Enough is enough

Today is the last day before auto workers hold a possible strike against the Big Three. And tomorrow is the last day to apply for the Minnesota Union Leadership Program!

Exhausted, Injured and Angry: Autoworkers Are Ready to Strike

Anastasia Gibson works at Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant inspecting the assembly line, checking and fixing things like connections, plugs and wires. Photo by Sarah Lazare.

Sarah’s latest report in partnership with In These Times is from a rally in Chicago where Ford workers gathered in anger, pride, and hope for a strong contract ahead of the current contract’s expiration at midnight on Thursday, leading to a potential strike at Ford, Stellantis, and GM.

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Why Do We Let Our Bosses Control Our Health Care?

Rose Roach is the national coordinator for the Labor Campaign for Single Payer, advocating for U.S. health care reform on behalf of workers. Photo by Sarah Whiting.

In the past few years, the rate of Minnesota’s uninsured population has been at a historic low. Most people get healthcare insurance through their employer. But many people still lack access to affordable care in the state and throughout the U.S. Workers and their unions are tasked with fighting against increases in their healthcare plans, like Hennepin County workers with AFSCME Local 34, who have held recent actions against increases in their plans. Hennepin County contracts with United Medical Resources, or UMR Inc., a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, which is currently being sued by the Department of Labor for wrongfully denying claims. For a joint article with Minnesota Women’s Press, I talked with Rose Roach, the new national coordinator for the Labor Campaign for Single Payer, which is growing support in the labor movement for taking healthcare off the bargaining table by establishing a single-payer health care system in the U.S.

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Minnesota Union Leadership Program deadline is tomorrow!

The extended deadline to apply is tomorrow, September 15.

MULP is an innovative educational series designed to address the most critical issues facing working people in Minnesota. Now in its 12th cohort, MULP equips participants with knowledge and skills with six in-depth sessions over the course of eight months. We are committed to emphasizing the experience of historically and structurally excluded people. We strongly encourage all people of color, women, LGBTQ people, immigrants, disabled people, and people under age 35 to apply.

Here's the 2023-2024 MULP Brochure.

Here's the 2023-2024 MULP Application.

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“Housing is built with our hands.”

Scenes from the CTUL action. Photos by Rocki Simões

On Tuesday, construction workers with CTUL and allies marched through Minneapolis to demand that developers Solhem, Yellow Tree, and United Properties join the Building Dignity and Respect Program. They left plaster molds of their hands in front of HenCen, one of Solhem’s recent projects, and also printed out a version of Isa’s article on wage theft, intimidation, and delayed treatment of construction workers: Delayed Care, Stolen Wages: The Human Cost of Worker Misclassification.

Thanks for reading. We are each other’s harvest.