Jobs and Labor

Unemployment gets worse before getting better, then it gets worse again, finds U of M study

A new study co-authored by Connie Wanberg, associate dean at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, finds that being unemployed is most difficult right after losing a job and after a job search has gone on for more than two months. Wanberg and her colleagues tracked 177 unemploy ... More >>

Wedge Co-op dumps 'anti-union' law firm: 'We made a mistake'

The Wedge Co-op has dropped Seaton, Peters & Revnew as its law firm for labor negotiations with newly unionized warehouse workers following critical feedback from members. Wedge board president Sarah Wovcha says she received numerous emails from members about the law firm's perceived "anti-unio ... More >>

Wedge Co-op hires 'anti-union' law firm for labor negotiations

The Wedge Co-op has hired an anti-union law firm to handle labor negotiations with its newly unionized warehouse employees, a labor organizer says. Wedge spokeswoman Elizabeth Archerd confirms the co-op has hired Seaton, Peters & Revnew to "advise on the legalities of contract negotiations," th ... More >>

Jimmy John's illegally fired union organizers, judge rules

Jimmy John's violated labor law when it fired six union organizers in March 2011, a judge ruled Friday.Administrative judge Arthur Amchan's ruling follows a February trial involving Miklin Enterprises, a local Jimmy John's franchisee, and the National Labor Relations Board. In 2010, several Jimmy Jo ... More >>

U of M campaign to unionize graduate workers voted down

It's a dark day for proponents of the University of Minnesota's campaign to unionize graduate student workers. After a long and arduous push, students voted against forming a union last week, according to the college's Office of Human Resources. In total, 2,999 votes were cast across the Twin Citie ... More >>

University of Minnesota graduate student workers voting on unionization proposal

​This week, for the fourth time since 1990, graduate student workers at the University of Minnesota are voting on whether to unionize. If a majority of voters support the unionization proposal, the U of M's graduate students will organize under the umbrella of United Auto Workers. Graduate student ... More >>

"Right to work" amendment advances in Senate

​The so-called "right to work" bill was approved by the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee earlier today, but it's unclear whether the measure has enough support to be approved by both the House and Senate.Today's committee vote was 7-6, with Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, joining ... More >>

Jimmy John's on trial for firing union organizers

Jimmy John's is on trial for firing organizers over this poster​Jimmy John's went on trial this week for firing six union organizers last March.Franchise owner Miklin Enterprises fired David Boehnke, Micah Buckley-Farlee, Erik Forman, Davis Ritsema, Max Specter, and Mike Wilkow after the workers d ... More >>

State doles out millions to laid-off workers amid shaky job market

​Yesterday, the state Department of Employment and Economic Development announced it has awarded more than $2.2 million in grants to provide services for 585 workers who were recently laid off at eight Minnesota businesses.The grants represent a significant public expense meant to help out-of-work ... More >>

Take Back the Capitol protests end today

Take Back the Capitol wound down today​A week of action in Washington wound down today as the 99% made another push for legislation benefiting unemployed people. Earlier this week, protesters occupied several congressional offices, including Michele Bachmann's, and shut down K Street. The gro ... More >>

Protesters stage sit-ins at congressional offices, demand meetings over economy

Michele Bachmann's office has protesters in it​Minnesotans representing the 99% are staging sit-ins at their congressional representatives' offices in Washington. The protesters arrived at the offices of Michele Bachmann, Chip Cravaack, John Kline, and Erik Paulsen earlier this morning to dem ... More >>

Target announces profits are up, fires union organizer

SuperTarget, super profits, not-super employee relations.​Good news for Target shareholders: Profits are up, and so's the stock price! Bad news for Target employees: The woman who tried to organize a union for Target workers in New York has been fired. Tashawna Green, the 21-year-old single mother ... More >>

NBA locks out players, Rubio and Timberwolves cool their heels

Hey Ricky, how do you say "lockout" in Spanish?​The Minnesota state government wasn't the only thing that shut down at midnight last night. An hour earlier, at 12:01 Eastern time, the NBA entered a lockout that could postpone next season, if not cancel it altogether. As the existing collecti ... More >>

Most Wisconsin voters don't believe Gov. Scott Walker's union talk

Walker's even lost the zombie vote.​He's a hero to tea partiers, but Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker keeps getting bad news from statewide polls. The latest survey finds that just 31 percent of folks in Wisconsin have apparently bought into his line that he wants to strip public employees of thei ... More >>

Minnesota Republicans want to be like Wisconsin

Is it time to protest in St. Paul?​After introducing a bevy of union-busting bills, Minnesota Republicans are sure starting to look like their Tea Party-ing Wisconsin counterparts. One measure, authored by Waseca Sen. Mike Parry, calls for the state--as well as local county governments and schoo ... More >>

Jon Stewart pillories GOP "ritual sacrifice" of Wisconsin unions, then hammers Democrats

