Posts tagged Minneapolis
Minneapolis Worker Files Federal Charges Against Union for Unlawful Dues Demands, ‘Pay Up or Be Fired’ Threats
October 18, 2026 // William Kocke, an employee of CenterPoint Energy, has filed unfair labor practice charges against Office and Professional Employees International (OPEIU) Local 12. The charges state that OPEIU union officials ignored and obstructed Kocke when he attempted to exercise his right to refrain from union membership and his right to pay less than full union dues under the National Right to Work Foundation-won Communication Workers v. Beck U.S. Supreme Court decision. Kocke filed the charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
20 healthcare strikes in 2026
September 28, 2026 // Union activity in healthcare continues in 2026, with 20 reported strikes since the beginning of the year. Some of these actions involve healthcare workers and leaders across hospitals and clinics in multiple states.
Teachers union launches Target boycott over ICE operations in Minnesota
August 30, 2026 // The American Federation of Teachers calls its campaign “Shop Smart, Support Working Families.” AFT President Randi Weingarten says supporters should shop elsewhere if Target does not take the stronger public stand the union has requested.
Minneapolis warehouse workers claim Sony shut warehouse hours before union talks
July 21, 2026 // Inspired by anti-ICE general strike demonstrations in Minneapolis, Esparza said workers decided to organize a union. But just hours before the group's first bargaining session, Teamsters representatives received unexpected news. "Our Teamsters representative called me two hours before our meeting and said, 'Sony just informed me that they're closing the warehouse,'" Esparza said.
AFL-CIO president aims to unionize 2 million workers in 5 years
June 9, 2026 // To get there, Shuler said the labor movement would turn out an additional 2 million voters to the polls this November along with 50,000 "trained election protectors." Shuler was addressing a crowd of hundreds of union members on the first day of the labor federation's national convention in downtown Minneapolis. The convention, which happens every four years, brings together representatives from 65 unions covering all sectors of the American economy, from Hollywood actors to Pittsburgh steelworkers.
‘Blue Power’ and the Rise of Police Union Politics
April 18, 2026 // "Everybody else can indulge in politics—every black group, every political party group, every church group," groused Carl Parsell, then president of the Detroit Police Officers Association, in 1969. "Why are police officers so different?" The question goes to the heart of Stuart Schrader's Blue Power, a new book charting how police unions accreted and cemented power in the decades following Parsell's query. It's a ripe subject for review: Police officers' savvy use of public sector unions and lobbying to largely immunize themselves from oversight is one of the greatest political coups in recent American history. In under four decades, police unions evolved from beer-drinking clubs to organized bargaining units to potent political forces at the local, state, and national levels.
UAW Local 2325 Commits to a Strike Vote to Fight ICE—What Can Other Locals Do?
February 26, 2026 // "legal service workers of UAW Local 2325 passed a resolution to have a strike authorization vote in their local of 3,500 workers should ICE escalate its activities in New York City.
What we know about calls for a general strike over ICE
January 28, 2026 // The National Shutdown website lists local and national partners including the Defend Immigrant Families Campaign, the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), the North Carolina Poor People's Campaign, the LA Tenants Union, and multiple student organizations at the University of Minnesota, while large activist groups like CodePink have also pledged to join. Several actors and other celebrities have joined in and called for the public to participate in the strike, including The Last of Us actor Pedro Pascal, Hacks’s Hannah Einbinder, Edward Norton, and Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis.
Minnesota faith, union, community leaders call for economic blackout on Jan. 23
January 15, 2026 // Organizers say several unions are also on board, including the St. Paul Federation of Educators, Unite Here Local 17, SEIU Local 26 and transit union ATU.
Minneapolis Public Schools, educators reach tentative contract agreement, avoid strike
November 10, 2025 // It was announced late Saturday night that the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFE) reached a tentative contract agreement with Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), averting a strike scheduled to start Tuesday.