Posts tagged Minnesota
Op-Ed: Question 3 Still a Question: Massachusetts’ Experiment in Sectoral Bargaining for Gig Workers
April 10, 2025 // These impracticalities explain why Question 3 embraces sectoral bargaining. Under this regime, once the drivers form a union, that union will represent all the drivers in the state, no matter what rideshare company they work for. (Rideshare companies can also team up to simplify the negotiations.) This will put the drivers in a vastly superior bargaining position than if they had to incrementally organize smaller units of drivers or even company by company, as is the norm under the NLRA. Under the NLRA, organizers would next have to get the support of 30% of drivers in a bargaining unit before being able to call an election. But how do organizers reach that 30%? For rideshare drivers, there is no workplace where everyone congregates. The closest equivalent is the airport parking lot, where many drivers wait to get a ride request. But to even encounter 30% of drivers there, much less to convince that 30%, could be a prohibitively high bar. Additionally, driver turnover is high. By the time 30% is convinced, those drivers may have moved on, a new cohort taking their place. Part-timers also pose a problem. For these reasons, Question 3 requires that the would-be union collect signatures from only 5% of Active Drivers (defined as those that have completed more than the median number of rides in the last six months). That is a much more plausible bar to clear, given that rideshare drivers are quite literally a moving target, in time and in space.
Minnesota Electric Utility Employee Challenges IBEW Nationwide Policy Coercing Worker Contributions to Union’s Political Activity
April 10, 2025 // An employee of Agralite Electric Cooperative, an electric utility company in Western Minnesota, has just filed federal charges against the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) union, challenging nationwide restrictions union officials impose on workers who wish to cut off financial support for union political activities. The worker, Theresa Klassen, filed charges against both the IBEW international union and IBEW Local 160 at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 18 in Minneapolis. Klassen is represented for free by National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.
Gov. Walz orders state employees back to office, unions push back
March 28, 2025 // "We are mostly upset because there was no attempt by the governor or his agencies to engage with us at all," said Megan Dayton, president of Minnesota Association of Professional Employees. "There are not dedicated cubicles or offices anymore like there used to be pre-pandemic, so I don't know how they're going to do it." Dayton said her union has not ruled out a lawsuit. In a statement, Bart Andersen, president of AFSCME Council 5, another union, said, in part: "The administration’s decision to impose sweeping workplace policy changes without engaging our union and labor partners first is not just unacceptable – it’s an act of blatant disrespect."
University of Minnesota doctors file to unionize with country’s largest doctors’ union
March 26, 2025 // The union says physicians at the school are struggling with low wages and lack of staffing. "These and other issues compound the impact of an already highly stressful workplace and lead to rampant burnout — making it difficult for doctors to want to stay in Minnesota after they complete their training at UMN," the release said. The University of Minnesota Labor Rights Coalition helped physicians in their move to file.
The Next Wave Commentary: Kim Kavin
March 4, 2025 // In the wave of freelance busting that started with California’s Assembly Bill 5, the method of attack was the reclassification of independent contractors as employees. That method created massive backlash everywhere it was tried, so now, a new method is being tried. That new method is called sectoral organizing. This strategy of freelance busting in multiple states is usually a setup for a nationwide attack against us all. Independent contractors nationwide just learned this the hard way, with California’s Assembly Bill 5 ultimately leading to the introduction of the federal Protecting the Right to Organize Act. The freelance-busting brigade is, once again, doing a test run of its idea in the states, with bigger ambitions on the horizon.
Maple Grove Hospital nurses vote to unionize with MNA
January 30, 2025 // Twin Cities hospital systems have negotiated their nurse contracts concurrently, in part to avoid one-upping each other with escalating wages and benefits, but the end result is a mega-event every three years in which the union seizes on the collective voices of so many nurses bargaining at once.
Delta workers push for a vote to unionize in MN
January 27, 2025 // Gores said it’s not as easy for them to unionize like other companies. He said they are restricted by the railway labor act. Employees have to sign an authorization cards that are only valid for one year. He said it’s challenging to get people to resign each year. Gores said they need 9,000 or more authorization cards to be able to file for an election.
Fairmont, MN, Mayo Clinic Nurses Vote to Remove MNA Union From Facility
January 14, 2025 // “MNA union bosses’ influence and political connections did not shield them from suffering another defeat by rank-and-file nurses at the ballot box,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Ironically, Minnesota’s lack of Right to Work protections – which are vociferously opposed by the MNA – likely removed an important accountability tool from the relationship between the MNA and the nurses they claim to ‘represent.’ It’s no surprise that union bosses who can force workers to pay union dues or fees on pain of termination wind up being far less effective and more out-of-touch than union officials who must earn the voluntary financial support of each worker.”
500 Duluth city workers reach union contract, averting strike
January 8, 2025 // A statement from the city says the agreement reflects the city’s focus on “core city services, market adjustments that reflect realities of the post-pandemic labor market, and also better positions the city for hiring and retaining the very best skills and talent.” Terms of the agreement weren’t yet available Tuesday morning, but union officials said it includes “meaningful” market adjustments, improvements to scheduling and workload expectations and commitments to address staffing shortages.
SEIU’s longest strike with Essentia Health workers in Deer River
January 3, 2025 // 70 Essentia Health workers in Deer River have been on strike for the past three weeks. The Service Employees International Union is representing the healthcare workers at the bargaining table. Currently this is SEIU’s longest strike that they’ve been involved with as they negotiate for a market wage increase.