A simple definition of labor found in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is “the services performed by workers for wages”. However, in practice labor is anything but simple. Issues in labor relations and rights are inherently intersectional. Whether it be with civil rights as seen through the work of Minnesotan Nellie Stone Johnson, with issues surrounding migrant workers from the Southern U.S. and from Central America, with feminism and women’s rights as seen in stories such as those of Eva McDonald there is no questioning that the issues surrounding labor in Minnesota flux in tandem with many other issues of identity, class, and ideology.
January 29, 1997 - Mainstreet Radio’s Mark Steil looks at turnover issues at meatpacking plants in Minnesota. The average worker in the meatpacking industry only stays on the job for a few months. The job is so difficult, dangerous and some might argue downright nasty that many plants hire the equivalent of a new work force each year. That creates problems for towns which host a meatpacking factory, with school enrollments changing constantly and short term housing stretched to the limit.
September 16, 1997 - Mainstreet Radio’s Mark Steil reports on workers at Oak Hills Living Center, a New Ulm nursing home in southwest Minnesota, who unionized several years ago and currently are locked in a bitter strike with management. They want higher pay, but government Medicaid policies and other regulations make that a difficult goal to reach.
October 9, 1997 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger takes a look back to 1989, when 500 union supporters rioted in the northern border town of International Falls. The city's largest employer, Boise Cascade, was building a huge expansion of their papermill…and bringing in thousands of non-union workers to do it. The town was divided: while local businesses boomed like never before, union workers and their families felt betrayed.
February 12, 1998 - Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports on the 2,500 striking Honeywell workers who vote on a proposed contract, possibly ending their walkout now in its 11th day. The terms of the proposed settlement are not being made public but union officials say Honeywell modified what had been the company's final offer. Central to the negotiations since the first contract was rejected, has been the union's opposition to Honeywell putting together a separate compensation package for new employees. Such arrangements often called "Two Tier," contracts, have been dividing workforces for two decades in the United States.
April 1, 1998 - MPR’s Gretchen Lehmann profiles the historical impact of the “Willmar 8” and how it will be remembered by future generations. Lehmann interviews a member of the “Willmar 8” and two academics.
June 21, 1999 - To close out the millennium, Minnesota Public Radio's All Things Considered presents a look back at Minnesota life in 1900 via a 12-part series, entitled “A Minnesota Century.” This segment is the story of journalist Eva McDonald. Her work exposing the harsh conditions endured by women in the new factories propelled her into the forefront of the very male world of labor politics.
December 8, 1999 - Mainstreet Radios Leif Enger reports from Pierz, where more than half the employees of a small nursing home in the central Minnesota community have been on strike for weeks. At issue - How to divide a wage-and-benefit increase granted by the state.
September 25, 2000 - Tom Neuville, Republican State Senator; and Ann DeGroot, director of Out Front Minnesota discuss Governor Ventura's decision to look into providing benefits to the partners of gay and lesbian state employees.
November 6, 2000 - MPR’s Tim Post reports on the 1,600 Frigidaire who workers have been on strike for about a week, claiming a recent contract proposal from the company includes a pay raise that doesn't keep pace with insurance premium increases. Strikes of this size are rare in central Minnesota where organized labor has never had a strong presence, but some say unions are on the upswing in this part of the state.
September 5, 2001 - Former Minnesota governor Al Quie reflects on the 1981 Minnesota government worker’s strike, which lasted for 22 days. During that time the Minnesota Zoo was closed and state services like drivers licenses were processed by administrators. Quie gives advice for current governor Jesse Ventura.