Delegates to the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, voted Aug. 11 to endorse Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter for reelection. Additionally, the federation endorsed four candidates for Saint Paul school board: James Farnsworth, Halla Henderson and Uriah Ward for full terms, and Clayton Howatt in a special election. 

The endorsements are the first of several the Saint Paul RLF is likely to make in local elections across the east metro this fall. The federation brings together over 100 local unions, representing nearly 60,000 union members who live and work in Chisago, Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties. 

“Our federation endorses candidates after a rigorous screening process that offers union members an opportunity to interact directly with local candidates,” said Kera Peterson, president of the Saint Paul RLF. “We know candidates who earn the labor endorsement share our movement’s commitment to family-sustaining wages, good benefits, strong worker protections and the freedom to bargain collectively.” 

For more information on the Regional Labor Federation’s screening and endorsement process, call 651-222-3787. 

After last year’s hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the St. Paul Labor Studies and Resource Center (LSRC) and the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation are partnering to welcome you to our Tenth Annual Labor Bowl! This event will benefit the St. Paul LSRC, a 501(c) (3) charitable non-profit organization that assists and advocates for union members and their families each year in Chisago, Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties.

The LSRC, through its Community Services work, connects union members and their families to several community resources and assistance programs. The LSRC also partners with labor organizations to provide important services such as strike and lay-off preparation training, community outreach and coalition building. By participating in the Labor Bowl, you will be giving back to our community and supporting an organization that supports the work of organized labor.

This event will be held Monday, August 16, 2021, at Sun Ray Lanes, 2245 Hudson Road, St. Paul. Shift times are 2:00, 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. [Download the event flier and sponsorship form.]

Here is how you can help:

• Promote this event at your membership/stewards/committee meetings as well as in union newsletters, flyers, bulletin boards, e-mail, website, and Facebook.
• Form a four or five-person bowling team(s) to participate in this event. All individuals are welcome to participate and join the fun! We ask each bowler to raise a minimum of $100 in pledges from your union, fellow union members, family and friends or business. For example: A team of four = $400, and a team of five = $500. Please bring all monies collected the day of the event.
• Make a cash donation to support other bowlers if you are unable to participate. Please send checks payable and mail to St. Paul Labor Studies and Resource Center (LSRC), 2021 Labor Bowl, Attention: Laura, 353 West Seventh Street, Suite 201, St. Paul, MN 55102. All donations are tax deductible.

If you have any questions or to schedule a time to bowl, contact Laura at 651-222-3787 extension 117 or ltestor [at] stpaulunions [dot] org by August 2, 2021.

Our nonprofit Saint Paul Labor Studies and Resource Center is excited to introduce a new Employment Resource Board, hosted on the Regional Labor Federation’s website, as a launching point for jobseekers. Click here to view and bookmark the new page.

To post your job opening or training opportunity on the new page, contact AFL-CIO Community Services Liaison Erica Dalager Reed at 651-222-3787, extension 120.

For more information about the opportunities listed on our Employment Resource Board, please contact the relevant employers, agencies or organizations, not the LSRC or the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation.

4/17/2021

Saint Paul, MN – Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation President Kera Peterson released the following statement regarding the Minnesota National Guard’s use of the Saint Paul Labor Center this week:

The Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation represents working people with a wide range of lived experiences and a great diversity of perspectives. Disagreements are not uncommon in the labor community. The presence of Minnesota National Guard troops, deployed in response to the police killing of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, has sparked varied and valid reactions from across our federation.

I want to address our federation’s involvement in the National Guard’s use of the Saint Paul Labor Center earlier this week, and also express my regret over the circumstances under which they left the facility. Whether you agree with their deployment or not, Minnesota’s National Guard members deserved better than the treatment they received Wednesday night. Guard members didn’t make the decision to deploy into Saint Paul. The decision they made was to step up in service to their state and their nation. I offer them my apology.

While I was not involved in discussions with the National Guard, I was aware that Labor Center leaders planned to extend an invitation to access our shared building during a potential deployment. It was my mistake not to communicate this information to our affiliate unions earlier. Doing so would have allowed for a dialogue among our union family and given stakeholders a chance to talk through their concerns before they spilled over into a protest.

