Rochester, MN – Members of SEIU Healthcare MN, AFSCME Council 65 and Teamsters 120 have spent the last year in a battle with Mayo Clinic. It started with Mayo’s surprise announcement in July 2016 that they would subcontract Mayo food service workers out to Morrison Food Services starting in 2017. The affected food service workers are employed at Mayo’s southern Minnesota locations in Rochester, Albert Lea Austin and Fairmont.

Minneapolis, MN – On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court deviated from previous lower court rulings to allow portions of the Trump Muslim ban to go into effect. This new interim policy will allow the Trump administration to prevent travel for people from six Muslim majority countries – Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen – who lack a “bona fide relationship” with an American person or entity. The court also ruled that during this time, national security concerns related to these countries can take precedence over other obligations to accept refugees. The U.S. Supreme Court plans to hear oral arguments on the travel ban in October.

Milwaukee, WI – About 30 people gathered here, June 24, to stand in solidarity with socialist Cuba and Bolivarian Venezuela. The rally was called in response to President Trump’s unveiling of new restrictions on travel to Cuba.

Washington, DC – In a June 23, People's Daily Online article, it was reported that “scientists at the China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP) announced recently that they have perfected a laser gun capable of shooting down drones flying at low altitudes. The laser system performed well during experiments and tests, shooting down over 30 small aircraft.”

Jacksonville, FL – Around 50 people rallied for trans rights at Memorial Park in Jacksonville, June 24. Organized by the Coalition for Consent, Jacksonville Transgender Action Committee along with other groups, protesters rallied to demand an end to attacks on the trans community, especially oppressed nationality trans women.

Activists still fighting to stop his deportation

Minneapolis, MN – On June 23, the charges against Ariel Vences Lopez of ‘fare evasion,’ ‘obstruction of process’ and ‘providing a false name to police’ were dropped. This legal victory is one step in the campaign that immigrant rights and anti-police brutality activists are waging to stop the deportation of Vences Lopez and stop police harassment and brutality on Twin Cities public transit.

Los Angeles, CA – Public school teachers at Roosevelt High School (RHS), joined by professors from Cal-State LA and students from RHS Magnet joined together to demand that authorities free 22-year-old Claudia Rueda.

Chicago, IL – 500 people gathered in Chicago’s Washington Park June 18 to protest the acquittal of the cop that killed Philando Castile in Minnesota. The marchers began with a rally at the location where Ronald “Ronnieman” Johnson was shot in the back by Chicago police in October 2014.

St. Paul, MN – A massive protest is underway at the Minnesota State Capitol building, tonight, June 16, in response to the not guilty verdict in the case of Philando Castile. Castile was killed by Saint Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez.

St. Paul, MN – A massive protest is underway at the Minnesota State Capitol building, tonight, June 16, in response to the not guilty verdict in the case of Philando Castile. Castile was killed by Saint Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez.

St. Paul, MN – The world is watching Saint Paul, Minnesota this week, hoping that the family of Philando Castile will get justice for his death at the hands of Saint Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez. In the Twin Cities, community organizations have come to together to hold a unified response, whatever the verdict. A march and rally will take place at the Minnesota State Capitol building, 7 p.m., on the day the verdict is announced.

Fight is on to stop his deportation

New Hope, MN – Protesters packed the June 12 city council work session in New Hope, a suburb of Minneapolis, to demand that the city fire police officer Andy Lamers. Until recently, in addition to his job in New Hope, Lamers also had a part-time job as a police officer with Metro Transit, which operates public transit in the Twin Cities area.

Milwaukee, WI – This evening, June 12, 50 people gathered at the site of last night's police shooting on Milwaukee’s lakefront. Two African Americans, who had been pulled over and allegedly tried to drive away, were shot at least a dozen times by an on-foot officer. This happened at one of the busiest intersections on Milwaukee’s lakefront, in broad daylight, and was witnessed by hundreds of Milwaukeeans.

Milwaukee, WI – At dusk on the evening of June 11, a Milwaukee police officer shot, in front of hundreds of beachgoers, two unarmed African Americans who were driving a vehicle down the lakefront. Both individuals were in a car that had been pulled over. When the police told them to get out of the car, they allegedly tried to drive away. Then, another police officer who happened to be walking by on foot fired around a dozen bullets into the windshield of the vehicle, hitting the driver and his girlfriend and causing them to crash into a nearby vehicle. There were hundreds of witnesses, with the shooting happening right next to the busiest beach in the city. A massive crowd quickly gathered and dozens of police were called to the scene. Within an hour, the police had cordoned off the street nearly a mile in each direction, and had cordoned off the streets on the bluffs overlooking the shooting scene.

Chicago, IL – In an historic vote, members of ChiACTS Local 4343, the union of charter school educators in Chicago, voted overwhelmingly to unify with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), June 9. CTU members will vote on unification with ChiACTS this fall. Ballots from union charter schools were counted after the close of the Friday school day. Final vote counts of the 1,000-strong union were 671 in favor and 130 against unifying – or about 84% of voting members supporting unification.

St. Paul, MN – More than 400 people demonstrated at the Minnesota State Capitol building, June 10, to protest the ‘anti-sharia rally’ organized by the anti-Muslim hate group, Act for America (ACT). The small anti-Muslim rally included several white supremacist and neo-Nazi groupings.

Minneapolis, MN – A row of chairs reserved for the University of Minnesota Board of Regents sat empty while university unions held their own public hearing on university budget, June 8.

Minneapolis, MN – The Minnesota chapter of CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations, held a press conference, June 9, at Bethany Lutheran Church in Minneapolis to show unity on the eve of ACT for America’s national “March Against Sharia.”

Jacksonville, FL – Four of the five activists beaten and arrested by police at an April anti-war protest spoke out at a press conference, June 5, held outside the Duval County Courthouse. Dubbed the 'Jax5' by supporters, the activists discussed the favorable outcome of their cases and announced a campaign for community control of the police in Jacksonville. It marked the first public statement by the Jax5 since their arrest nearly two months earlier.

St Paul, MN – Hundreds will join “Protest Anti-Muslim Bigotry: Oppose Racists at the Capitol” to challenge a rally planned by the anti-Muslim hate group, Act for America (ACT), June 10, 11 a.m. at the Minnesota State Capitol building. The University of Minnesota chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) issued the call, now joined by the Anti-War Committee and some 20 organizations, including religious organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace, to, “outnumber, drown out the racists, and rally as a progressive community to appreciate our religious, racial and national diversity and oppose these kinds of anti-Muslim and racist actions in the future.”