Posts tagged Minnesota
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.
Over 9.2 million workers will get a raise on January 1 from 21 states raising their minimum wages
December 18, 2024 // Twenty-one states will increase their minimum wages on January 1, raising pay for more than 9.2 million workers by a total of $5.7 billion. In addition, 48 cities and counties will raise their minimum wages above their state wage floors, mostly in California, Colorado, and Washington.
Workers at Bethesda parent company strike over remote work policies
November 14, 2024 // The Communications Workers of America (CWA), the organizing committee that supports ZeniMax Workers United along with multiple video game unions in the US, has also filed an unfair labor complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over contracting out work without notifying the union. There have been several video game-related strikes in the US in recent year. In 2021, workers at Raven Software — a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard before its eventual acquisition by Microsoft — participated in a walkout that turned into a five-week strike after several employee contracts were not renewed. After that strike, workers at Raven Software organized and won one of the first video game unions at a AAA game publisher in the country.
Commentary: More Jobs, Fewer Workers: Is the Labor Market Strong or Weak?
November 5, 2024 // Even after factoring in the BLS’s acknowledgment that its reports overstated job gains by 818,000 from March 2023 to March 2024, there still appears to be about five times as many new jobs created over the past year as there are additional people working. While media reports and markets tend to focus on jobs reports, what matters most to the economy and to human flourishing is how many people are working. Currently only 60.2% of people ages 16 and over in the U.S. are working. This is a gap of about 2.6 million workers compared to pre-pandemic employment rates.
COMMENTARY: These Punches Landed
October 24, 2024 // What you have is a task force that’s heavy on unionists. I understand why you want to help unions: Membership is at an all-time low, and Gallup says 80% of people either don’t want to join a union, or are at best neutral on the subject. But when you try to solve that union problem by destroying the livelihoods of independent contractors, all you do is come off as extremists.
Employer Free Speech on the Ballot in Alaska
October 10, 2024 // The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects such meetings, and the Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized their legality and importance in helping employees gather information on potential union representation. As a result, even if the referendum were to pass, a court would likely find it unlawful. Alaska’s referendum also increases the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2027 and provides at least 40 hours of paid sick leave to many workers.