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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 […]
15,000 Minnesota nurses to strike beginning Dec. 11
The union representing 15,000 nurses in the Twin Cities and Duluth area on Thursday announced a strike beginning Dec. 11, the second strike in recent months. Nurses at 12 hospitals in the Twin Cities and at two Essentia Health hospitals will strike until Dec. 31, while nurses at St. Luke’s hospitals in Duluth and Two […]
Nurses at Moose Lake clinic reach tentative deal while 15,000 others vote on second strike
The union representing about 50 nurses at Essentia Health’s Moose Lake Clinic reached a tentative agreement with the health system on Monday after two years of negotiations. The nurses at Moose Lake called off their strike authorization vote, but 15,000 other union nurses at hospitals across the Twin Cities and Duluth area began voting on […]
Gov. Tim Walz solicits six-figure donations for inauguration committee
As Democrats prepare to take control of the Legislature, DFL Gov. Tim Walz’s inauguration committee is soliciting donations as large as $100,000 for reelection celebrations in January. Perks for donors include advertising at the event, tickets to a “pre-inaugural reception,” and commemorative photos with the governor, according to a flier first reported by PR man […]
Judge denies Reformer motion to unseal Mike Lindell search warrant
A federal judge on Tuesday denied a motion brought by the Minnesota Reformer and journalist Tony Webster seeking to unseal court documents related to a search warrant served on Minnesota pillow mogul and prominent election denier Mike Lindell. The Reformer and Webster filed the motion together in September, shortly after Lindell’s phone was seized by […]
15,000 Minnesota nurses will vote on second strike
Union leaders representing 15,000 nurses at hospitals across the Twin Cities and Duluth area said Thursday they will take a second strike authorization vote — after a three-day strike in September yielded little progress. “Our hospital leadership have failed,” said Minnesota Nurses Association President Mary Turner during a news conference. “They have failed to solve […]
What labor unions want from a Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party trifecta
In his victory speech on election night, Gov. Tim Walz acknowledged his union backers and the legacy that’s in the name of his party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor. “This is a union state,” he said. Labor unions spent millions to secure Walz’s re-election and help his party take control of the House and Senate for the first time […]
U of M pays gig workers more than full-time staff to fill dining hall jobs
The University of Minnesota’s dining halls have never been so short-staffed, at least as far back as Mick Kelly can remember. He’s been a cook at the university for 20 years. More than 120 positions out of around 300 are vacant in dining services at the university’s Twin Cities campus alone. The lack of workers […]