St. Paul, MN – On Friday, March 21, the otherwise obscure Minnesota Retirement Systems building was guarded by dozens of state troopers who blocked entrances to the parking lot. More troopers manned the building entrance, screening bags and limiting entry to only a few dozen members of the public. Inside the small conference room where the State Board of Investment (SBI)’s quarterly meeting was to be held, more troopers along with plainclothes security lined the entire perimeter.

These extraordinary measures were the SBI’s latest attempt to demoralize and discourage members of the public from calling on it to divest the billions of state funds it manages from Israel and companies enabling Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The attempted intimidation failed. Despite the show of force by law enforcement and arbitrary new restrictions on public comments, dozens of Palestine supporters showed up to deliver testimony and show support for divestment.

The SBI’s decision to limit the number of people in the meeting room backfired spectacularly. Most of the divestment advocates found themselves shut out of the building, but just steps away from the windows of the ground-floor room where the meeting was held. The crowd quickly morphed into an impromptu protest, with chants of “Free free Palestine” and “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest!” clearly audible through the entire meeting.

The SBI is composed of its chair, Governor Tim Walz, along with Attorney General Keith Ellison, State Auditor Julie Blaha and Secretary of State Steve Simon. According to the watchdog site DivestMN.com, out of $146 billion total in managed assets, the SBI invests approximately $5.4 billion in entities complicit in Israel’s apartheid regime. That figure includes investments in weapons manufacturers, Israeli banks that fund illegal settlement construction in occupied Palestine, and even Israel Bonds, which directly fund the state of Israel.

Abir Ismael is a Minneapolis public school teacher and member of Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59. “My pension was part of the demolition of almost every educational institution in Gaza. My pension was used to burn children alive,” she told the SBI. “I demand that my pension be divested from companies complicit in the murder of children.”

Several members of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE), a labor union representing state workers, also testified.

“We’re here to remind you that we, the state workers of Minnesota, will not tolerate the investment of our pension funds in these violations of human rights,” said Tracy Waterman, a state Department of Natural Resources employee represented by MAPE. “We haven’t forgotten that Governor Walz once said the situation in Gaza is intolerable, and he was right. It was intolerable then, and it’s intolerable now, this week, as we’re hearing news that Israel has broken its ceasefire and launched new airstrikes on Gaza.”

“Our pension funds were divested from apartheid in 1985; we can, and we must do it again, now,” Waterman added. In 1985, the SBI passed a resolution initiating broad divestment from any corporations deemed to be supporting the apartheid system in South Africa.

Naveen Borojerdi, another state employee and MAPE member, asked the SBI, “With the investments that we have in Israel, and arms manufacturers like Lockheed Martin and Israeli weapons companies like Elbit systems, in the case that what we’re seeing in the Middle East turns into a global energy war, how much of the portfolio potentially becomes affected by that?”

In a powerful moment, city of Minneapolis worker and Minneapolis Professional Employees Association union member Alison Thorson yielded her remaining time for a moment of silence. The SBI was forced to sit through minutes of nothing but the sound of protesters chanting outside the building.

The SBI meeting adjourned immediately after the public comments, with no response from the board members. Afterwards, the testifiers joined with the protesters outside for a press conference and rally.

“Within the structure of settler-colonialism, indigenous people are seen as a demographic problem. Therefore Israel is engaged in an extermination campaign,” Kalani Matus, indigenous Hawaiian and member of the Twin Cities-based Climate Justice Committee, told the crowd.

Many speakers highlighted the Trump administration’s recent attacks on pro-Palestine immigrants, making divestment from Israel a potential route for Minnesota leaders to fight for civil rights. “Palestine is a civil rights cause,” said Matus. “It’s becoming more and more apparent to everybody that anti-Palestinian repression is the tip of the spear when it comes to removing our freedom of speech.”

On March 8, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents abducted and initiated deportation proceedings against Mahmoud Khalil, an activist involved in the Palestine protests at Columbia University in New York, despite him being a lawful permanent resident of the United States. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security alleged that Khalil “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” without providing evidence.

Speakers underscored that the growing tactics of intimidation and repression could not stop the divest movement. “This is going to be a long fight,” said Barry Kleider of Jewish Voice for Peace. “But I’ve learned a lesson from my sisters and brothers fighting for gay marriage. What we’re asking for, what we’re fighting for, is going to be impossible – until it’s inevitable.”

The next SBI meeting, as of press time, is scheduled for May 22 at 10 a.m., with the location yet to be announced. In the meantime, the Minnesota Anti-War Committee has called for a community march to say no to Trump’s ethnic cleansing plan for Gaza, on Saturday, March 29 at 1 p.m., beginning at the northwest corner of Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis.

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #MFT #MAPE #MNAWC

Saint Paul, MN – 110 members of the Saint Paul Federation of Educators Local 28 (SPFE) gathered on Monday, November 25 for a member meeting in which a vote was held for the union local to sign on to a letter urging President Biden to enact an arms embargo on Israel and work towards a ceasefire in Gaza, and to put pressure on their national union, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) to do the same.

SPFE’s Progressive Caucus first introduced this resolution in October. With 55% voting in favor, the resolution passed.

Seven national unions, including the National Education Association (NEA) and the United Auto Workers (UAW), and locals including the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59 (MFT) and the MN Association of Professional Employees (MAPE), have signed onto the public letter named in the SPFE resolution.

During the meeting SPFE members highlighted how the United States government is using tax dollars to help carry out a genocide while schools remain critically underfunded. Members brought attention to the government funding of Lockheed Martin which is assisting the genocide in Gaza as well as the anti-immigrant violence on the U.S./Mexico border.

One member shared, “We have a responsibility to use the power our union holds to push our lawmakers to stop arming a genocide and stop funding companies like Lockheed Martin who profit from suffering.”

Another member noted that they advocate for an arms embargo to interrupt a cycle of violence and “to show students in our district that when leaders break promises, other adults will stand up for them.”

Some members suggested that the Progressive Caucus and supporters of the resolution only cared about the genocide in Palestine because it is “trendy” to do so. Others speaking out against the resolution criticized the newly-formed caucus for not bringing resolutions forth on other international issues. Some argued against the resolution on the grounds that LGBTQ+ Palestinians are persecuted in Gaza, to which members responded by sharing the experiences of queer Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.

Members speaking against the resolution also suggested that the resolution would cause Jewish students and teachers to feel unsafe in Saint Paul Public Schools, falsely equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism and suggesting that a critique of a state government is the same as hatred towards a national or ethnic group.

Elowyn Pfeiffer, a social studies teacher, shared, “Our union is our source of power as working people. Through our solidarity, we fight injustice.”

As unions have proven throughout history, working class solidarity with oppressed people across the world furthers the power that a union has to fight for change locally. SPFE’s solidarity with the people of Palestine is a lever for change in Saint Paul schools.

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #Teachers #MFT #MAPE

Minneapolis, MN – On July 4, round 100 members of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 363 walked off their jobs and began what was intended to be a limited-duration strike set to end on Wednesday, July 10.

Right from the start the attitude was one of feisty resolve from these workers. This is the first time in the Minneapolis Park Board’s 141 year history that the workers went on strike, and the strike was authorized by a 94% majority.

During the first weeklong strike, they held planned pickets and actions all around Minneapolis, primarily at the parks. They also saw many solidarity actions popping off that week in support of the striking workers. The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers held a rally on Monday, July 8 in solidarity with the park workers, and has another solidarity rally set for Friday July 19.

The strike had been scheduled to end on Wednesday, July 10. However, the LIUNA members decided to extend the strike indefinitely after the latest proposal from management did not meet terms that they considered good enough to end the strike for. In fact, many in the union said on social media and in press releases that the new proposal from management was just as bad as the one that 94% of them voted to strike over.

LIUNA members say that they are fighting for a contract with real wage increases, and one that provides for safety and health of workers, as well as improvements to staffing and scheduling language. They also say they are fighting to beat back anti-union proposals from management. The strike comes after the workers spent seven months attempting in good faith to bargain a contract.

While the strike was initially scheduled to end July 10, the workers are holding strong more than two weeks in and continue to calendar out actions for the week ahead. They say they will keep fighting until they get the contract that they deserve.

According to a LIUNA study, the current top pay for parkkeepers is $30.99 per hour, compared to the suburban average of $38.02 for the same positions.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Labor #Strike #LIUNA #MFT #Feature

Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, June 27, 25 workers gathered to hear a panel of rank-and-file union members share their experience of bringing Palestine solidarity to the workplace, followed by practical discussions of how attendees can take action to support the Palestine struggle for liberation on the shop floor.

Co-emcees David Gilbert-Pederson, a longtime labor organizer and member of Minnesota Workers United, and Meredith Aby-Keirsted, a union educator and leader in the anti-war movement in the Twin Cities, introduced the lineup of panelists, who included Anthony Taylor-Gouge, a former member of UFCW 663 and organizer with AFSCME 3800 at the University of Minnesota; Natasha Dockter, first vice-president of MFT Local 59, and Revmira, a member of Starbucks Workers United.

“In my view, there are three kinds of organizing in the workplace: institutional, relational and personal,” said Dockter. Institutional organizing, she described, included the passage of a Pro-Palestine resolution shortly after October 7. The resolution angered Zionist groups, which aggressively lobbied union members to vote to repeal the resolution and release a counter-statement condemning the Palestinian resistance. The vote to repeal the Pro-Palestine statement failed. However, a counter-statement was passed.

“We learned from this experience, we needed to do more relational organizing to mobilize union members to vote against the counter statement. One-on-one conversations in the workplace are critical,” stated Dockter.

Members of MFT Local 59 have their pensions managed by the Minnesota State Board of Investments (SBI), which invests public sector union workers pensions in companies complicit in Israeli apartheid and genocide, as well as direct Israel bonds. Members of the local have been mobilized to speak at SBI meetings to demand divestment from Israel, “I don’t know of a single teacher that wants their money being used to kill and harm children and families. We do our jobs because we care about kids, and not just our own,” said Dockter.

A barista and member of Starbucks Workers United spoke about the contradicting realities within their workplace, stating, “The majority of our co-workers are very progressive, and very pro-Palestine,” the Starbucks corporation, however ,is one of the highest profile boycott targets for their support of the Israeli occupation. Starbucks Workers United faces legal barriers to supporting the boycott, but they were able to pass a pro-Palestine resolution, and many wear legally protected union pins displaying the Palestinian flag.

Not all unions or labor organizations release statements or take similar institutional steps. Anthony Taylor-Gouge worked at Seward Co-op in South Minneapolis for eight years and was an organizer with UFCW Local 663. During his time there, only weeks before October 7, the workers at Seward Co-op had the highest strike authorization vote percentage in local UFCW history, they won a contract the next day.

Taylor-Gouge described how this militant environment was very useful once the Palestine solidarity movement took off. Workers at Seward Co-op wore Pro-Palestine union pins, drawing criticism from their union, as UFCW has broadly not taken a stance against the genocide in Palestine. This contradiction demonstrates the importance of a militant rank and file in a union. There are times when members have to get their union to say no, and fight union bureaucracy when it goes against the wishes of its members.

In the discussion after panelists speeches, attendees were split up into three groups: members of private sector unions, public sector unions, and unorganized workers. Groups discussed how their workplaces and unions have related to Palestine solidarity work and discussed strategies to start or continue to build militant action in their workplace to support the Palestine solidarity movement and Palestinian resistance.

#MinneapolisMN #MNWorkersUnited #UFCW663 #AFSCME3800 #MFT #StarbucksWorkersUnited #Palestine

Minneapolis, MN – On May 1, over 500 people took to the streets on International Workers Day to march for immigrant and workers’ rights. The rally and march was organized by a coalition initiated by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and MN Workers United (MWU).

Each year, International Workers Day is celebrated around the world with a call for solidarity with all workers and for union rights. International Workers Day has its origin in the fight for an eight-hour workday in the United States, where there were massive strikes and sharp confrontations in May of 1886.

The march began outside the former Minneapolis Third Precinct police building to support Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J) and their fight for community control of the police. On May 1, they submitted petitions to the city of Minneapolis to put community control of the police on the ballot in November. The march continued to the Minneapolis Public Schools Center for Adult Learning to support Minneapolis educators in their battle for a just contract. It ended at the Smith Foundry to support the East Phillips community’s struggle to shut down polluting industries in this largely indigenous and immigrant working-class neighborhood.

An energized group of young people carried the lead banner with the rally’s six demands: legalization for all; community control of the police; end environmental racism and shut down Smith Foundry; divest Minnesota pensions from apartheid Israel; defend women’s and reproductive rights; pass the North Star Act; and support educators and fully fund public schools.

The action kicked off with a dance performance from Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue before launching into a full program of speakers highlighting the different demands of the march. Manuel Pascal from the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee said, “May 1 is a special day for immigrant rights. In 2006, all over this country, it was immigrants who took this day back. We are living in one of the most dangerous times in history to be an immigrant and we need to stand up and fight back.”

Eid Ali, the president of Minnesota Uber and Lyft Drivers Association (MULDA) spoke about their powerful and successful campaign to pass an ordinance in Minneapolis forcing rideshare corporations like Uber and Lyft to pay their drivers the equivalent of the city’s minimum wage of $15.57 per hour if they want to continue to operate in the city. MULDA continues fighting for a statewide minimum wage for rideshare drivers.

Ali stated, “Last year, despite our efforts, our bill to support a living wage for rideshare drivers was vetoed by the governor. Today we are back stronger than ever, pushing that bill through the state legislature with the support of powerful allies and unions. Today we march not just for the rights of rideshare drivers but for the rights of all workers, we march for those who are tall in shadows and in light whose hands build our cities and whose sweat waters the seeds of our progress, we march because injustice to one worker is injustice to all.”

As the march made its way up Lake Street, construction workers along the route joined in with chants and raised fists in solidarity as the crowd went by. Many people in the neighborhood cheered, chanted, and filmed as the energized crowd continued.

Marcia Howard, the first vice president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) Local 59 spoke to the crowd outside of an adult education center just after a tentative agreement was reached in the teacher chapter and a 92% “yes” strike vote had just taken place for the educational support professionals chapter: “All the way across the world, let them hear what we’re doing, This is about labor, every act of service, every day you clock in, every day you get up to do something that ain’t for you, for somebody else, that is labor. And this whole city, this whole nation would shut down if it wasn’t for you.”

Howard continued, “Let me tell you – we are going to continue to fight for our students!”

Sasmit Rahman, a member of University of Minnesota Students for a Democratic Society and one of the students who were arrested and subsequently banned from campus for demanding divestment from apartheid Israel, was the final speaker of the march. Ragnan stated, “The workers have been standing in unconditional solidarity with the students and with Palestine! We are all struggling against the same common enemy – it's the capitalists struggling to protect their class interests using the military and the police to protect U.S. imperialism around the globe. But when the people stand united there's not a power on earth, not even them, that can defeat us.”

The crowd also heard from speakers from the MN Anti-War Committee, the Climate Justice Committee, MN Workers United, Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence and Twin Cities Coalition for Justice.

This year’s May 1 march was endorsed by 40-plus immigrant rights organizations, unions and social justice organizations.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Labor #ImmigrantRights #MayDay #SDS #MULDA #MNWU #MFT #MIRAC #MNAWC #FSFAPV #TCC4J #Feature

Minneapolis, MN – On Friday, April 15, the Free Palestine Coalition led a protest of around 100 people outside of Education Minnesota’s Representative Convention. Education Minnesota (EDMN) is a large state-level educators union that announced only the day before that they would be delaying their entire program to host the opening event of First Lady Dr .Jill Biden’s “Educators for Biden-Harris” national tour.