Jon Stewart: Equal opportunity sarcasm.​Democrats and union members in Wisconsin hoping for some love from the reliably liberal Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show" got a rude awakening yesterday. Stewart first took a shot at the Republican cheeseheads who are trying to neuter public employee unio ... More >>

Jimmy Johns about to become first fast-food union

So Unionized You'll Freak

St. Cloud State drops 26 layoff notices on profs in single day

Photo: akaaliasA tough week for the un-tenured at St. Cloud State​It's been a rough past week for a couple dozen faculty members at St. Cloud State University. In order to balance a stiff budget and meet union deadlines, the college sent out 26 layoff notices on the same day late last week to ... More >>

Rattled Target Corp. employees speak to City Pages

Best Buy expected to lay off more HQ employees next month

Bloody Monday hits Minnesota too

Fired and crazy KSTP intern gets sweet revenge

The batshit crazy KSTP intern who was fired and proceeded to go on an angry rampage against other employees might have someth ... More >>

Starbucks baristas union drive comes at key time

The effort to organize local latte-slingers could hurt the ailing chain

Confidential Star Tribune memo: "We continue to move forward with the Guild, but talks have unfortunately stopped with the other major unions."

The effort to organize local latte-slingers could hurt the ailing chain

Slaughterhouse workers back union

The effort to organize local latte-slingers could hurt the ailing chain

Organizers: beef-processing plant is using recent immigration raids to bust union

Slaughterhouse Rules: Is South St. Paul's Dakota Premium Foods plant "in open-warfare mode" against labor?

Letters to the Editor

Slaughterhouse Rules: Is South St. Paul's Dakota Premium Foods plant "in open-warfare mode" against labor?

Star Tribune to Lose 145

Slaughterhouse Rules: Is South St. Paul's Dakota Premium Foods plant "in open-warfare mode" against labor?

Cruelest Cut

Slaughterhouse Rules: Is South St. Paul's Dakota Premium Foods plant "in open-warfare mode" against labor?

Uptown Borders slated to close

Slaughterhouse Rules: Is South St. Paul's Dakota Premium Foods plant "in open-warfare mode" against labor?

Department of small comforts: Everybody lies

Slaughterhouse Rules: Is South St. Paul's Dakota Premium Foods plant "in open-warfare mode" against labor?

Worker of the world divide

Slaughterhouse Rules: Is South St. Paul's Dakota Premium Foods plant "in open-warfare mode" against labor?

Sacred Unions

Remembering "Bloody Sunday" for all the right reasons

The Check's in the Mail

How a once-mighty union sold out thousands of workers on the eve of retirement

Busting the Buses

Local transit wars past and present

Wal-Mart Wants Your Job

As the Retailing Behemoth Prepares to Open Its First Store in the Twin Cities Metro, Neighborhoods and Workers Brace Themselves for the Wal-Mart Treatment: Low Wages, Union Busting, and a Big, Friendly Smile

Organized Slaughter

Falling carcasses and untreated injuries: Meatpackers at Dakota Premium Foods were driven to form a union. But not even that got the company's attention.

No Gain = Pain

The grim reaper visits the St. Paul Pioneer Press

Language Barrier

Hennepin County Medical Center's interpreters decided to join a union. They were surprised to learn they were already spoken for.

Labor Drive

Twin Cities school-bus workers vote to unionize--again

Truck, Stop

Car chases, cell phones, and a smelly Super Soaker: This is not your father's picket line

Winging It

With labor unrest brewing among airline employees, Northwest's PR doctors keep spinning in the wind

Union Made

Laborers' union members, mostly low-paid black and Hispanic workers, financed their president's White House visits while the Justice Department quashed a mob investigation.

When Elections Mattered

Rotten eggs, firebombs, and the "wicked extortions of the coal kings": Local campaigns weren't always this dull.

Target: Target

"[Dayton-Hudson CEO] Bob Ulrich got a 200 percent raise after the value of the company stock doubled," says one Target employee. "We got a 2.7 percent raise. And for Christmas I got a box of candy."

Bubbaphilia

By interfering with the Teamsters, a union only just emerging from a scabrous history of institutionalized malfeasance, the Clintonoids displayed their utter contempt for union democracy and for the labor movement itself.

Union Labels

If an upcoming vote goes as expected, nurse Foluso Allison and his colleagues at the Nile Health Care Center will become the fifth local nursing-home staff to unionize in the past year

Scab Sandwich

If an upcoming vote goes as expected, nurse Foluso Allison and his colleagues at the Nile Health Care Center will become the fifth local nursing-home staff to unionize in the past year

Getting Rich on Tips

If an upcoming vote goes as expected, nurse Foluso Allison and his colleagues at the Nile Health Care Center will become the fifth local nursing-home staff to unionize in the past year

What About Bob?

If an upcoming vote goes as expected, nurse Foluso Allison and his colleagues at the Nile Health Care Center will become the fifth local nursing-home staff to unionize in the past year