Labor Unions

Star Tribune Guild workers rally outside of the newspaper's headquarters

Late Tuesday afternoon, about 135 people gathered outside the entrance of the Star Tribune's downtown headquarters.They carried posters proclaiming "Show Us the Green in 2013" and "Re$tore Our Pay"; they wore green ribbons next to stickers emblazoned with a sneezing green face, marked "PTO makes us ... More >>

AFSCME comes out for same-sex marriage

One of the most influential unions in Minnesota released an endorsement yesterday for bills moving through the House and Senate to legalize same-sex marriage. AFSCME Council 5 has more than 43,000 members in dozens of local chapters around the state, including the City of Minneapolis, Department ... More >>

Target advertises on #savemi hashtag

As Michigan's House of Representatives debated and eventually passed two right-to-work bills reducing the power of organized labor today, people turned to Twitter for the latest analysis and developments.SEE ALSO:-- Target defends Thanksgiving opening: "There are more volunteers than shifts to fill" ... More >>

Minnesota for Marriage spokesman alleges liberal media bias... against a labor union

SEE ALSO:-- MN Marriage amendment: Majority support one man-one woman definition, says new survey -- MN for Marriage, anti-gay marriage group, says it 'continues to stand strong against intolerance'Minnesota for Marriage -- the state's main anti-gay marriage group -- is headquartered out of the same ... More >>

The Wedge Co-op hopes for new beginning

The Wedge Co-op hopes for new beginning

Workers and management try to resolve differences after a contentious year

Wedge Co-op fires general manager Lindy Bannister

The Wedge Co-op has fired Lindy Bannister, its general manager of the past seven years, according to current and former Wedge employees. Bannister herself confirmed to City Pages that she has been replaced as general manager of the Wedge and is "no longer there," but said she needed to get "legal a ... More >>

Aldi issues anti-union coupons to employees ahead of labor vote

Aldi employees at the St. Paul store on Suburban Avenue have scheduled a vote to join UFCW Local 1189 later this month. With the June 29 election date approaching, store management has begun aggressively lobbying its workers to vote no on unionization. Management recently issued a cheesy anti-union ... More >>

Target allegedly union busting by closing Valley Stream store closed ahead of unionization vote

There is one Target store in the country where employees will soon hold a unionization vote -- Valley Stream, New York.There is one Target store in the country closed for six months or more of remodeling -- Valley Stream, New York.Coincidence? Gawker's Hamilton Nolan thinks not.

Kowalski's, union reach labor agreement

A long and sometimes bitter fight between Kowalski's Markets and a local labor union ended this weekend as workers validated a new agreement with management. Kowalski's had been at an impasse since last August with its workers, represented by UFCW Local 1189, over various issues. The union proteste ... More >>

Aldi workers schedule vote to join labor union

A dozen workers at a St. Paul Aldi store have formally filed for an election to join UFCW Local 1189, according to union organizer Curtis Neff.The workers, at 2005 Suburban Avenue, are scheduled to vote on joining the union June 29, Neff says. UFCW 1189 has had a contentious relationship with the su ... More >>

Wedge Co-op warehouse employees unionize

Employees of the Wedge's Co-op Partners Warehouse have formed a union to voice their dissatisfaction with wages and management decisions. In addition to the Wedge storefront on Lyndale Avenue, the Wedge runs a warehouse in St. Paul that's a supplier to many co-ops, grocery stores, and restaurants. T ... More >>

Minnesota ranked 7th-best state for business

pikalukMinnesota's open, but not as open as Virginia. ​Minnesota is the 7th-best state in the country for business.The number 7 spot, awarded by CNBC, comes thanks to high marks for education and quality of life. But CNBC punishes Minnesota for high taxes, union membership and the massive budget d ... More >>

Rep. Tom Hackbarth compares unions to Fidel Castro and Hitler in e-mail

Rep. Tom Hackbarth somehow drags Hitler and Castro into debate about Minnesota's budget.​Representative Tom Hackbarth really knows how to start trouble for himself. First it was lurking in an abortion clinic parking lot with a gun. Now this. Late last week, Hackbarth got an email from Robin S ... More >>

