Grand Rapids, MI – Health insurance workers of Blue Cross Blue Shield, organized with the United Auto Workers (UAW), walked out on strike four weeks ago after new contract negotiations fell through.

Grand Rapids, MN – The calls for conviction of Christopher Schurr, the cop who murdered 26-year-old Congolese immigrant Patrick Lyoya, were heard in the streets of Grand Rapids on Wednesday, August 30, during a rally of 70 people demanding justice ahead of Schurr’s Court of Appeals date next week. This is the first of two events planned – the second will be to pack the court next week for Schurr’s hearing.

Grand Rapids, MN – At 6 a.m., July 15, around 200 members of Teamsters Local 346 walked off their jobs at the UPM Blandin Paper Company and began a strike. Grand Rapids gets its name because it sits along the Mississippi River in northern Minnesota. The UPM Blandin paper plant was built in its location on the edge of the river to use the river to power its paper mill. The plant has been an established feature of the town’s economy since its founding in 1901. Now, for the first time in the history of the plant its workers have gone on strike.