Guard members’ presence in the Labor Center became a topic of discussion at our Executive Board meeting Wednesday evening, but no formal action was taken. I did not communicate with the National Guard before or after the meeting, nor with a group of union members as they began protesting outside the building. I regret not creating space for a dialogue within our federation that could have prevented this situation.

At the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, we will not let what divides us derail the critical work ahead. The strength of our labor movement is in unity, and we will not back down from the fight to advance our shared priorities – economic fairness, racial justice and strong, vibrant communities.

*****

The Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, unites over 100 local unions representing more than 60,000 working people in Ramsey, Washington, Dakota and Chisago counties. 

The musical “Stand!” tells the story of the 1919 general strike in Winnipeg, and the movie adaptation was scheduled for wide release in 2020 – before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down movie theaters.

Now, the movie musical is available for streaming, and producers are teaming up with the St. Paul Labor Studies and Resource Center (LSRC), the nonprofit arm of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, to present “Stand!” as a fundraiser beginning May 1.

Viewers who purchase a $20 “ticket” to stream the film through a link provided by the Regional Labor Federation will see $12 of their ticket price go toward the LSRC, which helps union members in need across the Twin Cities’ east-metro area.

Click here to purchase tickets or for more information about the fundraiser.

The film’s Hollywood director, Robert Adetuyi, and composer-producer Danny Schur will celebrate opening night of the film’s run May 1, with an interactive discussion after the 7 p.m. screening.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 18, 2021 

Contact: Michael Moore, mmoore [at] stpaulunions [dot] org, 651-303-9865 

Saint Paul Unions’ Free Food Distribution Effort to Reach One Million Pound Milestone Saturday 

The Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation and its nonprofit LSRC have taken a leading role in connecting Minnesotans with fresh food available through a new USDA program 

SAINT PAUL, MINN. – With demand for emergency food assistance at an all-time high during the pandemic, local unions have stepped up this winter to connect more Minnesota families with free, fresh food available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families Food Box program.  

Those efforts will reach a milestone Saturday, March 20, when the total amount of food given away at labor-sponsored events surpasses 1 million pounds. Union volunteers will exceed the million-pound mark during a distribution event in Saint Paul Park, where about 200 members of Teamsters Local 120 have been locked out of their jobs at the Marathon oil refinery since Jan. 22. 

• What: Million-Pound Milestone Free Food Giveaway 
• Where: American Legion Post 98, 328 Broadway Ave., Saint Paul Park 
• When: Saturday, March 20, beginning at 1:30 p.m. (while supplies last, typically 3 hours) 

The Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, has coordinated 26 food giveaways in Minnesota and North Dakota since October 2020. Giveaways are “contactless” and open to the public. Each event requires dozens of volunteers to unload and distribute about 1,300 packages of fresh food, each weighing about 30 pounds.  

The Regional Labor Federation’s registered nonprofit organization, the Saint Paul Labor Studies and Resource Center (LSRC), accesses the USDA truckload of food and partners with local unions, labor councils and community organizations to stage distribution events. Read more about Saint Paul unions’ effort to combat hunger here. 

***** 

The Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, unites over 100 local unions representing more than 60,000 working people in Ramsey, Washington, Dakota and Chisago counties. 

The Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation’s nonprofit Labor Studies and Resource Center is teaming up with labor and community partners across Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota and North Dakota to sponsor free food distribution events serving all families in need.

The events make 30-pound packages of fresh produce, meat and dairy products available for free, with contactless pickup, through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families program. Read more about the initiative here.

More information on individual events is available by clicking on the links below.

