A break from the doom

Workers are standing up to their employers and the government.

Jun 8, 2021

Workers with Communication Workers of America Local 7250 gathered outside of the AT&T building in downtown Minneapolis for informational picketing. They’ve been raising awareness about AT&T’s union-busting tactics. Over 500 stores have been closed in the last year. “They’ve been on a rampage closing stores and flipping many of them to outsourced, non-union retailers,” said CWA 7250 president Kieran Knutson.

Workers picketing included retail workers, workers from AT&T’s call center in the tower, and CWA workers from other locals who came out to show their support.

After picketing outside, workers marched through the IDS building to the Baker Center Skyway AT&T Store, where they informed the retail workers about what’s going on.

Workers continue standing up to Marathon

It’s been months since oil refinery workers have been waiting for a contract that protects them and their community. Members of Teamsters Local 120 from the St. Paul Park’s Marathon refinery have been picketing at the site and at local Speedway gas stations.

Listen: In this Minnesota Reformer radio interview, fire mechanic and rescue squad lieutenant Matt Foss informs us on what’s at stake for workers, the community, and the environment.

Safety check! The workers are concerned about you and your neighborhood. Are you in the burn zone? ☣️

Union Advocate @unionadvocate

What’s at stake for workers in the contract dispute with Marathon? Local 120 member Don Lande said it’s about safe staffing in a worksite where the stakes are high

Solidarity with Minnesota Nurses Association

Pediatric nurses are picketing at Children’s Hospitals in Minneapolis and St. Paul, informing the public that they’ve been short-staffed.

Union Advocate @unionadvocate

Pediatric nurses holding an informational picket at Children’s in Mpls this morning, & plan to do the same at Children’s in St Paul from 4-6 this p.m. Picketing comes after months of talks w/ management about short-staffing at both facilities, which RNs say has only gotten worse

Minnesota Nurses @mnnurses

What do we want? More staffing! When do we want it? Now! #safestaffingsaveslives #nurses #picket #union https://t.co/sBxyJfqVm0

Dancing in the streets with SWOP!

It’s not all doom. The Sex Workers Outreach Project kicked off an initiative to repeal Minneapolis ordinances against loitering and dancing in the street. These laws criminalize sex work and are used as pretext to harass unhoused people.

SWOPMpls @SWOPMPLS

Yes! @SWOPMPLS is certainly a break from the doom. Take Pleasure in changing the world. We do this work for a better, brighter, more luscious future #IWD2021 #DiTS

Rosemary Fister @RosemaryFister

There's a thousand million things I want to say about sex work/the commercial sex industry. Carceral saviorism and gender policing is so chronic it probably precedes #counterinsurgency as a damn concept- but if you need a break from the doom: https://t.co/IneyuELclp 😘@SWOPMPLS

Listen: Learn about sex workers and the history of sex work in Minneapolis with the money.power.land.solidarity podcast.

Check out Workday’s past coverage on erotic dancing here.

Share Up With the Workers

What we have our eyes on

ProPublica reporters reveal how the wealthiest people and companies in the US evade taxes. Watch: “Buy, Borrow, Die.”

Pioneer Press opinion columnist Rubén Rosario on how agriculture workers may be the most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Happy #Pride month! 🌈

A reading list for you on queerness and work.

Are you interested in reporting on workers?

Apply to be Prism’s Midwest Workers Rights’ Correspondent. Your reporting will be published on Workday!

Friendly reminder to stay hydrated. We are each other’s harvest. (Happy birthday, Gwendolyn Brooks.)