Posts tagged Minneapolis
Met Council union authorizes strike; rejects ‘discriminatory performance-based pay’
July 15, 2024 // AFSCME Council 5 and Local 668 leaders said Friday that 94% of union members who voted support authorizing a strike against the Met Council, the agency that oversees regional planning, wastewater treatment and mass transit in the Twin Cities. Union members, who do a variety of work for the council, are negotiating an employment contract and oppose performance-based pay increases they argue are "shrouded in secrecy and exacerbate pay inequities."
Minneapolis park workers strike prompts war of words and some cancellations
July 11, 2024 // “Threatening they would lose their jobs, threatening demotions or taking away seniority… and also telling them they would not be allowed to come back to work until the strike was resolved and the contract has been ratified which is illegal,” said AJ Lange with LIUNA 363. A spokesperson for the board shared information that was sent out to employees Monday afternoon. It said “The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board was made aware that striking Local 363 employees plan to return to work on Thursday, July 11. The MPRB will welcome all striking employees back on Thursday. No employee who went on strike will be turned away.”
Penske Truck Rental Employees in Minneapolis and Nashville Overwhelmingly Vote to Remove Machinists Union
May 17, 2024 // The Minneapolis and Nashville-based workers are not the only Penske employees to remove unwanted union so-called “representation” with legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation. In 2022, every worker but one as a Penske facility in Indiana signed a petition seeking to decertify the Teamsters union officials at that location. Before an NLRB-supervised decertification election was scheduled, Teamsters officials issued a statement, disclaiming representation in an apparent attempt to spare themselves the embarrassment of an overwhelming vote by workers to reject the union’s so-called “representation.”
Side Hustles in Focus as Gig Worker Laws Stir Uncertainty
May 1, 2024 // In the debate over the classification of gig workers, Massachusetts finds itself at the center of a legislative whirlwind, echoing a lengthy battle around California’s AB5 Gig-worker law. Proposals to reclassify Uber and Lyft drivers as employees rather than independent contractors have sparked heated discussions about labor rights and the unintended consequences of regulatory measures.
Minneapolis Is About To Kill Ride-Sharing
April 18, 2024 // Just last month, Seattle's disastrous attempt to enact a minimum wage for app-based food delivery drivers was in the news. The result was $26 coffees, city residents deleting their delivery apps, and drivers themselves seeing their earnings drop by half. Now, the Minneapolis City Council has decided to join the fray in the multifront progressive war against the gig economy—and this time, the outcome could be even worse.
Penske Truck Rental Employees in Minneapolis and Nashville Seeking Votes to Remove IAM Union Officials
April 18, 2024 // Employees of Penske Truck Rental have submitted petitions seeking votes to remove International Association of Machinists (IAM) union officials from power at Penske locations in the Minneapolis, MN, metro area, and in Nashville, TN. Penske employees Kyle Fulkerson and David Saylor filed the petitions at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
RESEARCH: Minimum Wage Laws and App-Based Workers
March 30, 2024 // Rideshare apps are not too different. They generate revenue by taking a share of the total cost paid by riders to drivers. What is less clear is how large that fee is and how that fee has changed over time and across platforms. Rather than seeking out a rigid wage floor, a fee floor could stand in for the sense of fairness across platforms of different types. If workers on platforms are truly entrepreneurs, picking and choosing when, where, and how to allocate their labor across multiple platforms, doing more to ensure that markets offer a fair share of revenue can get the job done far more efficiently than attempting to mandate any particular amount.
Minnesota unions plan to wage simultaneous strikes
March 8, 2024 // Nearly 10,000 workers from a coalition of separate unions, working for a diverse group of employers, are planning a series of coordinated strikes in Minnesota this week and next. Their aim: Exert leverage at the bargaining table.
St. Paul school district proposes arbitration to settle teacher contract, avert walkout
February 29, 2024 // ASt. Paul Public Schools official said Tuesday that the district would like to pursue binding arbitration with its teachers in an effort to settle a new two-year contract without the disruption of a strike.
US unions target the housing affordability crisis as their ‘biggest issue’
February 20, 2024 // Organized labor across the country is now setting its sights on housing costs as rents and mortgages continue to soar