Minnesota unions have been planning for this moment for a decade.

Unions in MN are warming up for potential collective actions ahead of joint expirations of contracts in 2024. The tentative agreements between the UAW and the Big Three will also use this strategy.

Unions ask, what could we win together?

With a string of contracts expiring in the new year, Minnesota unions and community groups are gathering to unite around a strategy for a cleaner environment and better jobs, housing and schools.

After a difficult few years, Minnesotan union members are celebrating wins, bringing energy to the labor movement to demand more. Credit: courtesy of Geoff Dittberner, SEIU Minnesota

They took a big step in October, when they met at the Marriott hotel at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. for a giant strategy and solidarity session.

Read our story: “What Could We Win Together?” Labor in Minnesota Gears up for a Major Escalation.

Many thanks to the folks at In These Times for collaborating on this coverage! Check out their version here, and stay tuned.

Union members shared ideas on how they might win their campaigns, including going on strike. Credit: Amie Stager

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UAW reaches tentative agreements for auto workers at the Big Three

After six weeks of the “stand up” strike, the UAW has reached tentative agreements with each of the Big Three automakers, Ford, GM, and Stellantis, within the span of a few days, winning some major gains on pay and tiers. 

Notably, the tentative agreements with Ford and Stellantis give workers the right to strike over plant closures. Some of the workers at the Mopar Parts Distribution Center in Plymouth, Minn. that went on strike were sent there after the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Belvidere, Ill., was idled, which Stellantis has agreed to reopen. 

Catch up on our recent coverage below about the historic strike by auto workers in collaboration with our publishing partners at In These Times and The Nation.

• UAW’s “Element of Surprise” Strike Appears to Be Working

• “Your Body Suffers”: The Unremarkable Pain of an Auto-Assembly-Line Worker

• Stop Letting Auto Companies Pit Workers Against the Environment

• They Sacrificed to Survive Bankruptcy. They Worked Through A Pandemic. Now, Autoworkers Have Had Enough.

• Wisconsin Autoworkers Are Bundling Firewood for a Winter Picket Line

• Stop Letting Auto Companies Pit Workers Against the Environment

• Republicans Are Using Anti-China Rhetoric to Undercut Striking UAW Workers’ Demands

UAW members at the General Motors’ Hudson Parts Distribution Center in Wisconsin picket outside the facility on Sept, 22, 2023.. Credit: Isabela Escalona. 

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Solidarity forever. We are each other’s harvest.