Minneapolis, MN – The Solidarity Committee on the Americas (SCOTA) and the Minnesota Cuba Committee held their second rally and car caravan, September 26, demanding the end to the blockade against Cuba. The protest was part of a growing movement which started in Miami and has spread to many cities across the country and around the world.

Minneapolis, MN – On September 22, around 150 AFSCME members at the University of Minnesota held a noon rally calling for the university to listen to their demands and offer real proposals to address issues the workers face around the pandemic and safety, rising costs of living, and racial and social justice at the university. The AFSCME members were joined by supporters from student groups, faculty, and other unions. The union members are fighting for language around several significant issues they face.

Minneapolis, MN – On September 20, Hennepin County library workers rallied at the East Lake Street Library, located in the heart of last year’s George Floyd rebellion, to call on county commissioners to fully fund and staff public libraries. At the rally, frontline support staff and library workers spoke out against cutting staff during a pandemic, saying that people need the library services more than ever.

Not the change we need

Just last year, the halls of power in Minnesota shook when people answered the murder of George Floyd by rising up. We marched on the State Capitol, the county attorney, the state attorney general, the police federation and the interstate highways. Day and night, for weeks on end, we faced riot police, tear gas, National Guard troops and white supremacists. The Third Precinct police station was burned, as were hundreds of other buildings. And fires here sparked protests across the world and transformed the political landscape.

Minneapolis, MN – On September 18 nearly 100 people rallied and marched to call for an end to the Line 3 oil pipeline. The Climate Justice Committee organized the rally to continue pressure on President Biden and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to end the permits for Line 3.

Minneapolis, MN – On September 16, thousands of rush-hour commuters on Interstate 94 saw banners with slogans like “Free Palestine,” “End apartheid” and “End ethnic cleansing” hung from the Loring Park footbridge, amid a sea of Palestinian flags. Activists from American Muslims for Palestine – Minnesota (AMP-MN), the Anti-War Committee (AWC) and Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) then rallied in the park with chants and speeches.

Minneapolis, MN – On Tuesday evening, September 14, around 100 union members who are part of AFSCME at Hennepin County in Minnesota rallied in front of the Hennepin County Government Center calling for real raises in this year’s contract negotiations.

Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, August 26, window cleaners in Minneapolis reached a tentative agreement with their employers and ended their open-ended strike after ten days on the picket lines.

Minneapolis, MN – In Minneapolis and surrounding Hennepin County, AFSCME members are demanding that the county commissioners use some of the $246 million they county received from the American Rescue Plan to go to hazard pay for frontline workers as well as compensation in the form of stipends for remote employees for things like internet and cooling bills, to cover the increases in those utilities caused by working from home. Last year Hennepin County received $224 million in relief funds while offering nothing in the form of hazard pay at the same time as grocery store workers saw a $3 per hour increase.

Minneapolis, MN – On August 20, the strike continued for around 50 SEIU Local 26 union members who clean the majority of the tall buildings in downtown Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Through their first five days of the strike the window cleaners picketed in locations all around downtown Minneapolis. They also held multiple larger events for members of other unions and the community to show their support for the workers and their strike over wages and safety.

Minneapolis, MN – On August 17 at 7 a.m. around 50 high rise window cleaners represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 26 in Minneapolis began a strike. The window cleaners are part of a master contract in which three companies bargain together for one large contract.

Minneapolis, MN – There have been some recent advances in the campaign to end cooperation between the largest county in Minnesota, Hennepin County, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The campaign has been organized by the Decriminalizing Communities Coalition, which brings together several local immigrant rights and social justice organizations.

Minneapolis, MN – On August 5, 60 people gathered alongside Washington Avenue near Senator Amy Klobuchar’s Minneapolis office to demand an end of U.S. aid to apartheid Israel. The protesters stretched down the block with signs and Palestinian flags, greeting the rush hour drivers, who were overwhelmingly supportive and honking wildly.

Minneapolis, MN – On August 4, over 30 people gathered on an Interstate 35W overpass, near the office of Biden ally Senator Amy Klobuchar. Via signage, song and chants, community members spread the message to thousands passing by in rush hour traffic: “Save our planet, not their profits” and “Love water, not oil.” Protesters urged commuters to contact President Biden directly to demand an end to Line 3, as the president could kill ‘the black snake’ with a stroke of his pen – but he continues to prioritize corporate profits over the health of people and the planet.

Minneapolis, MN – Around 30 people took to May Day Plaza, July 29, to hold signs and banners in a show of solidarity with the people of Cuba and Haiti after a new wave of U.S. intervention attempts. This event came after the Biden administration’s July 22 issuance of new sanctions on Cuba, as well as the July 7 assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse.

Minneapolis, MN – On July 22, 50 people gathered outside Minneapolis City Hall for a press conference in defense of the 646-plus people who were arrested on November 4, 2020. They demanded City Attorney Jim Rowder and other prosecutors drop the charges against the 646, and that the charges be dropped against all protesters since the murder of George Floyd last summer.

Minneapolis, MN – Hundreds marched in the streets of downtown Minneapolis for Taking Back Pride, on June 27. Protesters demanded the conviction of all four officers involved in George Floyd’s murder, justice for all victims of police crimes, the prevention of bathroom bills or medical gatekeeping, community control of the police, a stop to Line 3, freedom for all political prisoners and the wrongfully incarcerated, and freedom for Palestine.

Minneapolis, MN – On June 22, more than 150 members of AFSCME who work for Hennepin County held a boisterous rally in front of the Hennepin County Government Center to kick off their 2021 contract negotiations. The AFSCME locals at Hennepin County are Locals 2822, 34, 552, 1719, 2864 and 2938, collectively representing many thousands of public sector workers employed by the county.

Minneapolis, MN – 1500 community members gathered at Girard Avenue and Lake Street in Minneapolis, June 14, for a “March in Honor of Deona Marie,” organized by Black Lives Matter Minnesota. The night before, Deona Marie Erickson was killed by a driver who attacked protesters demanding justice for Winston Smith.