Workday Magazine (https://workdaymagazine.org/author/isabelaescalona/)
As the Wisconsin state legislature attempts to pass legislation standardizing general education requirements, educators warn liberal arts programs could pay the price.
How a new generation of leaders is reviving the labor movement.
Food service workers with UNITE HERE Local 17 and union allies gathered in Terminal 1 at Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) Airport on November 17 for a press conference to announce their intent to strike if a deal is not reached between the workers and HMSHost, the company that operates food and beverage outlets across MSP terminals. The potential strike would coincide with the busiest travel days of the year, and could begin as soon as November 24.
The demands include wage increases and affordable healthcare plans for the 250 food service workers, who have not seen a wage increase since before the pandemic, according to the union. A November 14 press release from UNITE HERE Local 17 says, “HMSHost food prep workers earn as little as $15.98 an hour, among the lowest wages at the airport. Workers say the company took advantage of the pandemic and has yet to make them whole.”
The strike would impact over a dozen restaurants and fast food establishments at MSP: Shake Shack, Chili’s, Starbucks, Auntie Anne’s, Moe’s, Firehouse Subs, Smashburger, Chick-fil-A, Bottle Rocket, The Cocktail Room, and Hissho Sushi Bar in Terminal 1; and The Wild Sports Bar, Starbucks, and The Market Place in Terminal 2.
Isabela EscalonaVictor Arreola, UNITE HERE Local 17 member at a November 17 press conference at MSP Airport.
On November 5, 650 medical doctors, physicians assistants, and nurse practitioners with the Doctors Council-SEIU may go on a one-day Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike. The strike would impact over 60 Allina clinics across Minnesota. The workers are demanding safe staffing levels in order to retain healthcare providers and improve the quality of care for patients. If the workers do strike, the union believes it will mark the largest doctors’ strike in the private healthcare industry in the country.
The workers formed the union in October 2023, making the unit the largest private-sector doctors’ union in the United States, according to a press release from SEIU. After nearly 20 months and over 50 bargaining sessions, the union states that Allina has not met them in good faith at the bargaining table.
An interview with Dave Kamper on his book, ‘Who’s Got The Power?’, and balancing optimism and critique in the labor movement.
Facilities and food service workers went on a rolling strike across the state.
Mercedes Ponce is in tears outside the Hennepin County Government where she worked as a subcontractor for 12 years doing janitorial work before getting the news last week that she’d be getting let go with no prior notice. Ponce is one of seven janitors with a combined 180 years of experience who received a letter informing her she doesn’t work there anymore at the end of August. The janitors, all senior employees who have devoted their careers to cleaning the Hennepin County Government Plaza, are alleging age discrimination. The workers are members of SEIU Local 26, which represents 8,000 building management and janitorial workers across the Twin Cities. The morning of September 8, they held a press conference outside the building where they worked, then marched together into the facility, where they delivered a letter to the office of Building Management demanding the workers be reinstated.
On Labor Day, hundreds of workers from over 20 Minnesota unions and community organizations rallied at the Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) International Airport. They called for improvements to the lives of working people, and slammed policies that favor billionaires and corporations. The rally was held at the airport in order to highlight Delta’s lack of worker protections while donating millions of dollars to the Trump inauguration.
The rally was accompanied by a live brass band called Unlawful Assembly, and several hundred community members marched through a drop-off area of Terminal 1. Many rally-goers held homemade signs expressing anger towards the Trump administration and demanding better working conditions for airport workers across sectors.
According to a statement from the coalition, the rally’s demands include fair wages, healthcare, and union rights for airport and rideshare workers, corporate accountability from companies like Delta, healthcare for all, fully funded schools and social services, an end to immigrant scapegoating, workers’ right to organize and bargain, and taxing billionaires.
Workers from various unions throughout the airport were present at the rally, including flight attendants, security workers, baggage handlers, wheelchair agents, janitors, and rideshare workers.
Building and food workers with Teamsters Local 320 are demanding fair wages and healthcare, as well as protection from harassment and mistreatment.
Nurses, physicians, and other healthcare providers across Minnesota announce strikes and file ULPs as negotiations stall.