Up With the Workers

Share this post

People power v. corporate greed

www.upwiththeworkers.org

People power v. corporate greed

Essential workers celebrate bonus pay, Amazon workers are speaking out, and a big wage theft case involves the Vikings owners. Also, some labor angles on abortion.

Amie Stager
May 6, 2022
Share this post

People power v. corporate greed

www.upwiththeworkers.org

🚨 First, check out these labor skills classes

Are you a working parent? Are you burnt out? The Labor Education Service class for working parents has been rescheduled to May 11, 5- 6pm. Sign up here.

The Know Your Rights at Work training with the Labor Education Service has been rescheduled to Tuesday, June 14, 9am-12pm. Sign up here.


💸 Past due frontline worker bonus pay is on the way!

a graphic of an invoice reading "Still past due" in red letters from Frontline workers in Minnesota to the Minnesota Senate

In a victory for the essential workers who campaigned and testified in front of the Frontline Worker Pay Working Group after state lawmakers promised $250 million in bonus pay, Governor Walz signed a bill moving $500 million in compensation checks forward. Check out more details and sign up for updates here.

a crowd gathers on top of the capitol steps in front of big red letters that spell out "essential"
Workers gathered at the capitol yesterday to celebrate and deliver a “past due” invoice to the Senate. They continued to speak out about their working conditions.
a brown woman and white man speak into microphones, surrounded by people holding "pay essential workers" signs
Fernanda translates Shane’s testimony as a grocery store worker. Both are members of Unidos.
a healthcare worker in blue scrubs holds a sign in rainbow letters reading "we save lives but can't afford our own"

🎤 Watch: Tate and Eric from CTUL did a Worker’s Voice series episode on the essential workers’ campaign!


📣 Standing up to Amazon

Workers walked out of the warehouse in Shakopee and asked for a $3 wage increase and time off for Eid, a Muslim holiday celebrated earlier this week.

Twitter avatar for @AwoodMpls
The Awood Center @AwoodMpls
"Jeff Bezos made $5B and went into space powered by a business model that pushes workers to the brink and prioritizes profits over safety . . . It's only fair that we include this worker safety provision." Thank you @emmagreenman
Image
2:03 AM ∙ May 5, 2022
36Likes8Retweets

Not only are injury rates higher than other warehouses, six workers died last year after being forced to work during a tornado. In a hearing on using taxpayer money to fund companies violating labor laws, Amazon Labor Union president Christian Smalls testified in front of the Senate Budget Committee.

“It’s in your best interest to realize it’s not a right or left thing, it’s not a Democratic or Republican thing–it’s a workers thing, it’s a workers issue.” –Smalls, in response to Senator Lindsey Graham’s accusation that singling out Amazon is unfair and part of Senator Bernie Sanders’ radical agenda.

Twitter avatar for @cspan
CSPAN @cspan
WATCH: Opening statement from Christian Smalls (@Shut_downAmazon), Amazon Labor Union President, before the Senate Budget Committee. Full video here: c-span.org/video/?520005-…
3:41 PM ∙ May 5, 2022
7,489Likes2,196Retweets

🔥 Congrats to the first union Starbucks in Minneapolis!

Twitter avatar for @CMRJB
Workers United - CMRJB @CMRJB
New logo drop just in time to announce 2nd Minnesota win in 2 weeks!!!! Let's go!!
Image
8:25 PM ∙ May 2, 2022
296Likes27Retweets
Twitter avatar for @chr_sten
🕳🐇 @chr_sten
this one's for the workers. without the labor movement, we would have no weekends, overtime pay, or sick leave. ✊☕🌼 #UnionStrong #1u #ChangeisBrewing #solidarity #InternationalWorkersDay #MayDay #LabourDay #illustration #artistsontwitter
Image
12:41 AM ∙ Apr 25, 2022
555Likes184Retweets

Jordan Zakarin (@jordanzakarin) from More Perfect Union has the story on NLRB’s suit against Starbucks over its anti-worker rules.


☔ A rainy May Day in Minneapolis

The rain didn’t stop the celebration! There were marches and a festival where a lot of community organizations tabled. We celebrated with food, dance, poetry, and song!

Twitter avatar for @TakeActionMN
TakeAction Minnesota @TakeActionMN
Still feeling the love, community, and solidarity from yesterday's May Day celebration in Minneapolis 🥰 ✊ Rain or shine, Minneapolis is a union town and we know how to show up together for the just and joyful world we all deserve.
Image
Image
Image
Image
9:01 PM ∙ May 2, 2022
3Likes1Retweet

I enjoyed this blog post from Take Action MN about the meaning of May Day, also known as International Workers Day. Getting to see the Southside Battle Train for the first time in person was wild! Check out FOX9’s video covering May Day!


🏈 Skol, workers!

Dozens of workers have come forward with claims of wage theft against contractors working with MV Ventures, a real estate company owned by the Wilf family, which owns the Vikings team. Some of them spoke at a press conference about working excessive hours and not getting paid overtime pay. Even though Minnesota has one of the strictest laws against wage theft, enforcement hasn’t been strong.

Max Nesterak (@maxnesterak) from the Minnesota Reformer has the story.


🚩 Autonomy in and outside of the workplace

Politico’s piece on Justice Alito’s leaked majority opinion draft that would strike down Roe v. Wade has dominated the news cycle this week. This is more than a moral issue. Restricting abortion has disproportionate socioeconomic effects across class lines. 

Twitter avatar for @MorePerfectUS
More Perfect Union @MorePerfectUS
Overturning Roe v. Wade is class warfare. Financial hardship is the most common reason people seek an abortion. 51% of women in the landmark Turnaway Study were below the federal poverty line when they sought an abortion. 76% lacked the funds to cover basic living expenses. 🧵
Image
9:43 PM ∙ May 3, 2022
939Likes382Retweets

Pregnancy is not merely a biological condition, it’s used as a tool of political control. Pregnant people are excluded from workplaces as well as from government processes. Just recently, Minnesota state senate candidate Erin Maye Quade went into labor and had to withdraw during the convention because it wasn’t suspended.

Access to reproductive care wouldn’t be possible without the labor of healthcare workers. Organizations like the Guttmacher Institute and Planned Parenthood have been fighting unionization efforts.

Twitter avatar for @guttunion
Guttmacher Employees United @guttunion
We are disappointed to announce that @Guttmacher leadership hasn't granted our request for voluntary recognition by the deadline we proposed. We hope they will reconsider & join us for a more equitable working environment. For now, we have filed for an election with the NLRB
9:29 PM ∙ May 5, 2022
342Likes49Retweets

🎨 Solidarity with arts and culture workers

KSTP covered the arts and culture workers that gathered at the state capitol yesterday asking the government for economic relief. Like restaurants and other businesses, the creative economy is still recovering from the pandemic, too.


🔎 Are you looking for a job? 

The East Side Freedom Library is hosting their annual union job and resource fair Thursday, May 19. Learn more here.

a graphic detailing the union job fair

Moral purity will not save us, solidarity will. We are each other’s harvest.

Share this post

People power v. corporate greed

www.upwiththeworkers.org
Previous
Next
Comments
TopNew

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 Workday Minnesota
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing