the alley Newspaper | News & Views of Phillips Since 1976

Labor News

Written by the alley on 04 May 2021

By LINDSEY FENNER

By Lindsey Fenner

International Workers Day March | Marcha en el Dia Internacional de lxs trabajadores May 1: May 1st is International Workers”™ Day, and the Twin Cities Labor Movement will be marching, Saturday, May 1, 2021 at 2 PM, Minneapolis. Gather at Lake Street and Nicollet Avenue. The organizers demand: Labor Rights! Justice for Essential Workers! Immigrants Rights! Immigration Reform Now! Stop Police Brutality! Climate Justice Now! Stop Line 3! Derechos laborales Justicia para lxs trabajadores esenciales Derechos para lxs inmigrantes Reforma migratoria ya Alto a la brutalidad policial Justicia climÃ¡tica ya — alto a la Linea 3

Nellie Stone Johnson Scholarship Deadline June 1: Nellie Stone Johnson was a fierce advocate for workers, folks of color, and the power of education. The Nellie Stone Johnson Scholarship Program provides financial assistance to racial minority union members and their families who wish to pursue an education at one of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Scholarships ranging from up to $1200 for part time and up to $2500 for full time are given each year to students enrolled in community or technical college, along with undergraduate and graduate programs. For more:

http://www.nelliestone.org/scholarship-program

Healthcare Workers at Allina authorize strike: At the end of March, 4,000 workers represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare MN overwhelmingly voted to authorize an Unfair Labor Practices Strike against Allina Healthcare, if the two sides cannot reach a deal.… Read the rest “Labor News”

A Closer Look at the Deep Winter Greenhouse going up on 15th Ave.

Written by the alley on 04 May 2021

By ELIZA SCHOLL, HECUA INTERN WITH TAMALES Y BICICLETAS

**A mild late fall/early winter allowed Jacqueline Zepeda (Pine and Poplar LLC, https://pineandpoplar.org/ @femmeempowermentproject) and Scheidel (Fireweed Community Woodshop** https://www.fireweedwoodshop.org/**) to continue work on the ridgebeam.** Photo: Jose Luis Villaseñor

**April:** VillaseÃ±or and volunteers Bozena Scheidel and Mattie Wong affix polycarbonate to the south face of the greenhouse. Volunteers have been essential to the building of the greenhouse, exchanging their time for new skills and community. Photo by volunteer Jessie Merriam

On South 15th Avenue, half a block south of E. 28th St., Tamales y Bicicletas is building a winter greenhouse on its urban garden space. For ten years, the nonprofit has used bikes and urban farming to reduce the environmental impacts of the heavy concentration of industry on the East Phillips community.

“How do we decolonize our food systems that then leads to decolonizing our minds and bodies?” asks Jose Luis Villaseñor Rangel, the founder of Tamales y Bicicletas. That’s always been the DNA of why we do what we do.”

The construction of a winter greenhouse is Tamales y Bicicletas’ latest project. Daniel Handeen, a professor of architecture and a Research Fellow at the Center for Sustainable Building Research at the University of Minnesota who designed this greenhouse model, was looking for a way to grow crops through the winter with minimal additional heating inputs.… Read the rest “A Closer Look at the Deep Winter Greenhouse going up on 15th Ave.”

It Might Be a Start

Written by the alley on 04 May 2021

PEACE HOUSING COMMUNITY: A PLACE TO BELONG

By MARTI MALTBY

I recently received a survey regarding racism in the Hennepin County homeless shelter system. The results of the survey will become the basis for a workgroup that will look for ways to eliminate racism from the shelters.

Because of my work schedule I can”™t attend the workgroup meetings, so I don”™t know what outcomes to expect. I sincerely wish the workgroup success, because they”™ve undertaken a big project. Their task intersects with systemic dynamics, volunteer training, racism within the homeless community, mental illness, and a host of other issues. Homeless individuals and families face enough challenges already. Experiencing racism in the middle of the system that is supposed to help them almost defies description in how insulting it is.

Because I received the results of the survey a week or two later, I have seen the variety of views that the workgroup will have to balance. They have a lot of material to work with, but the diversity of opinions about the causes of the problems, and about the way forward, ensure that they will not have an easy time. Even if they find a brilliant solution to the problem, they then have to convince everyone from the system managers at the county level to the volunteers in the shelter kitchens to follow the plan. … Read the rest “It Might Be a Start”