuesday for better wages and conditions against employers like Capital Building Services Group that provide cleaning services for large retail corporations like Macy’s.
Fast-food workers and allies rallied outside the McDonald’s on Stinson Boulevard Friday to support a likely New York victory for $15 per hour and to call on Minnesota to follow suit.
Members of the Laborers International Union of America praised Friday’s decision by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to move ahead on the Sandpiper pipeline project.
Members of Sprinkler Fitters Local 417 have voted to strike, overwhelmingly rejecting a proposed three-year contract offered by a contractors group.
The AFL-CIO and affiliated unions have organized a day of action Wednesday, June 3, to urge Congress to stop “fast track” trade legislation.Phone calls and e-mails are focused on the House, where fast track may come up for a vote by June 30.
Two experienced labor activists, Bernie Hesse and Kris Fredson, will receive the Paul Wellstone Award for Lifetime Commitment to Organized Labor at the Minnesota DFL Party’s annual dinner Saturday.
Kip Hedges, the baggage handler fired for remarks he made in a Workday Minnesota video in support of low-wage airport workers, has filed suit to challenge his termination.