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The St. Paul Regional Labor Federation takes up two collections each year as part of the Jean Jones Initiative. Named after a former St. Paul teacher and union leader, the collections are used to purchase school supplies and winter gear for students in need, especially those whose families are struggling with homelessness.

The 2019 winter coat drive raised over $1,825. The money was used to purchase coats, mittens, gloves, socks and hats, which were dropped off at the St. Paul Public Schools’ offices last month.

But the coat drive’s impact stretched even further this year, thanks to one of the St. Paul RLF’s affiliates. Pipefitters-Steamfitters Local 455 set up a collection site at the union’s training center and meeting hall, and encouraged members to donate new and slightly used coats for the Jean Jones Initiative.

“The members of Local 455 took our coat drive and ran with it this year, and it was great to see,” said Lynne Larkin-Wright, an AFL-CIO Community Services liaison who works for the St. Paul RLF’s nonprofit arm, the St. Paul Labor Studies and Resource Center. “From all of us at the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, thank you to everyone who contributed.”

Labor of Love

Additionally, the St. Paul LSRC’s annual Labor of Love – Sponsor a Family holiday initiative raised over $8,300 in 2019. Proceeds were used to purchase gift cards from union grocers, and distributed to local nonprofit agencies that support families in need.

Thanks to everyone who supported these annual giving traditions!

St. Paul Labor Studies and Resource Center, the nonprofit arm of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, will collect cash donations to the annual Labor of Love Sponsor a Family holiday drive through Nov. 19. 

Each year, Labor of Love donations are pooled to purchase gift cards from union grocers. LSRC staff then distributes the gift cards to St. Paul-based agencies – including Catholic Charities, Sponsor A Family MN, Jewish Community Center and the LSRC’s own Emergency Fund – so that families in need will not go without food during the holidays.

All gifts are tax-deductible.

To contribute, mail a check to “Labor Studies Resource Center (LSRC) Labor of Love – Sponsor a Family” and mail it to: LSRC – AFL-CIO Community Services Program, Attn: Laura, 353 West 7th St., Suite 201, St. Paul, MN 55102.

After more than seven years as a member of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation’s professional staff, Vicki Beebe resigned last month to accept a position as community relations officer with St. Paul Federal Credit Union. Her last day was July 12.

Beebe served as a political organizer for the St. Paul RLF and as an AFL-CIO Community Services liaison with the RLF’s nonprofit organization, St. Paul Labor Studies and Resource Center.

“I really will miss the people I worked with and the relationships I’ve built,” Beebe said. “I look forward to maintaining them in my new job – and building new ones, too.”

As a political organizer, Beebe worked closely with the federation’s labor assemblies in Chisago and Dakota counties, coordinating phone banks, door-knocks and other volunteer activities in support of local labor-endorsed candidates.

As a Community Services liaison, she recruited volunteers for service projects, served as a founding board member at the East Side Freedom Library and helped plan the RLF’s participation in the State Fair parade on Labor Day.

“It was very rewarding to get people in the labor movement out in the community, whether it was for a United Way project or a parade,” Beebe said. “I hope to continue helping union members at my next job, to build more bridges and more relationships.”

St. Paul RLF President Bobby Kasper credited Beebe as the driving force behind the annual Union Jobs and Resource Fair, which has expanded each year since launching in 2016.

“Our job fair has introduced so many people to the opportunities available when you work union, and it wouldn’t have happened without Vicki’s hard work,” Kasper said. “Sometimes it seemed like she had only one word in her vocabulary – ‘yes.’ Vicki is a true union sister, and she will be well missed.”

Beebe is a longstanding member of the Machinists union and retirees organization, stemming from a 36-year career with Northwest and, later, Delta Air Lines.

The St. Paul Regional Labor Federation’s 9th Annual Labor Bowl raised record funds for the RLF’s nonprofit organization, the St. Paul Labor Studies and Resource Center.

The Saint Paul LSRC is a charitable nonprofit organization that assists and advocates for union members in the east-metro area. Its staff members, part of the AFL-CIO Community Services program, connect union members with much needed community resources and direct assistance, and they help local unions provide their members with important services, such as strike and lay-off preparation trainings.

“Participants in Labor Bowl give back to our community and support an organization that supports the work of organized labor,” St. Paul RLF President Bobby Kasper said. “We continue to be thankful for their support of this event.”

Thank you to our Labor Bowl 2019 sponsors!

Platinum Sponsors:
Saint Paul Federal Credit Union
Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation

Gold Sponsors
APWU - Saint Paul
Laborers District Council of Minnesota and North Dakota

Silver Sponsors
Dakota County Labor Assembly
Operating Engineers Local 49
Minnesota Nurses Association
Teamsters Local 120
Union Bank and Trust

Congratulations to the high-score bowlers!

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Thank you to all of our bowlers and their sponsors!

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Union employers and apprenticeship programs pitched career opportunities to nearly 150 jobseekers April 4 at the Union Job and Resource Fair, hosted on St. Paul’s East Side by Local 110 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

The event, co-sponsored annually by the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, the Saint Paul Building and Construction Trades Council, the City of Saint Paul, United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1189, and the East Side Freedom Library, continued to grow in its fourth year. The event attracted 32 vendors, including construction firms, manufacturers, government agencies, health care employers, retailers and union apprenticeship programs.

“Unions built the American middle class, and a union job remains the best way for working people to secure livable wages and decent health and retirement benefits,” said Bobby Kasper, President of the 50,000-member Saint Paul RLF. “As a labor movement, we need to raise awareness about the value of a union contract, especially among immigrant communities and young workers.”

New this year, the job fair opened with a panel discussion, led by Freedom Library co-director Peter Rachleff. Employers, union leaders, apprentices and an analyst from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development offered insight into the local job market. They discussed the skills and qualifications different union careers demand, and the advantages of working union.

On average, union members in the U.S. earn 22 percent more than non-union workers, and union members are more likely to have health insurance and retirement benefits.

Many job seekers at the event expressed interest in apprenticeship programs sponsored by Building Trades unions and their signatory contractors. Most require only a high school diploma or GED for admittance, and apprentices are able to work regular hours in their field – and earn good wages and benefits – while they learn their particular crafts.  

The East Side Freedom Library hosted the Union Job and Resource Fair at its location the previous three years. Moving to Local 110’s hall accommodated growing interest in the event, while staying true to its East Side roots.

“This job fair is an exciting opportunity to extend our outreach and build new relationships on the East Side, and we’re proud to be a part of it,” Kasper said.

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For the second consecutive Christmas, the families of workers locked out of their jobs by American Crystal Sugar received a holiday boost from their extended union family.

Operation Christmas Solidarity, co-sponsored by the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation and American Income Life, drew $45,000 in donations from local unions and members, who gave toys, food, household goods and cash.

It was enough to fill two semi-trucks that delivered items Dec. 18 and 19 to locked-out workers in the Red River Valley of Minnesota and North Dakota, as well as facilities in Chaska and Mason City, Iowa.

Crystal Sugar locked out 1,300 workers 18 months ago. Union members have voted four times since then to reject the company’s offer.