Minneapolis, MN – Fed up with crushing caseloads and substandard pay, public defense lawyers and support staff workers employed by the Minnesota Board of Public Defense voted overwhelmingly March 10 to reject a final offer and authorize a strike. The workers are all represented by Teamsters Local 320.

Minneapolis, MN – The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) strike entered its fourth day on Thursday March 11 as Minneapolis Public Schools remained closed. Picket lines continued to have large crowds with many schools reporting 100% turnout to their picket lines every day of the strike, and the others reporting nearly all educators on their lines.

Contract settlement reached in Saint Paul

Minneapolis, MN – Teachers and education support professionals in Minneapolis began striking at 7:30 a.m., March 8, with pickets held at public schools all over the city.

Minneapolis, MN – Around 60 people gathered in Mayday Plaza on Sunday, March 6, for an International Women’s Day protest organized by the Twin Cities district of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Demands for reproductive rights and healthcare for all, justice for missing and murdered indigenous women and two-spirit people, an end to gender-based violence, queer and trans liberation, and justice for all stolen lives were raised. The demonstrators also stood in solidarity with Twin Cities educators preparing to strike, signs reading “Victory to the educators!” dotted the crowd gathered in the square, and similar phrases frequented the speeches given.

Minneapolis, MN – On Saturday March 5 rank-and-file union members along with parents, teachers and students held a press conference in support of the teachers, education support professionals (ESPs) and education assistants who will begin a strike Tuesday in Minneapolis and Saint Paul public schools.

Minneapolis, MN – Fight Back! News interviewed Meredith Aby-Keirstead, a founding member of the MN Anti-War Committee, on February 27 for her anti-war perspective on the crisis in the Ukraine and the proxy war developing between the U.S./NATO and Russia.

Minneapolis, MN – On February 24, around 30 people demonstrated outside U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office in downtown Minneapolis with signs and banners calling for no war with Russia and an end to U.S. intervention in Ukraine. Held less than 24 hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine, the protest came amidst a jingoistic frenzy of calls by Western governments and media for actions against Russia.

Minneapolis, MN – On February 23, Twin Cities teachers, along with education support professionals in Minneapolis and education assistants in Saint Paul, announced that they have filed ten-day notices to begin open-ended strikes in both cities’ public schools. The strikes are set to begin on Tuesday, March 8.

Minneapolis, MN – On February 12, thousands of teachers, education assistants (EAs) and education support professionals (ESPs), joined by parents and community members, marched in subzero weather to press the school districts meet their demands at the bargaining table. If the demands are not met, an open-ended strike across both of Minnesota’s largest school districts is expected.

Minneapolis, MN – Public defense workers in Minnesota are ready to strike. The negotiating committees of both the lawyer bargaining unit and the support staff bargaining unit voted unanimously to reject a “last best final offer” from management. That unanimous vote carries with it a recommendation to strike if better terms are not reached. The membership of Teamsters Local 320 will begin voting on the offer next week, with ballots counted March 7.

Strike vote ahead

Minneapolis, MN – Teachers and education assistants in both Minneapolis and Saint Paul will hold a joint march on February 12 to call for the safe and stable schools that their students deserve. The Minneapolis educators are members of the Minneapolis Teachers Union, and the Saint Paul educators are members of Saint Paul Federation of Educators. Both groups have been in bargaining over their next contract.

Minneapolis, MN – Around 5000 people marched in protest here February 5, to demand justice for Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black man murdered by police on February 2. Police were carrying out a no-knock search warrant on the apartment where Locke was sleeping and shot him three times, nine seconds after they snuck open the door. Protesters demand jail, prosecution and murder charges for the officer who shot Amir and those who planned the raid; an end to no-knock warrants; and the resignation of the Minneapolis Police Chief Huffington and Mayor Frey.

Minneapolis, MN – Around 5000 people marched in protest here February 5, to demand justice for Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black man murdered by police on February 2. Police were carrying out a no-knock search warrant on the apartment where Locke was sleeping and shot him three times, nine seconds after they snuck open the door. Protesters demand jail, prosecution and murder charges for the officer who shot Amir and those who planned the raid; an end to no-knock warrants; and the resignation of the Minneapolis Police Chief Huffington and Mayor Frey.

Minneapolis, MN – On Wednesday, February 2, a young Black man, Amir Locke, was murdered by the Minneapolis Police Department. He was shot by an officer nine seconds after entering the downtown Minneapolis apartment unit where Locke was sleeping. He was shot around 6:50 a.m.

Looming strike averted

Minneapolis MN – A looming strike was averted when AFSCME Local 2822 came to a mediated settlement with Hennepin County, January 27. The agreement comes one day after Local 34 also reached a tentative deal. Workers represented by these two locals will begin voting on the contract February 2, the first day workers were poised to walk out. The bargaining committees of both locals are unanimously recommending a yes vote on the new contract offer.

Minneapolis, MN – On January 23, protesters marched in freezing temperatures to bring attention to the Biden administration’s inhumane immigration policies. The march, organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), took place in a neighborhood with many immigrant families and received significant support from onlookers as protesters chanted about closing the camps, abolishing ICE, and supporting legalization for all. The protesters demanded that Biden and the Democratic-controlled Congress take immediate action to reverse all Trump-era anti-immigrant policies and act on their campaign promises to support immigrant families.

Minneapolis MN – Trails of frozen breath rose above hundreds of workers, January 19, as they chanted and picketed in subzero temperatures in front of county buildings throughout Hennepin County, the most populous county in Minnesota. The picketers are members of AFSCME Local 34 and AFSCME Local 2822 and work as library workers, social service workers and more. Earlier that morning the union members filed notice to go on strike February 2.

Minneapolis, MN – Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) is still saying “No to war” as the group celebrates 40 years of organizing and fighting back.

Minneapolis, MN – More than 50 people gathered here to honor Mel Reeves, a community leader who died January 6 at age 64. Organized by Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, the event was a space for those who worked alongside him in community to share memories of a man who put in decades of work in struggles against racism and police violence, economic injustice and war and militarism. Reeves was a father and grandfather, and a journalist for the Black newspaper, the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

Minneapolis, MN – On December 16, around 2500 hundred clerical, technical and healthcare workers at the University of Minnesota reached a tentative agreement on a new contract. The workers are members of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Locals 3800, 3801, 3260 and 3937 and have been working with an expired contract since July 1. The agreement is for a one-year contract, which means even as this long round of negotiations and contract campaign actions wraps up, the locals are already gearing up to begin bargaining their next contract.