Random Alley Labor News
By Lindsey Fenner
Minimum wage goes up in Minneapolis:
On July 1, 2021, the minimum wage in Minneapolis is going up to $12.50 at small businesses and $14.25 at large businesses. The Minneapolis minimum wage ordinance defines small businesses as 100 or fewer employees and large businesses as more than 100 employees. Tips and gratuities do not count toward payment of a minimum wage. The City”™s Department of Civil Rights oversees enforcement of the municipal minimum wage, and workers are encouraged to report violations online at http://minimumwage.minneapolismn.gov/ or by calling 311.
Transit Workers Reject Metro Transit Contract Offer:
Members of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1005 voted overwhelmingly to reject Metro Transit”™s “best and final” contract offer. ATU Local 1005 represents public transportation bus drivers, rail operators, mechanics, and many other support personnel. Metro Transit workers have been fighting for pandemic hazard pay and safety improvements.
Nurses Picket at Children”™s Hospital:
Pediatric nurses represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) held informational pickets at the Children”™s Hospital in the Phillips neighborhood in June. Restructuring at the Children”™s campuses in Minneapolis and St. Paul has led to downsizing of staff, which the nurses say has led to shortstaffing and fewer available hospital beds.
Unions Say New Pandemic OSHA Rules Don”™t Go Far Enough:
After six months of waiting, unions representing frontline workers are disappointed in the new mandatory workplace safety rule put in place by the Biden Administration”™s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in June. Although unions had been pushing for new protections for all frontline workers, the new rules only apply to healthcare workers. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), which represents meatpacking, food processing, and grocery store workers called the new rules “a slap in the face to the millions of American frontline workers and their families who have been infected and killed by this deadly virus.” Meatpacking and food processing facilities have seen significant COVID outbreaks throughout the pandemic.
