Workers are ramping up organizing efforts at the most profitable airline company on the planet.
Minnesota
Wall Street Took Over a Vital Sign Language Service—And Started Union Busting
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This article is a joint publication of Workday Magazine and In These Times. “Do no harm” is the guiding principle of American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters’ professional code of conduct. But when Joe Klug, 28, worked as a Video Relay Service (VRS) interpreter for a Twin Cities metro area office of Purple Communications, he says this principle was routinely violated. The VRS field, which allows Deaf and Hard of Hearing people to make phone calls by video interfacing with interpreters, is difficult and fast-paced work. While some calls are social, others can be serious: medical emergencies, job interviews, jargon-heavy discussions with lawyers or sensitive conversations with doctors.
Minnesota
“Everyone loses”: Report Finds that Minnesota Workers Lose Billions of Dollars Annually Due to Payroll Fraud
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A new report estimates that approximately 10% of private sector workers were misclassified in 2019 in Minnesota and billions of dollars lost to fund public safety nets.
Co-Ops
Workers Win Union Election at Mississippi Market Co-op
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Workers at the local organic food co-op who organized and won union representation are hoping to build a more democratic workplace.
International
The Call Is Out for Mass, Simultaneous Strikes in 4 Years
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These labor leaders are organizing for 2028. Cooperation across unions and sectors—if carried out on a large scale—would be unprecedented in the 21st century United States.
Minnesota
“I Know My Worth”: What it Takes to Unionize the Service Industry
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Despite the popularity of unions being at a record high, workers in the food service industry face an uphill battle when it comes to fighting for collective bargaining rights. Hospitality unions and workers are trying to change that.
Environment
A Taste of Working-Class Environmentalism with a Hospital Cook from Albert Lea
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A cook and farmer on climate, labor, and the community organizing ecosystem in Minnesota.
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.
Immigration
Dispatch From a Meat Packing Factory: “If We Unite as Workers, We Have the Power”
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Read a Spanish-language version of this interview here. Dina Velasquez Escalante is a poultry worker in southwest Minnesota. She spends her workdays inspecting the chicken millions of Americans eat every day. She looks for tumors, stray bones and organs, and removes bile. After six years of hard work and cultivating expertise on almost every position on the line, she’s now in the laboratory testing samples of poultry to ensure the highest quality.
As a union steward with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Local 663 at Butterfield Foods in Butterfield, Minnesota, Escalante is also tasked with ensuring her fellow workers receive fair treatment and safety on the line.
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.
Media
The Great Neoliberal Burden Shift (Part II)- How Corporate America Offset Liability Onto Its Workers
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The past and present of corporate deflection of responsibility.