News and Views from the People's Struggle
Minneapolis, MN – Members of Women Against Military Madness picketed with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Sept. 11. The MNA went on strike at Allina hospitals on Labor Day.
_#Attica45MN _
Minneapolis, MN – Over 75 people demonstrated in downtown Minneapolis Sept. 9 to mark the 45th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising. Community elder Rosemary Williams called together several groups to organize the event, including the Black Coalition for Restorative Justice and Community Defense, the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar Clark, and the Twin Cities Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee. After rallying at the Hennepin County Government Center for some speeches, protesters hit the streets, taking over the light rail train tracks and several busy downtown streets. More speeches were delivered across the street at the county jail, and a few blocks away outside the Juvenile Detention Center.
Minneapolis, MN – Picket lines at Allina hospitals remain strong as the first week of the strike by more than 4000 members of the Minnesota Nurses Association draws to a close, Sept 11. The open-ended unfair labor practices strike began Labor Day, and comes in response to an attempt by Allina to extract major concessions in nurses’ heath care.
Minneapolis, MN – Members of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee picketed with the Minnesota Nurses Association at Abbot Northwestern Hospital during rush hour, Sept. 8. The nurses went out on strike on Labor Day.
Minneapolis, MN – Nearly 5000 members of the Minnesota Nurses Association walked off the job at Allina hospitals, Sept. 5, Labor Day, in an open-ended unfair labor practices strike. Allina is pressing for concessions on the health care plans that would shift more costs to the nurses.
Minneapolis, MN – Burhan Mohumed, a Somali-American leader in the West Bank neighborhood of Minneapolis and a member of Minnesotans Against Islamophobia, was visited by law enforcement on July 22. Mohumed refused to speak to them and quickly posted the audio of their encounter online.
Minneapolis, MN – Hundreds of Minnesota Nurses Association members, along with their supporters, rallied in Stewart Park Aug. 31 to show support for Allina Health nurses who are set to go on an open-ended Unfair Labor Practice strike on Labor Day. A broad spectrum of labor and community groups, including teachers, AFSCME, and Teamsters attended the rally.
Minneapolis, MN – Over 300 protesters rallied outside the Minneapolis Convention Center Aug. 19 as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump came to Minneapolis for a private big-money fundraiser with rich supporters. Most of the Minnesota Republican Party distanced itself from the Trump event and the small group of attendees paid a minimum of $1000 to meet the candidate and represent rich right-wing extremists of the Republican Party.
Minneapolis, MN – Members of the Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) and supporters protested the 20th anniversary of the passage of the disastrous U.S. welfare reform law. On Aug. 22, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the right-wing welfare reform measure into law. Hillary Clinton supported it.
Minneapolis, MN – On Aug. 20, Jesus Chucho Garcia, the Venezuelan Consul in New Orleans, spoke in Minneapolis at May Day Bookstore about the current situation and the future of Venezuela. The store was packed with activists from the peace movement, the Latin American solidarity movement and Venezuelans living in the U.S.
Minneapolis, MN – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s new campaign head, Stephen K. Bannon, is the chairman of the Breitbart News, a reactionary, right-wing ‘news’ outlet that has made a specialty of attacking leftists in general and Freedom Road Socialist Organization in particular.
Minneapolis, MN – A protest is planned against Republican candidate Donald Trump, who is slated to come to Minnesota for Aug. 19 fundraising event.
Minneapolis, MN – Over 50 people protested on Aug. 6 to mark the 71st anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasak. The call was to stop to the endless series of U.S. wars and military interventions. The protest came five days after the start of what appears to be a new campaign of U.S. airstrikes in Libya. The protest was in the West Bank neighborhood of Minneapolis in front of May Day Bookstore and was well received by many African members of the community who joined in the protest or rolled down their car windows to wave and give peace signs to protesters.
Minneapolis, MN – Contract negotiations ended Aug. 1, when nurses received another offer from Allina Health that eliminates all four of their contract health insurance plans. The nurses’ negotiations team will take the offer to the membership to vote to accept or reject later this month.
Minneapolis, MN – A coalition of Minneapolis/Saint Paul area groups will hold a protest this Saturday, Aug. 6. The protest was called to mark the 71st anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with a call for an end to the endless series of U.S. wars and military interventions.
Minneapolis, MN – El 21 de julio, la colombiana-americana Jennie Eisert, presentó un conmovido reporte sobre su participación en la delegación enviada por Alliance for Global Justice, para el proceso de paz en Colombia. Eisert estuvo en Colombia en mayo, semanas antes de que el gobierno colombiano y las Fuerzas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejercito Popular (FARC-EP) declararan oficialmente, el 23 de junio, el fin a la guerra de medio siglo.
Minneapolis, MN – On a sunny Saturday afternoon July 9, hundreds of people gathered in Loring Park, marched through downtown Minneapolis then sat in outside two entrances to the Basilica Block Party demanding justice for Philando Castile. Castile was murdered by St. Anthony police officers Thursday night on Larpenteur Avenue, as his girlfriend and her daughter sat in the car with him during a traffic stop and his girlfriend recorded live video of the incident to Facebook. The video went viral provoking outrage and protests nationwide.
Minneapolis, MN – Today at Noon NAACP head Nekima Levy-Pounds and hundreds of people held a press conference in front of the Minnesota Governors mansion to protest the police murder of Philando Castile on July 6, 2016. The aftermath of the shooting and death of Philando Castile was livestreamed by his partner Diamond Reynolds. Philando Castile had been driving while black when he was pulled over for a broken tail light. When asked by the officer for his license and registration he informed the man that he was a concealed carry permit holder and had a gun on his person. This is in compliance with Minnesota law and the procedures permit holders are instructed to use. The officer opened fire upon hearing that he had a gun, shooting him 3-5 times in the arm. Officers held Ms. Reynolds and her daughter in the car at gunpoint while Philando Castile bled to death in front of them. The livestream broadcast brought people to the scene who protested the murder throughout the night, eventually occupying the street in front of the MN Governors mansion. Philando Castile is remembered as a kind man who gave out extra graham crackers to the kids at J.J Hill school in St. Paul where he was a lunchroom supervisor. He was a 15 year member of Teamsters Local 320. This is at least the second police murder of an African American man this week
#MinneapolisMN #PoliceBrutality #PeoplesStruggles #MN #BlackLivesMatter #PhilandoCastile
Minneapolis, MN – Large numbers of people came together July 1 on a beautiful Minneapolis summer evening for a ‘happy hour and appetizers’ fundraiser. The event raised money for a bus from Minneapolis to Cleveland to protest Donald Trump’s racist and anti-immigrant agenda on the first day of the Republican National Convention (RNC).
Minneapolis, MN – Nurses who are part of the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) wrapped up a powerful seven-day strike on Sunday, June 26.