Protesters outside the convention drew attention to the issues of recent attacks on academic freedom, with speakers like Dr Sima Shaksari from Educators for Justice in Palestine – UMN, Michael Runyon from Students for Palestine Normandale, and delegates Amelia Marquez and Meredith Aby. Marquez and Aby were refused entry to the first lady’s speech, presumably because of their political activism in support of Palestine.

Amelia Marquez, a rank-and-file member of MFT Local 59, told the crowd, “As an indigenous person you are there to represent me. All tomorrow when you try to do your land acknowledgement, I want you to remember that instead of standing with your indigenous educator you decided to send her out here in the cold after a long day of teaching our next generation.” The crowd responded with “shame!” Marquez continued, “All day I asked my classes what I should tell Jill Biden tonight and all of my students said tell her ‘Free Palestine!’”

The presidents of the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, and EDMN campaigned for President Biden and introduced the first lady, who was then immediately interrupted by coalition members chanting “Money for schools, not for war!” After they were escorted out, many other conference delegates walked out in disgust as the first lady began to campaign for her husband.

The next day, EDMN Representative Convention delegates in the Palestine solidarity movement worked hard to introduce two resolutions: a ceasefire resolution and a resolution to divest educator pensions from apartheid Israel. The debate on the floor was contentious, but the convention passed a watered-down ceasefire resolution echoing the resolutions passed by AFT, NEA,and AFL-CIO. The divestment resolution was ultimately referred to committee after a vibrant debate. Throughout the day delegates from all over Minnesota discussed the topic of their public educator pensions being invested in weapons companies and the genocide in Gaza.

The Free Palestine Coalition continues organizing for Minnesota to divest from apartheid Israel as well as calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza, an end to U.S. aid to apartheid Israel, no U.S. war with Iran, and a free Palestine.

#MinneapolisMN #TwinCitiesMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #MNFreePalestineCoalition #MFT #JillBiden #Democrats #Feature

Minneapolis, MN – Early on Friday, March 25, the striking Minneapolis teachers and education support professionals reached tentative agreements that will be voted on by union members. They have been on strike since Tuesday, March 8.

Over the almost three-week strike, the educators made major progress on several of their key demands. A big issue of the strike was improving the conditions of education support professionals (ESPs) who are largely oppressed nationality workers and make poverty wages. Details of the final agreement have not yet been announced but in the previous “last, best and final offer” from the school district they had already moved the district up by thousands of dollars a year for the ESPs to around $33,000 a year. The educators were holding the line for ESPs to reach a minimum of a $35,000 a year wage for ESPs at the bottom of the scale. While $35,000 a year is still far too low according to the union, it would represent a life changing increase for the ESPs at the bottom.

At the same time, the teachers had set 3% per year as a bottom line on across-the-board raises, with additional raises in the form of step increases. As of Monday, March 24, the school district was offering the teachers a package that would include 5% and 7% over a two-year contract with step increases factored in.

The educators also had demands for smaller class sizes with caps on maximum size, as well as increased mental health supports for students.

More details on the tentative agreement are expected in coming days with a vote by the members soon to follow. If the vote passes it will end the strike.

In the last week of the strike, community, student, parent and labor support actions had ticked up to a higher level of intensity. Notably, a group of Minneapolis students began an occupation of the Davis Center, where Minneapolis Public Schools office is located, and they were still present on Friday morning as the tentative agreement was announced. The occupation included a community meal served by the students in the building on Thursday night.

Community support activity for the educators’ strike was high throughout and included many actions, protests, support events and marches in support of the educators. Support for the educators ‘strike and their demands stayed high among community members and parents the whole way through.

The educators maintained strong picket lines throughout and over 95% of educators honored the strike for all 18 days. The educators appear stronger than ever before and ready to continue fighting for educators and students going forward.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #strike #Strikes #TeachersUnions #MFT

Minneapolis, MN – Teachers and education support professionals in Minneapolis began striking at 7:30 a.m., March 8, with pickets held at public schools all over the city.