Jimmy John's food-poisoning poster fight moves to Washington

Jimmy John's Workers UnionShould workers be fired for distributing this poster?​This fight's going all the way to the top. The latest battle in Jimmy John's workers fight for better pay and working conditions is getting adjudicated in Washington, D.C. Remember the poster union supporters bomb ... More >>

JoAnne Kloppenburg declares victory over David Prosser, and Scott Walker

The Scott Walker proxy battle: Prosser vs. Kloppenburg.​One of the recurring talking points among Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's supporters in his efforts to neuter public employee unions has been this: Voters swept Republicans into control of the state last November, so get out of the way and ... More >>

Gov. Scott Walker loses the zombie vote in Madison [VIDEO]

Zombies to Walker: Pass the brains.​He's already tanked in the polls among the living, and now it looks like Wisconsin's union-busting Gov. Scott Walker is losing the un-dead vote as well. "What do we want? BRAINS? When do we want them? BRAINS!" a bunch of protesting zombies shouted as they m ... More >>

Scott Walker wins: Wisconsin Republicans through union-busting bill [UPDATE]

Sue Peacock/FlickrLet the recall efforts begin.​Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly finally dropped all pretenses about Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting bill having anything to do with balancing the state's budget. Wednesday night, with 14 Democrats still on the lam trying to block a vote, the ... More >>

Wisconsin protesters' Capitol invasion caught on video

State troopers and protesters clash.​Tempers are flaring in Madison, where Republicans in the Assembly have used a controversial and possibly illegal maneuver to ram through a public employee union-busting bill. The Senate voted on the measure last night. The Assembly takes it up today -- if ... More >>

Bachmann wants Obama to be more like Wisconsin governor, but Americans don't

Whose side is she on?​Rep. Michele Bachmann is appalled that President Barack Obama has sided with public employee unions in Wisconsin opposed to a union-busting bill being pushed by Gov. Scott Walker. And she complained today on Facebook that Obama ought to be more like Walker when it comes ... More >>

Jimmy John's workers negotiating settlement on union

The Jimmy John's Union lives.​Minneapolis Jimmy John's workers might still become the first officially recognized fast-food union in the country.The National Labor Relations Board has found evidence that the franchise owners may have broken the law in the lead-up to the October vote in which p ... More >>

University of Minnesota clerical union says salary cuts are unfair to lower paid employees

The faculty senate approved a 1.15 percent salary cut yesterday by a 130-26 vote.

SEIU janitors agree to new contract and avoid strike affecting Twin Cities office buildings

Their union, which claims more than 4,000 Twin Cities janitors as members, reached agreement over the weekend on the terms of a new contract.

R.T. Rybak's ups and downs profiled by "Governing" magazine

Under the headline "Radical Renewal," it says Rybak is "a bundle of contradictions."

Rybak and Sundgaard lobby Facebook to end friend limit

Thursday's five most fascinating stories printed on wood pulp.

Former Strib editor: Teamsters "bully" other unions at paper

He goes on to compare them to Judas selling out Jesus.

MOA Starbucks protesters: Will they be detained again?

Starbucks settles NLRB complaint of fired MoA barista

More on Starbucks union members tiff with police

Civil Disobedience

National Writers Union

AFSCME endorses Bonoff, Tinklenberg

Letters to the Editor

Taxpayers Win One--Finally--With Northwest

Janitors set strike vote

In-Flight Peanuts

Stribulations: workers choose union representation

Strib union vote today

McClatchy Madness

The Strib puts the squeeze on production workers

A Cold Florida

The Gov's "Drive to Excellence": A push to privatize/outsource state services?

Minneapolis city council races:
Letofsky, Lilligren pick up support

Meatball Surgery

Will a management transplant stop the bleeding at HCMC?

Uptown Borders: Bound To A Labor Agreement

Short Shrift

Ramsey County cuts hourly wages at its nursing home

Borders Battle: Still No Contract

The Next Battle in the Newspaper Wars

The specter of a newspaper strike looms in St. Paul --but no matter what happens, the Pioneer Press will never be the same

Rx: Don't Get Sick

Local hospital workers can't afford health care either

Borders Skirmishes

Booksellers make lousy money--and book chains want to keep it that way

Chain Reaction

Star Tribune union members fret as their parent company plays hardball in contract talks out West

Don't Let Them Eat Cake