Minnesota AFL-CIO

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Open Letter from Minnesota AFL-CIO Leadership

Open Letter from Minnesota AFL-CIO Leadership

April 15, 2021 Dear Union Members, Minnesota’s Labor Movement is diverse. From the work we do, what we look like, where we live, where we were born, and how we pray – Minnesota’s union members come from all walks of life. While we have many differences, we are united by a set of shared values. We believe all...
Statement on the Police Killing of Daunte Wright

Statement on the Police Killing of Daunte Wright

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy issued the following statement on the police killing of Daunte Wright: “Our state’s Labor Movement mourns as yet another unarmed Black Minnesotan is dead at the hands of law enforcement. Daunte Wright’s life mattered, his death is a tragedy, and he should be alive today. “The...
Minnesota AFL-CIO supports Building Trades’ Speedway boycott

Minnesota AFL-CIO supports Building Trades’ Speedway boycott

Following the Saint Paul Building Trades’ Sunday announcement of a boycott of Speedway gas stations based on parent company Marathon’s labor & safety practices at their Saint Paul Park refinery, Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy issued the following statement: “Generations of Minnesota’s union workers have...
At Legislative break, House acts for workers while Senate stalls

At Legislative break, House acts for workers while Senate stalls

This week marks the Minnesota Legislature’s traditional Easter/Passover recess. In January, we announced our legislative priorities, which represents the Labor Movement’s shared state policy vision and our commitment to racial and economic justice. Our priorities of crisis relief, maintaining and expanding workplace...
Minnesota AFL-CIO Announces 2021 Legislative Priorities

Minnesota AFL-CIO Announces 2021 Legislative Priorities

The Minnesota AFL-CIO, the statewide federation of more than 1,000 local unions who represent more than 300,000 working people, announced its 2021 legislative priorities aimed at crisis relief, maintaining and expanding workplace rights and safety, extending paid leave for all workers, tax justice, and creating jobs...
At the Capitol

At the Capitol
PRO Act vote shows which Minnesota Representatives stand with workers

PRO Act vote shows which Minnesota Representatives stand with workers

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy issued the following statement on the US House’s 220 to 205 passage of the Protecting the Right to Organizing (PRO) Act: “The US House of Representatives just took a major step toward leveling the playing field for working people by passing the PRO Act. “Today’s vote was an...
As Chauvin trial begins, Labor calls for justice & protecting free speech

As Chauvin trial begins, Labor calls for justice & protecting free speech

As jury selection begins in the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin for George Floyd’s murder, Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy issued the following statement: “We have full confidence in Attorney General Ellison and his team to prosecute this case and to see that George Floyd’s family...
When it comes to economic security, Minnesota has a serious deficit

When it comes to economic security, Minnesota has a serious deficit

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy issued the following statement in response to the February state budget forecast: “While it’s encouraging to see Minnesota’s financial situation improving, the state budget has been underfunded for over 20 years. Understaffed classrooms, crumbling infrastructure, and...
Racial & economic justice at the center of Labor’s legislative priorities

Racial & economic justice at the center of Labor’s legislative priorities

Nearly two months into Minnesota’s 2021 legislative session, Minnesota’s Labor Movement continues to pursue legislative priorities that put working people first, especially workers who have sacrificed most during this pandemic. At the core of the Minnesota AFL-CIO’s 2021 legislative priorities is advancing racial and...
Get Updates

Get Updates
Thank Governor Walz

Thank Governor Walz

Join us in thanking Governor Tim Walz for including the just tax increases in his budget proposal that will pay for critical actions to ensure Minnesotans have the healthcare and other supports to get through the pandemic and get back on their feet, and to build the strong and equitable future our communities need and...
Frontline Workers Speak Out About Need for COVID-19 Emergency Paid Leave

Frontline Workers Speak Out About Need for COVID-19 Emergency Paid Leave

Frontline workers spoke out Thursday morning in support of legislation providing up to 100 hours of emergency paid leave for frontline workers forced to stay home due to a COVID-19 diagnosis or exposure. Workers from across jobs and locations shared stories of how they’ve had to dip into savings or go unpaid when they...
PRO Act is Groundbreaking & Transformative for Working People

PRO Act is Groundbreaking & Transformative for Working People

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy issued the following statement on today’s introduction of the Protect the Right to Organize (PRO Act) in the US House of Representatives: “The pandemic has made it even clearer that working people in Minnesota and across the nation need the voice, equity, and security that...
Unsafe Working Conditions Due to COVID-19? Learn About Your Right to Refuse

Unsafe Working Conditions Due to COVID-19? Learn About Your Right to Refuse

Minnesota’s Labor Movement is ready to stand with workers, both union and non-union, across the state to know their rights and enforce Gov. Walz’s Executive Order. Gov. Walz's Order gives you the freedom to refuse to work in unsafe or unhealthy working conditions due to COVID-19 and protection from retaliation if you...
Learning & Working Safe During a Pandemic

Learning & Working Safe During a Pandemic

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, life changed for all Americans. For Minnesota’s construction trades apprentices, work while continuing to learn a career took on new challenges. “We ate in our cars, constantly cleaned our tools, and kept our distance from each other,” said Heather Oehrlein, a third year Pipe Fitter...
Walz budget invests in working families’ priorities

Walz budget invests in working families’ priorities

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy issued the following statement on Governor Tim Walz’s proposed state budget: “Governor Walz’s budget proposal is a bold plan that invests in priorities to help working people recover from the COVID-19 pandemic while laying out a vision for a more just and equitable state. “...
Upcoming Events

