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Worker News from Minnesota

Every day is Labor Day

Happy Striketember! We’re back with some labor news updates, including the nurses 10-day strike notice, state fair shenanigans, and more.

Sep 6, 2022

Howdy, folks! It’s been a while. Thanks for being patient throughout our little summer break. I moved into a new apartment, went camping, finished the course on ambiguous loss I was talking about in the last newsletter, worked on some stories, read a ton, and helped out with the hiring process for our new editors who we’ll be announcing very soon! STAY TUNED!

🎡 Labor at the State Fair

Last Friday, I visited the fair with my friend who begins her first full year of teaching social studies! We stopped by the Education Minnesota booth and got ourselves a calendar. Wishing everyone a safe and happy back to school!

I liked this stitching, titled “Workers of the World Unite” by Rachel Breen.

an embroidered, quilted flag with blue, white, red, and yellow patterns and the word "SOLIDARITY" stitched into it with stitches of leaves

And Tom E. Stewarts piece, “Minnesota State Symbols, Why Not Craft Beer?”

a shape of Minnesota on a wooden background is filled with realistic interpretations of the state's symbols: on the top left, a blueberry muffin, a bumblebee, a pine tree. in the center, a monarch butterfly, a lady slipper flower, mushroom morels. on the top right, wild rice and a loon. in the middle right, an apple. on the bottom right, a walleye. on the bottom left, a glass of beer and some stones.

If you weren’t able to make it, check out John Croman’s video on the Labor Day parade for KARE11. 🥳

🏥 We may see the largest private sector nurses strike in history

Last Thursday, Minnesota Nurses Association, which represents nurses at 16 facilities across the Twin Cities and Duluth, announced their 10-day notice and are planning a 3-day strike starting September 12.

Max Nesterak @maxnesterak

Update: Several health systems say the nurses' strike would be illegal and have filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board. The Minnesota Nurses Association says they won't back down. Statements from St. Luke's Duluth and MNA

We have received MNA’s notification that St. Luke’s Hospital’s MNA-represented nurses will be on strike from 7 am on Monday, September 12 through 6:59 am on Thursday, September 15.

St. Luke’s is fully prepared to serve our patients for the duration of any MNA work stoppage and will continue to provide expert, quality care. Patient services will continue as usual.

However, MNA has not given proper notice of their intent to strike to appropriate government entities as required by federal law. Consequently, this strike is illegal. St. Luke’s, along with several other Minnesota health systems, has filed an unfair labor practice charge.

The MNA has been put on notice that engaging in a strike on September 12 would be an unlawful act, and we expect that MNA will withdraw its strike notice.

We have negotiated in good faith for several months to reach a fair and equitable contract with our nurses. We have approached each negotiating session with the intent to come to an agreem

“It is clear that hospital executives are feeling the power of 15,000 nurses fighting for our patients and our profession. We will not be intimidated by their attempts to silence or scare us, and we intend to proceed with a strike to win fair contracts to put patients before profits.

“Hospital executives have already driven nurses away from the bedside by their refusal to solve the crises of staffing and retention in our hospitals, and we hope they will not be so brash as to fire nurses for standing up to demand better.

“If hospital executives want to avoid a strike on September 12, they should spend less time and money on lawyers and more time working with nurses to settle fair contracts to improve patient care and working conditions in our hospitals.”

You can support the nurses here, and be sure to share a patient story with them! I shared a story about the nurse who communicated with my mom while caring for my dad at M Health Fairview Southdale. She made sure my dad didn’t die alone. I always wondered what I could do to thank her or repay her. I can share my story, which in a way is part of her story. We can pressure the public to hold her employer accountable.

🪧 UMN service workers welcome students moving onto campus with some direct action

a man with curly black hair holds a sign reading "end poverty wages at UMN" while students moving in to campus push carts of belongings to the dorm buildings

Teamsters 320, which represents around 1,500 workers at the University of Minnesota who contribute to an improved quality of life for students, picketed at Centennial Hall on move-in day.

According to a survey conducted by Local 320, more than 62% 450 current and former workers reported they didn’t earn money to pay basic expenses every month, and almost 12% reported experiencing homelessness while working at the university.

Queso the pup was arguably the most adorable picketer.

💰 Frontline worker payments update

Almost 1.2 million applications were received for frontline worker payments! That’s almost twice as many as was originally predicted. Over 200,000 were denied this week for various reasons like failed ID and employment verifications, but you can appeal up until August 31 at 5pm.

🎧Listen: An MPR interview with Matt Riley, an organizer with CTUL, on the challenges of the payments.

Torey Van Oot @toreyvanoot

New this AM: DOLI says 214,209 of ~1.19 million frontline worker bonus applications were rejected. That means the pool of eligible workers will be bigger (aka $ of checks smaller) than initial estimates. Rejected workers can now appeal. Reasons for denials:

Did you apply? How did it go for you? Were you rejected? Are you going to appeal?

Leave a comment

Stay tuned for a story on an art gallery showing of essential worker portraits later this month!

🍻 Blood, “Sweat” and tears: The Guthrie’s take on the human cost of the economy

Although they live in the Rust Belt, the characters in the play “Sweat'' evoke Midwestern work ethic and identities. Check out my review and conversation with one of the actors from the play.

Guthrie Theater @GuthrieTheater

See the McGuire Proscenium Stage transform into the blue-collar town Reading, Pennsylvania. Shoutout to Scenic Designer Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams and the Guthrie Production Department for their outstanding work. #GuthrieSweat 🔧 Learn more → guthrietheater.org/sweat

☕ #PumpkinSpicedLabor

Max Nesterak from the Minnesota Reformer (@nesterak) has the story on the second(!) strike by the baristas at 47th & Cedar.

Congrats to the Starbucks baristas in Edina who won their election in a 9-0 vote!

Workers United - CMRJB @CMRJB

🚨BREAKING🚨 Edina, MN Starbucks workers at Industrial Blvd. voted 9-0!!!! Workers say “It's amazing to see the collective voice of our store has…been heard. This isn't just a win for us, but for all…of the working class to have the chance to be heard." Welcome to the union 😎

In July, the East Side Freedom Library hosted a panel discussion with baristas from St. Paul and Minneapolis.

🗓️ Mark your calendar

The Labor Education Service will be tabling at the Minnesota AFL-CIO convention held on September 18-20. See you there!

The East Side Freedom Library is hosting some wonderful solidarity-themed events this month, including a Labor Day picnic on the 10th, a panel on wage theft, and a reading for the Solidarity Street Gallery, an arts and culture festival celebrating St. Paul communities.

a red graphic with white text that reads "LABOR DAY PICNIC" and event details. "Free and open to all" a symbol of a fork holding a hot dog

⏰ There’s still time to apply for MULP!

The application deadline for MULP was extended to September 16th. MULP is the Labor Education Service’s Minnesota Union Leadership Program. Check out the 2022-23 Application, and see what's in store for this year's cohort in the brochure here.

people are sitting at a large U shaped table formation with name plates in front of them and posters lining the wall

Thanks for reading! Stoked to be back in your inbox. We are each other’s harvest.