Albert Lea, MN — On Dec. 20, Mayo Albert Lea Hospital blocked 79 SEIU Healthcare MN hospital workers from returning to work after they went out on a one-day strike the day before. The members went on strike because they have been without a contract for over a year.

The main sticking points in bargaining have been around healthcare, pensions and a proposal from Mayo – which, if accepted by the members – would take away their right to bargain over most of their benefits. The workers clearly understand what is at stake and more than 90% of the workers in the group voted to strike, and an even higher number did not cross the picket line, even in the face of threats from management to lock them out. One day later those threats came true.

When the workers tried to return to work at 6 a.m. on Dec. 20, Mayo blockaded the doors with human resources personnel and security guards. The workers were then informed that Mayo was locking them out through Christmas and they could not return until Dec. 26. This is the first time there has been a strike at Mayo. It is also the first time there has been a lockout at a hospital in Minnesota history.

The SEIU members were shocked and disgusted that Mayo would stoop to the level of locking them out at Christmas. The lockout has only deepened the resolve of the workers. They have kept the picket lines strong for the last four days and on Dec. 21 they even drove to Rochester where they picketed, sang Christmas carols and dumped coal at the door of Mayo's headquarters.

On Saturday, Dec. 24 the workers will return home and spend Christmas with their families before returning to their jobs at 6 a.m. on Dec. 26. They will not give up their right to bargain for benefits and they are ready to continue fighting if Mayo does not come to the table ready to bargain soon.

#AlbertLeaMN #Healthcare #PeoplesStruggles #SEIU #Minnesota #mayo

Albert Lea, MN – Members and supporters of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota on the picket line Dec. 19, in a one-day Unfair Labor Practice strike at Mayo Clinic’s Albert Lea Hospital. Mayo refused to bargain with the union in good faith.

#AlbertLeaMN #strike #Strikes #mayo #SEIUHealthCareMN

Albert Lea, MN – On July 9, activists with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee and the Unlawful Assembly marching band traveled in a caravan from Minneapolis to the Freeborn County Jail in Albert Lea an hour and a half south of the Twin Cities. They assembled with banners, chants and music to protest the county’s contract with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and offer moral support and uplifting music to ICE detainees and other inmates inside the detention center.

Freeborn County first signed a five-year contract with ICE in 2009, receiving $77 per day per inmate. The contract is lucrative – in some years generating as much as $2.5 million for the county’s social services, road maintenance and infrastructure. Freeborn County is one of four counties in Minnesota profiting from holding ICE detainees. Sherburne, Ramsey and Carver counties also have ICE contracts.

The rally demanded that Minnesota counties stop profiting off of contracts with ICE and that they stop deporting members of our communities. Stories were shared that denounced ICE for its practices of breaking up families, brutalizing those it detains, and forcibly removing people to life-threatening situations in their countries of origin. Local law enforcement was critiqued for using racist policing tactics to profile, detain and deport immigrants and for producing profit by trafficking in human lives.

The protesters challenged local government and residents to end the silence and begin a conversation about the moral foundations of their local economy. The demonstration offered music and moral support to inmates, and raised local awareness regarding the rural nature of racialized border enforcement and the collusion between Minnesota counties and ICE.

Demands included:

• No More Deportations: We will not continue in silence while community members are held for profit in jails funded by Minnesota residents.
• Break the Contract: Freeborn County is currently renewing contracts with ICE on a yearly basis. We demand they not renew this contract.
• Sanctuary State: It has become clear that Sanctuary City statuses in Minnesota have a limited effect as immigrants without citizenship status continue being detained in the Twin Cities area and other parts of the state and held in these four county jails. Counties around the state, including Hennepin County, continue notifying ICE when immigrants enter their jails. We demand an end to county cooperation with ICE statewide.

See video from the protest here:

#AlbertLeaMN #MIRAc #FreebornCountyJail