Author
McDonald’s franchisee agrees to consent decree after sexual abuse of 14-year-old worker
A company operating 14 McDonald’s restaurants in Minnesota will adopt new sexual harassment policies and procedures under a settlement agreement filed by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights in state court on Wednesday. The consent decree is the result of a lawsuit filed by the mother of a 14-year-old worker who was sexually assaulted and […]
Minneapolis city council to consider new labor protections for Uber and Lyft drivers
Three Minneapolis City Council members announced on Thursday they plan to propose new labor protections for Uber and Lyft drivers, who have long complained of low wages, unsafe working conditions and a lack of legal protections for independent contractors. Uber and Lyft drivers say the tech giants continue to claim the lion’s share of every […]
Unionized home care workers win 31% raise in tentative agreement with Minnesota officials
Roughly 20,000 of Minnesota’s home care workers will see their biggest pay raise in history over the next two years, under a contract reached between the administration of Gov. Tim Walz and SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, the union representing the workers. The home care workers help elderly and disabled people with daily tasks such as bathing […]
New Minnesota senator calls COVID-19 vaccines a ‘death shot’ at Capitol rally
Newly elected Minnesota state Sen. Nathan Wesenberg, R-Little Falls, suggested Gov. Tim Walz should be jailed and called COVID-19 vaccines a “death shot” during a rally at the state Capitol on Thursday. “I’m not anti-vaccine but I’m anti-COVID-vaccine. It’s not a vaccine, it’s a death shot,” Wesenberg said during the demonstration, which was filmed by […]
2022 in review: Labor strife, wage theft and rent control repercussions
I visited picket lines in subzero temperatures and the high 90s this year, as I documented the surge in energy that workers are bringing to the labor movement. It was an exciting year to cover labor, especially in Minnesota, with its high union participation rate and low unemployment rate. Public support for unions is the […]
Study: Minnesota renters didn’t report surge of ‘informal evictions’ during moratorium
Minnesota renters didn’t report a surge of ‘informal evictions’ during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study from the University of Minnesota released on Thursday. The findings suggest landlords largely adhered to both the spirit and letter of the law while the eviction moratorium was in effect. At the beginning of the pandemic in […]
St. Louis County snowplow drivers authorize a strike, reject final offer
More than 160 snowplow drivers and other maintenance workers for St. Louis County authorized a strike on Monday after voting to reject the county’s final offer on wages and benefits. The workers, who are unionized with the Teamsters Local 320, can’t strike before their contract with the county expires at the end of December and […]
Workers strike at two Minnesota Starbucks stores as part of national protest
Workers at two Starbucks stores in Minnesota launched a three-day strike on Friday as part of a nationwide protest against the company closing unionized stores and retaliating against union leaders. Baristas at more than 100 Starbucks locations across the country will participate in the weekend strike, according to Starbucks Workers United, which has won union […]
Amazon workers launch union drive at Minnesota fulfillment center
After years of scattershot walk-outs and demonstrations, workers at Amazon’s fulfillment center in Shakopee have begun an effort to unionize the warehouse and legally force the retail giant to negotiate with them. Union organizers at the warehouse are collecting union cards for Amazon Labor Union Minnesota, which is affiliated with the first and only unionized […]
Mary Turner just led the largest private-sector nurses strike in U.S. history. What’s next?
Mary Turner bounded into the conference room at North Memorial hospital, where nurses were voting to authorize a second strike in three months. “Sorry, I was just on the phone with the governor,” she said. Gov. Tim Walz, in a meeting kept off his public schedule, had just spoken with leaders from seven of the […]
Amazon workers rally outside Shakopee warehouse for better pay, safer work
Warehouse workers, union leaders and activists rallied outside Amazon’s fulfillment center in Shakopee on Thursday to call for better wages, safer working conditions and an end to employee surveillance. Amazon workers have long complained of grueling, surveillance-enforced productivity quotas that they say lead to high rates of workplace injuries. “The safety here is horrible. You […]
Nurses reach deals with Twin Cities and Duluth-area hospitals, call off strike
Union nurses called off strikes at seven of the state’s largest health systems in the Twin Cities and Duluth area after reaching tentative agreements that include the largest pay raises for nurses in two decades. St. Luke’s in Duluth announced a tentative agreement on Monday night, which was followed on Tuesday morning by announcements from […]