A group of labor advocates, faculty, and other university staff organized to pass a reform to the 1971 law that predefined bargaining units for public employees.
Immigration
Informe de una planta empacadora de carne: “Si nos unimos como trabajadores, tenemos el poder”
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Este artículo también está disponible en inglés. Traducción de María Uhlmann
Dina Velasquez Escalante trabaja en una planta avícola en el sudoeste de Minnesota. Su día de trabajo consiste en inspeccionar el pollo que millones de estadounidenses consumen a diario. Lo que busca son tumores, huesos y órganos, además de retirar la bilis. Luego de 6 años de trabajo intenso, y de adquirir experiencia en casi todos los puestos de la línea de producción, ahora se encuentra en el laboratorio analizando muestras de pollo para asegurar la mejor calidad.
Climate Change
Driving Transit in Rural Minnesota: A Bus Operator Reflects on Safety and Sustainability
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Public transportation is a lifeline for small town residents in Minnesota. Syd Bauer explains how the bus plays a role in their commitment to climate justice and pandemic safety.
Minnesota
How Academia’s Over Reliance on Contingent Faculty Hurts Workers and Students’ Quality of Education
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Adjunct and contingent faculty make up the majority of instructional staff at colleges and universities today. Faith Ericson explains what that means for these highly qualified and underpaid workers and the role of liberal arts education outside of major city centers.
Minnesota
“Finally Somebody’s Fighting For Us”: Grocery Store Workers are Fed Up
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How grocery store workers in Greater Minnesota fighting for better pay and working conditions are sticking together and transforming their union.
Media
The 4th Annual “Dancing in the Streets” with Minneapolis Sex Workers
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Minneapolis sex workers and allies took to the streets in a joyful celebration to commemorate “International Whores Day” (June 2) in downtown Minneapolis, demanding decriminalization of sex work and increased workers protections.
Minnesota
Minnesota Unions Push for Bill Extending Unemployment Insurance to Striking Workers
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Catina Taylor has worked as a special educational assistant for the past 25 years in Minneapolis Public Schools. She’s a member of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers 59 (MFT 59) and President of the Education Support Professionals (ESPs). In 2022, Minneapolis teachers went on strike for three weeks. Taylor was on the picket line—she remembers not being able to feel her feet in the cold. Although she looks back fondly on the “historic” strike, she adds that it was a financially difficult time for many members.
Going on strike is one of the most powerful tools workers have, but can be a difficult choice for workers to forgo weeks of pay in the hopes of making greater gains for the long term.
Media
Iron Range Childcare Worker on Organizing for Better Care for Children
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How a childcare worker and mom living and working in Minnesota’s Iron Range would like to see the industry better support workers and children alike.
Across Industries, Minnesota Workers Are Harnessing Their Collective Power
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Minnesota workers and community groups have worked toward this moment for over a decade. It’s paying off.
Minnesota
Minnesota’s Labor Spring Has Arrived. Here’s What’s Going Down.
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Unions and community groups are uniting in a week of action to win broad social demands, from dignified work to public housing to better schools.
History
An Interview with John See: Labor Historian and Video Innovator on Nearly 40 Years of Service to the Minnesota Labor Movement
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In October 2023, John See worked his last day at the Labor Education Service (LES) after a 39 year tenure. His office was a treasure trove of Minnesota union history—adorned with vintage Teamsters trucker hats, retro pins from the 70s, and a constant stack of VHS tapes digitizing onto one of the half dozen monitors where he was often seen fervently editing videos and coordinating audio visual work for major conventions. While See’s office may be cleared from the nearly four decades of ephemera, his legacy and dedication to Minnesota’s labor movement continues.
See concluded his career with a massive, archival project. He digitized thousands of tapes of the public access program, Minnesota at Work, which aired from 1984 into the early 2000s, featuring workers speaking about their lives and working conditions, working with Randy Croce, Howard Kling, and the late Martin Duffy. Along with Minnesota at Work, many different kinds of programs have been archived.