Minnesota Independent

Wal-Mart, Salem radio dump Bradlee Dean

By Andy Birkey | 05.25.11 | 2:43 pm

Wal-Mart and Salem Communications have severed ties with two entities run by pastor Bradlee Dean, who made headlines last week for a controversial prayer before the Minnesota House of Representatives. David Brauer reports that AM 1280 The Patriot, owned by Christian broadcaster Salem Communications, dropped Dean’s “Sons of Liberty” radio show, and Nick Pinto writes that Wal-Mart has told Dean’s ministry, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, that it can no longer fundraise in the parking lots of its Minnesota locations.

Is DHS’s expanded ‘If you see something, say something’ campaign burdensome?

By Sofia Resnick | 02.17.11 | 8:38 am

The Department of Homeland Security’s “If you see something, say something” campaign makes it way to the NBA’s All-Star game in Los Angeles this weekend, just as it has at Wal-Mart stores and the Mall of America. Enlisting Americans to keep an eye out for “suspicious activity,” the campaign has raised questions. With sports fans and budget-conscious shoppers reporting “suspicious” activities every 10 minutes, does that help the security agencies or overwhelm the system?

Despite backlash against Target, MN Forward continues to rake in corporate donations

By Patrick Caldwell | 08.06.10 | 6:00 am

After providing an outside political organization with $150,000 to run ads for Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, the Target Corporation has come to symbolize the dangers posed by the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling. The corporation’s CEO…

Are corporations people? Bachmann won’t say

By Chris Steller | 01.25.10 | 1:41 pm

Rep. Michele Bachmann said she had no comment when asked whether corporations are people, as the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled. She did say that pending health care reform legislation is “regulation on steroids” and decried “the dirty…

Unfair labor charges dropped against Wal-Mart

By Paul Demko | 07.20.09 | 4:14 pm

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 789 has withdrawn charges of labor law violations by Wal-Mart against employees at its store in St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood. The union, which is currently engaged in an organizing campaign at Wal-Mart outlets throughout the Twin Cities, accused the world’s largest retailer last month of illegally threatening to terminate workers who supported unionizing.

Wal-Mart accused of labor-law violations

By Paul Demko | 06.25.09 | 4:35 pm

Wal-Mart is threatening to fire pro-union workers at its store in the Midway neighborhood of St. Paul, according to a complaint filed today with the National Labor Relations Board. The charges, filed by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 789, allege that starting on June 11 corporate representatives began telling employees that they could easily acquire a list of union backers and that those people would lose their jobs.

MnIndy video: Union members rally at St. Paul Wal-Mart

By Paul Demko | 06.05.09 | 1:13 pm

Wal-Mart is the most notoriously anti-union corporation in the world. After a five-year hiatus, the United Food and Commercial Workers union is once again seeking to organize the company’s 1.4 million U.S. workers. Yesterday they held a rally at the Wal-Mart store in St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood.

Union once again looking to organize Wal-Mart workers

By Paul Demko | 05.01.09 | 6:00 am

After years of eschewing labor-organizing drives at the world’s largest company, the United Food and Commercial Workers has vowed that capitulation to Wal-Mart is over. The union has started organizing campaigns in 17 states, including Minnesota, targeting more than 100 stores. The impetus for the organizing drive: the new administration in the White House and the possibility of passing the Employee Free Choice Act.

Settling Minnesota suit for $54.3 million saves Wal-Mart money

By Chris Steller | 12.09.08 | 2:25 pm

Wal-Mart “saved money” and — to further shoplift from the discount retail mega-chain’s current advertising slogan — its executives will probably “live better” after today’s $54.3 million settlement of a Minnesota class action lawsuit. The Dakota County District Court…

While Biden issued warnings in Kosovo, Palin wept in a Wal-Mart

By Jeff Severns Guntzel | 09.29.08 | 11:40 am

You could fill an undergraduate survey course in American history with the political, historical, cultural, and geographical differences between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden and their respective home states. One state is tiny, the other enormous. One state is the…