Unlock Our Future-Desbloquear Nuestro Futuro: Janitors and Security Officers Take a Stand

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This video conveys the determination of Twin Cities janitors and security officers of SEIU Local 26 and CTUL who took a stand for safer working conditions, green cleaning, affordable quality health care, more full-time jobs and living wages – from current rates that average below the poverty level. Instead, the cleaning and security contractors proposed eliminating many full-time jobs, that would lower employees’ income and strip them of benefits. In response, workers and their allies rallied in Minneapolis on January 24, 2013 and announced a strike vote for February 9.

6 Day USA – Save Saturday Service

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This video captures the spirit of several hundred letter carriers, postal workers and community supporters who rallied outside the downtown Minneapolis Post Office on Sunday, March 24th, to support continued Saturday delivery. On February 6th, Postmaster General Patrick R. Dohahoe announced his intention to stop Saturday delivery beginning the week of August 5th in a controversial move some say is outside the law. “The people most hurt by this will be the poor, the elderly and people from small towns. Small businesses will also be impacted,” said Mike Zagaros, President of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 9 in Minneapolis. “Cutting service, cutting the American people’s service, is not the way to go.”

Who Built Our Capitol?

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The Lives and Work of the Men and Women Who Built the Minnesota State Capitol Building
Four years of original research and media production culminate in this documentary, “Who Built Our Capitol?” The video reveals the untold story of the contractors and workers who participated in the construction of the Minnesota statehouse – not only trades people on site, but railroad, quarry and other workers from across the state and nation. The project team – Randy Croce, Dan Ganley, Dave Riehle, John Sielaff and Victoria Woodcock – combed through historical documents and videotaped at locations across Minnesota and in Georgia. They uncovered the names of over 600 of the original builders and traced some of their descendants. These living family members, as well as historians and people involved in the current restoration of the building, are featured in the documentary.

Retail Cleaner’s Strike, Minneapolis, June, 2013

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This video portrays the retail janitors who clean Target stores as well as Kohl’s, Kmart, Sears and Home Depot called a 48-hour strike on June 10, 2013, demanding fairer treatment and an end to retaliation for organizing from the subcontractors for whom they work. They are members of Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL); in English, Center for Workers United in Struggle. Many of these workers have stories of wage theft, sexual harassment, unsafe work conditions, and wages well below the cost of living in the Twin Cities. This video captures the picket in front of Target’s flagship store in downtown Minneapolis on June 11th.

Cretex Strike Rally – August 6, 2013

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Workers at Cretex in Shakopee, MN went on strike over the threatened loss of their pension plan. In this video, Minnesota Speaker of the House Paul Thissen, Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk and Laborers International Union of North America president Terry O’Sullivan spoke at a rally for the striking workers outside the Cretex concrete plant on August 6, 2013. Julio Ocampo, one of the striking workers, explained the difficulties the strike has meant for him and his family, but his determination, nevertheless, to stand for the rights and dignity his union and the labor movement have fought to gain.