At Lyndale Community School in South Minneapolis spirits were high on the first day of the strike. MFT members said that 100% of the teachers at the school had signed in and were out on their picket line. The line marched back and forth around the two street sides of the school for about an hour before they began moving and the crowd of around 100 people marched over to Lyndale Avenue, a major street in the area. There they proceeded up and down both sides of Lyndale to the honks and pumped fists of passing cars as they chanted, “If our students don’t get it, shut it down!”

Similar scenes played out at schools all over Minneapolis from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Large crowds and serious but good moods were broadly reported from the picket lines.

At noon, a large unity rally marched to the Davis Center where the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) office is located. Around 7000 educators, students, parents and community members rallied for over an hour outside MPS to loud chants and speeches from educators and supporters.

At 4 p.m. a delegation of labor, community, and parent leaders marched on Superintendent Ed Graff’s office to deliver a demand that Minneapolis Public Schools settle the contract and meet the educators’ demands to give the students the safe and stable schools they deserve. Cherrene Horazuk is the president of AFSCME Local 3800 who represents clerical workers at the University of Minnesota. Horazuk said, “On Saturday more than 50 organizations sent a letter to Superintendent Ed Graff demanding that he negotiate but we got no response. Today we showed up in person but again we got no response, just like the educators and students have gotten no response from him. We let him know that we stand with the educators and the students and with their demands.”

At the same time as the Minneapolis educators began their strike, educators in Saint Paul across the Mississippi River from Minneapolis reached a contract settlement averting a strike and winning major gains on their key demands including getting class size caps reinstated, additional mental health supports for educators, demands around equity and inclusion, and wage increases.

Spirits were high among Saint Paul educators, who issued a call for their members and supporters to turn their support across the river to the Minneapolis fight. Sarah Vast is a parent of a student in Saint Paul and they said, “Saint Paul Public Schools found a way to meet the needs of their students and educators. It is time that Minneapolis Public Schools did the same.”

Picketing is expected to resume at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday with unity events each day.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #strike #Strikes #TeachersUnions #MFT

Minneapolis, MN – On February 12, thousands of teachers, education assistants (EAs) and education support professionals (ESPs), joined by parents and community members, marched in subzero weather to press the school districts meet their demands at the bargaining table. If the demands are not met, an open-ended strike across both of Minnesota’s largest school districts is expected.

Despite the frigid temperatures, spirits were high as several thousand marched along a 1.5 mile route starting at Minnehaha Falls park in Minneapolis and crossing the Mississippi River into Saint Paul in a show of unity between the educators of the two Twin Cities.

The educators in both school districts are fighting for a variety of demands including caps on class sizes, mental health support in schools, equity and racial justice in schools and pay increases. The schools’ districts have been fighting against those demands.

In Saint Paul the school district has takebacks on the table that would do away with class size caps and is offering only 1.5% in raises. The Saint Paul educators held a large strike in early 2020 on the eve of the global pandemic where they won the caps to class sizes that the school district is now attempting to strip from them only two years later.

In Minneapolis the ESPs are fighting for significantly increased pay to raise the floor for their pay. In Minneapolis schools, the ESPs make up the group with the most oppressed nationality workers, and they are in low-wage jobs, with the average ESP making around $30,000 a year in total compensation.

Both groups of educators are also fighting for proposals to attract and retain oppressed nationality workers and help them work their way up into licensed positions within their own schools to increase diversity and equity among the teachers in the schools. The school districts have shown themselves unwilling to move on these demands or on wages for the educators, so the workers now feel the only option is to go on strike.

Teachers from both cities, along with the education assistants of Saint Paul and education support professionals of Minneapolis will be taking strike votes in the coming week and are expected to announce an open-ended strike to begin in the first week of March. This may result in the closing of schools across both districts.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #teachersStrike #Strikes #TeachersUnions #MFT #SPFE