Minnesota Independent

Local labor organizers lament ‘card-check’ provision’s seeming demise

By Paul Demko | 08.06.09 | 6:00 am

Throughout the 2008 campaign, the “card-check” provision of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) was a political lightning rod. Business groups pilloried the proposal as an attack on workers’ rights, while organized labor lobbied ferociously for the measure, which would allow workers to unionize when more than half have signed cards indicating support for collective bargaining. When Democratic leaders quietly decided to drop the measure from EFCA last month — without so much as a vote — it came as something of a slap in the face for labor.

Lockdown at Minneapolis military recruiting offices goes unchallenged

By Chris Steller | 04.24.09 | 4:53 pm

A day’s wait brought relative quiet for anti-war activists who locked themselves to a pair of military recruiting office doors in Minneapolis Friday. The protesters took advantage of heavily trafficked Washington Ave. SE to spread their message.

Business collapse can end union contracts, but not AIG bonus contracts

By Chris Steller | 03.16.09 | 7:27 pm

Contracts guaranteeing bonuses to executives at collapsing businesses — like American International Group (AIG) — are held inviolable, while labor union contracts regularly get voided or reneged-on when corporations declare (or even threaten) bankruptcy. Labor experts say it’s the law of the land.

Caucuses will test mettle of progressive Camp Wellstone grads

By Chris Steller | 03.02.09 | 10:32 pm

When locals gather to choose delegates at DFL precinct caucuses Tuesday, three Minneapolis City Council candidates will be looking for the first signs of success from skills they picked up at a recent weekend at Camp Wellstone.

Slideshow: Michelle Obama in St. Paul

By Paul Schmelzer | 10.13.08 | 7:54 pm

Michelle Obama made a stop in Rochester Monday to campaign for her husband, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama before making her way north to address a crowd of 4,500 at Macalester College in St. Paul. MnIndy copyeditor Nancy Olsen was there and captured these scenes. Look for a report by MnIndy’s Paul Demko soon.