Upcoming Events
Union density increase shows working Minnesotans demand a voice

Union density increase shows working Minnesotans demand a voice

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy issued the following statement on today’s US Bureau of Labor Statistics Report showing Minnesota’s union membership rate increased from 13.7% (364,000) of the workforce in 2019 to 15.8% (398,000) in 2020, jumping from having the 12th to the 10th highest union density in the...
Labor condemns Capitol insurrection, calls on complicit Minnesota Republicans to resign

Labor condemns Capitol insurrection, calls on complicit Minnesota Republicans to resign

The Executive Board of the Minnesota AFL-CIO unanimously passed a resolution today calling for the resignations or Congressional censure of Representatives Jim Hagedorn (CD 1), Tom Emmer (CD6), Michele Fischbach (CD-7), and Pete Stauber (CD-8) for their complicity in President Trump’s encouragement of last week’s US...
Attempted Coup an Unconscionable Assault on Democracy

Attempted Coup an Unconscionable Assault on Democracy

Statement from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on the breach of the U.S. Capitol building: We are witnessing one of the greatest assaults on our democracy since the Civil War. Today’s attempted coup has been years in the making as Donald Trump consistently spews venom, conspiracies, hate and lies to his supporters....
Union members deliver Minnesota as part of Joe Biden’s & Kamala Harris’ historic victory

Union members deliver Minnesota as part of Joe Biden’s & Kamala Harris’ historic victory

As multiple news organizations declared Joe Biden President-elect and Kamala Harris Vice President-elect, Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy issued the following statement: “Minnesota’s union members are proud to be part of a movement that helped lay the groundwork for President-elect Biden’s and Vice President...
Minnesota AFL-CIO Releases 2020 Legislative Scorecard

Minnesota AFL-CIO Releases 2020 Legislative Scorecard

Following yesterday’s adjournment of October’s special legislative session, the Minnesota AFL-CIO released its 2020 legislative scorecard. The report shows how every lawmaker voted on issues important to both union members and all working Minnesotans. “With nearly two weeks remaining to vote, it is vital that working...
Minnesota’s Labor 2020 Campaign in Full Swing

Minnesota’s Labor 2020 Campaign in Full Swing

With less than thirty days remaining until the polls close on November 3rd, the Minnesota AFL-CIO’s Labor 2020 political program is running at full speed in what has shaped up to be one of the most consequential elections in American history. “We must deliver a decisive win in November because everything is on the...
Minnesota AFL-CIO launches largest digital ad buy & member engagement program in state federation history

Minnesota AFL-CIO launches largest digital ad buy & member engagement program in state federation history

The Minnesota AFL-CIO, the state federation of more than 1,000 local unions who represent more than 300,000 working people, announced a $400,000 statewide digital ad buy to encourage union members to support Labor-endorsed candidates. The video and banner advertisements began running last Friday on social media...
Minnesota AFL-CIO pioneering apprenticeships for manufacturing workers

Minnesota AFL-CIO pioneering apprenticeships for manufacturing workers

For decades, America’s construction unions’ apprenticeship programs have been the gold standard for empowering workers to thrive in the construction industry. Now unions in a handful of states, including Minnesota, are pioneering a similar model for workers in the manufacturing sector. It’s called the Industrial...
On Labor Day, Minnesota AFL-CIO launches Union Member Candidate pilot program in Crystal & Robbinsdale

On Labor Day, Minnesota AFL-CIO launches Union Member Candidate pilot program in Crystal & Robbinsdale

The Minnesota AFL-CIO today launched a pilot program to empower and elect Minnesota union members to public office, putting the state labor federation’s support behind City Council candidates in Crystal & Robbinsdale. The Minnesota AFL-CIO’s Union Member Candidate Program, based on the New Jersey AFL-CIO’s...
State Labor Leaders denounce Senate Republicans’ firing of Labor Commissioner

State Labor Leaders denounce Senate Republicans’ firing of Labor Commissioner

Minnesota’s Labor Leaders gathered to condemn Senate Republican’s abrupt removal of Minnesota Labor & Industry Commissioner Nancy Leppink. Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy delivered the following comments: On Wednesday afternoon, without any warning, Senate Republicans voted to remove Nancy Leppink as...
Minnesota AFL-CIO advocating for union members and all working people

Minnesota AFL-CIO advocating for union members and all working people

On Wednesday, August 12, Governor Walz will call the Minnesota House and Senate back for a special session to extend the state’s ongoing COVID-19 peacetime emergency. While many Minnesotans’ eyes will be focused towards the Capitol during the session, the Minnesota AFL-CIO has long kept a constant vigil on the State...
Minnesota AFL-CIO helping to empower workers to report unsafe conditions

Minnesota AFL-CIO helping to empower workers to report unsafe conditions

The Labor Movement’s long history is populated with fights for safer working conditions and workplace safety laws. The COVID-19 pandemic has put worker safety back in the spotlight as working people across Minnesota and the nation face unprecedented concerns. In far too many states, workers who don’t have the...
AT&T Wireless Discount for Union Members

AT&T Wireless Discount for Union Members

AT&T is the only nationwide unionized wireless carrier. When you choose AT&T, you support the more than 150,000 members of Communications Workers of America employed there. Exclusive Wireless Savings, Just for Union Members Save 15% on the monthly service charge of qualified wireless plans — and take...

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