Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Minnesota Science Museum Workers Ratify Historic First Contract
Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Minnesota Science Museum Workers Ratify Historic First Contract
Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
After over 550 days of dedicated organizing efforts, members of AFSCME Council 5 who work at the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) are celebrating their first-ever union contract.Staff voted in January 2023 to form SMM Workers Union, a wall-to-wall bargaining unit that includes scientists, researchers, lab technicians, educators, customer service and more. Victories in the deal include substantial wage increases, new parental leave benefits, clear and enforceable job security protections, and longevity pay that rewards years of service. Despite leadership at the St. Paul museum instituting retaliatory layoffs directly after workers voted to join AFSCME and slow-walking bargaining, SMM Workers Union members stood strong and emerged victorious.“Management fought us at every turn,” said Jennings Mergenthal, a community engagement specialist. “But after 550 days, we won. Not just any contract—we won a fair contract. A contract that ensures a better future for museum workers and raises the standard for cultural institutions across the country.”
Kenneth Quinnell
Fri, 04/04/2025 – 09:42
Tags:
Organizing
TCU/IAM’S Allison Parker Begins Serving as Labor Chair for National Railroad Adjustment Board
Effective April 1, 2025, TCU/IAM Industry Relations Executive Director Allison Parker began serving as the Labor Chair for the National Railroad Adjustment Board (NRAB). The NRAB is an arm of the National Mediation Board (NMB) and is crucial in resolving discipline and rule grievances on practically every rail carrier in the United States. Parker has
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March 20 Day of Action Recap
On March 20, 2025 APWU members took to the streets to say “Hands Off our public Postal Service. See our recap from the Day of Action.
p3ADrVYbBTsSee how our members took over the news cycle on March 20, 2025 as postal workers said “Hands Off” our public Postal Service.00
USPS Report: PSE Compliance Report Pay Period 7 – March 21, 2025
https://d1ocufyfjsc14h.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/apwu_pse_compliance_report_fy25_pp07_v03.xlsUSPS Report: PSE Compliance Report Pay Period 7 – March 21, 2025
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IAFF-backed bill to protect fire fighters’ free speech rights introduced in U.S. Senate
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Connecticut District 26 Locals Open Pratt & Whitney Negotiations With Call for Fair Contract
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The post Connecticut District 26 Locals Open Pratt & Whitney Negotiations With Call for Fair Contract appeared first on IAMAW.
Halifax agrees to cancer screening program for fire fighters, 20 new hires
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Winpisinger Center Director Mary McHugh Announces End-of-Year Retirement; Julie Frietchen Named as Successor
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EVENT ALERT: Join Us in Saying Hands Off Our Unions!
EVENT ALERT: Join Us in Saying Hands Off Our Unions!
On April 5, workers are joining with our allies and community members across the country to tell President Trump and Elon Musk: Hands Off Our Unions!
On Friday, the Trump administration took its most blatantly anti-worker, anti-union action yet: an executive order stripping the right to organize from hundreds of thousands of federal workers.This is union-busting, plain and simple, and we won’t stand for it.This Saturday, America’s unions are coming together with allies of labor at hundreds of events all across the country to send a message: Hands off our Social Security. Hands off our public schools. Hands off our Medicare. Hands off our jobs. And hands off our unions and our contracts!Will you join us at a Hands Off event near you? It’s clear that their executive order is punishment for unions that are leading the fight against the administration’s illegal actions in court and in the streets—and a blatant attempt to silence us. So now is the time to be even louder. On April 5, events will be happening all across the country, in major cities and small towns. Take a stand for our federal workers, the government services that we all rely on and our fundamental freedoms—including the freedom to join a union. Find an event near you, and join this mass movement of workers and allies who are speaking out. We’ll see you there!
Kenneth Quinnell
Thu, 04/03/2025 – 10:08
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