UMN Teamsters On Strike For First Time in History!

Our latest stories, straight from the picket line.

“We Cannot Water Down Our Proposals Any More”: UMN Teamsters Go on Strike

After voting earlier on August 7 to authorize a strike during move-in week on campus, Teamsters Local 320 are now on rolling strikes against the University of Minnesota. The first one began Tuesday at 10:00 p.m. on the Crookston and Morris campuses. Then the strikes continued on Tuesday at 4:00 a.m. on the Duluth, Grand Rapids, Waseca, and Austin campuses, and Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. on Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses.

Stay tuned for updates, read up on some of the allegations against management, and check out this op-ed in the Minnesota Daily written by some building and grounds workers.

UMN Teamsters and community members gather on a picket line surrounding the Superblock area on the East Bank on the night of September 9. Photo by Isabela Escalona.

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“What is happening at Hennepin county?” Seven Senior Janitors Let Go With No Notice

The morning of September 8, janitors represented by SEIU local 26 held a press conference outside the building where they worked, then marched together into the facility, where they delivered a letter to the office of Building Management demanding the workers be reinstated.

Workers and allies deliver a letter to the Hennepin County Government Center’s Building Management office demanding the seven workers be re-instated. Photo by Isabela Escalona.

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What Does the Land Know? Ricardo Levins Morales on Art and Organizing

“We organize first and foremost, so we can live, and second of all so we can live well,” writes visual artist and organizer Ricardo Levins Morales in his first book, The Land Knows the Way: Eco-Social Insights for Liberation. It is an ambitious tome for the social movement organizers, activists, and artists of our time who are seeking to unite the global working class against the many interlocking, spiraling systems of oppression that are exploiting people and the planet.

The Northland Digitization Project has been working on the Northland Poster Collective Archive, which includes art and oral histories. Ricardo Levins Morales, “The Labor Movement,” Northland Poster Collective Archive, accessed August 21, 2025, https://omeka.northlandpostercollectivearchive.org/items/show/255.

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What It Means When Federal Union Contracts Disappear

In this joint publication with The American Prospect, Sarah reports on deteriorating services, moms forced back from maternity leave, and more as federal workers lose formal union protections.

Protesters hold signs in solidarity with the American Federation of Government Employees of District 14 at a rally in support of federal workers at the Office of Personnel Management in Washington, DC, March 4, 2025. Photo by ALEX WROBLEWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

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“Workers Over Billionaires” Rally at MSP Airport for Labor Day

Workers and community members rallied at MSP airport in support of workers and against the Trump administration’s attacks on working people.

Marchers hold signs that read, “Rage” and “Uber/Lyft Drivers Demand Fairness”. Rideshare drivers in Minnesota are organizing for union representation and a facility for drivers to use the washroom and pray. Photo by Isabela Escalona.

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How One Teamsters Local Is Striking to Protect Immigrant Workers

A joint publication with The American Prospect, read how one union wants bosses to turn away immigration authorities unless they show a signed judicial warrant.

Arturo Landa stands in front of the Mauser plant in Chicago’s Little Village. Photo by Sarah Lazare.

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Hormel Allegedly Stole Paid Sick Leave Benefit From Meatpacking Workers

A landmark sick leave law passed in 2023 is paying dividends for Minnesota workers. But now, workers are alleging that Hormel refused to comply.

Hormel corporate headquarters in Austin, Minnesota. Photo by Myotus/creative commons

Thank you for reading. Up, up with liberation!