Dates in April 2021 include:

Saturday, May 15:

• Minot, North Dakota (10 a.m., IBEW Local 125)
• Saint Paul Park, Minnesota (2 p.m., American Legion Post 98)

Wednesday, May 19:

• Eveleth, Minnesota (10:30 a.m., Range Recreation Center)

Thursday, May 20:

• East Grand Forks, Minnesota (Noon, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church)

Friday, May 21:

• White Earth Reservation, Mahnomen, Minnesota (10:30 a.m., Shopko)

Saturday, May 22:

• Saint Paul Park, Minnesota (2 p.m., American Legion Post 98)
• Worthington, Minnesota (11:30 a.m., Worthington High School)

Wednesday, May 26:

• Fort Yates, North Dakota (10 a.m., Sitting Bull College)

Opportunities abound for union members seeking to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on Monday, Jan. 18.

The civil rights icon was also a champion of workers’ rights. King was in Memphis to rally support for striking sanitation workers when he was assassinated April 4, 1968.

AFL-CIO Community Services liaisons from the Saint Paul Labor Studies and Resource Center, the nonprofit arm of the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, have compiled the following list of observances planned for MLK Day 2021:

• 2021 AFL-CIO Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference (Jan. 15-16). The nation’s largest labor federation, the AFL-CIO, has planned its annual MLK Day conference around the theme “From Protest to Power: When We Fight, We Win.” Organizers plan to build on recent victories and strategize about the continued fight for economic and racial justice with — and also within — the labor movement. The conference is free of charge, but participants must register in advance.
• Saint Paul’s East Side Freedom Library will present “The Freedom Struggle is a Labor Struggle,” an online discussion at 7 p.m. Jan. 18. Click here to register via Zoom.
• The Twin Cities’ annual MLK Breakfast will move online this year, with the theme “Our Rising Voices: A Call for Bold Social Action.” Proceeds from ticket sales support the local chapter of the UNCF.
• Gov. Tim Walz will participate in “Beloved Community, Beloved Connections,” an online MLK Day celebration premiering on the governor’s YouTube page at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 18. The family-oriented celebration features Matthew A. Cherry, creator of the Academy Award-winning animated short film and book “Hair Love.”
• The University of Minnesota’s Office of Equity and Diversity will host a musical tribute to King’s legacy at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17.

The Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation’s annual holiday fundraising drives, sponsored by our nonprofit Saint Paul Labor Studies and Resource Center (LSRC), delivered much-needed support to area families in need this winter. 

The LSRC’s Labor of Love – Sponsor a Family drive collected over $10,200 in donations, used to purchase gift cards from union grocery stores. LSRC staff distributed gift cards to three local agencies: Catholic Charities, Sponsor a Family MN and Jewish Community Center. Local union members who have accessed support through the LSRC’s Emergency Fund also received gift cards. 

The LSRC’s Jean Jones Initiative, an annual winter-clothing drive coordinated by the AFL-CIO Community Services Labor Community Action Committee, raised $2,450 in donations from local unions and union members. Proceeds were used to purchase 72 coats, 14 hats, 9 scarves and one pair of boots.  

Regional Labor Federation President Kera Peterson delivered the winter clothing to the Saint Paul Public Schools Title I program Jan. 5, for children whose families are experiencing homelessness. 

“Thank you to everyone who donated to our holiday fundraising drives,” Peterson said. “At a time when so many families are facing hardship, unions and union members are extending a helping hand.”

Donating blood is its own reward, as each pint of donated blood can save up to three lives. But this year, donating blood comes with an added benefit to the community.

The American Red Cross is testing all blood, platelet and plasma donations for COVID-19 antibodies. Plasma from donations that test positive for the antibodies may help current coronavirus patients in need of convalescent plasma transfusions.

The need for blood is constant, but with so much uncertainty during the pandemic, blood banks are having difficulty meeting the need.

Healthy union members are encouraged to donate blood during a labor blood drive Dec. 1, from noon to 6 p.m. at the St. Paul Labor Center, 353 W. 7th St. The drive is co-sponsored by the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation’s nonprofit Labor Studies and Resource Center, Greater Twin Cities United Way and the American Red Cross.

The Red Cross follows the highest standards of safety and infection control, including temperature checks, mask requirements and social distancing. No walk-in donations are allowed.

Please schedule an appointment in advance by clicking here, or by contacting Erica Dalager Reed, AFL-CIO Community Services liaison, at edalager [at] stpaulunions [dot] org, or 651-222-3787, ext. 120.