Minnesota

Minnesota Workers Strike Down Shady Provision That Restricts Their Freedom of Employment

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This article is a joint publication of Workday Magazine and The American Prospect. Michael Rubke, a desk attendant at La Rive condo complex in Minneapolis, is fighting for a union against a behemoth building management company, FirstService Residential of Minnesota, that has a near-monopoly on high-rise condos in the Twin Cities. It’s been a difficult battle so far. The unionization campaign is “at square one,” the 41-year-old explained over the phone after working an overnight shift. “They’re pretending we’re not there.”

But that lack of formal union representation did not stop Rubke and his colleagues throughout the Twin Cities from fighting for—and winning—statewide legislation this summer that improves the terms of their jobs, by beating back a little-known provision used to erode the job security of contracted workers.

International

These Teachers Want the Largest Union in the Country to Rescind its Biden Endorsement Over Gaza

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This article was jointly produced by Workday Magazine and The Nation. When Israel escalated its military operations against Gaza in October, Rahaf Othman was so distraught, she said, she “couldn’t think straight.” The 45-year-old Palestinian American, who teaches social studies at Harold L. Richards High School in Oak Lawn, Ill., recalled that she “started getting nightmares from my own experiences when I was in Palestine. I was functional at work, but barely functional. My brain was mush. I was getting traumatized every time I turned on my phone.”

“For the first month, people were asking me what we should do, but I couldn’t think, couldn’t focus.” While in this state, she said she discovered that she could lean on some of her colleagues.

Minnesota

Billionaire Pohlad Family Accused of Using Anti-Worker Construction Contractors

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This article is a joint publication of Workday Magazine and The American Prospect. The Minneapolis-based billionaire Pohlad family has a national profile, as the owner of the Minnesota Twins and the 75th-richest family in the United States. And the Pohlad Family Foundation has cultivated a progressive image for its stated commitment to “housing stability” and “racial justice,” with a special focus on reducing racial disparities. But the Pohlad family empire of dozens of businesses includes a real estate development firm called United Properties. The Minneapolis/St.

Minnesota

Los trabajadores de limpieza asean los establecimientos después de las compras navideñas, pero ellos no pueden festejar con sus familias.

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Para Elbida Gomez, la temporada festiva no se marca con alegría o tiempo con familia, sino un aumento drástico en su carga de trabajo—limpiando baños y oficinas, sacando la basura, trapeando y limpiando comida del piso de la cafetería para empleados. 

La madre de dos, de 43 años, dice que es una de solo dos personas cuyo trabajo principal es limpiar la sucursal de Cabela’s—una cadena de tiendas que venden artículos de caza, pesca y campamento—de Woodbury, Minnesota. Aumenta el tráfico peatonal en lo que los clientes hacen sus compras navideñas. Los padres hacen fila con sus hijos para tomarse una foto con Santa Claus. El piso se cubre con chocolate, envolturas de dulces y huellas, y, cuando empieza a nevar, la entrada de la tienda está perpetuamente cubierta de sal y arena, dice. 

“Hay poco tiempo y mucho trabajo”, dice Gomez, quien ha hecho trabajo de limpieza desde que se mudo a los Estados Unidos de Honduras hace unos 15 años. 

Pero en un sector que trata—literalmente—de sanitizar las experiencias festivas de otras familias, a ella se le niega la oportunidad de relajarse y festejar con su propia familia. Gomez no recibe vacaciones pagadas de su empleador, Carlson Building Maintenance, que se contrata para limpiar a Cabela’s.