On Sept. 10, 2007 Best Brands Corp. a bakery in Eagan, MN began laying off around 60-80 workers with good wages and benefits, including affordable health care. The bakery promptly replaced the workers through temporary agencies, with new workers earning a fraction of the wage with no benefits whatsoever.

The lay-offs took place in the context of a controversial new proposal from the White House regarding No Match letters sent by Social Administration. The letters, sent to workers whose names and numbers do not match in their database, are used for informational purposes only. Employers are not allowed to use them to enforce immigration law under current policy. They would have been required to do so under new proposals. Though the company did not receive any No Match letters, Best Brands Corp. instituted their own form of No Match, taking advantage of the climate of fear within the immigrant community to slash wages and benefits. [Read more →]

On Wednesday, September 18, join Workers Interfaith Network for an action to support workers at Dakota Premium, a Kosher meatpacking plant in South Saint Paul. Workers took a courageous stand at Dakota Premium 7 years ago, walking off the job for better wages and working conditions. Now they want to negotiate for a safer workplace, the right to take bathroom breaks, and better wages and health care. But instead of negotiating with workers, management at Dakota Premium is trying to break the union. All of this is happening on the eve of Yom Kippur, one of the most sacred holidays of the Jewish calendar. It is a sacred time and at Dakota Premium, sacred values are at stake.
[Read more →]

Every Thursday, beginning September 20, Workers Interfaith Network staff and leaders will gather at 11 a.m. at University Baptist Church to support striking workers at the University of Minnesota. To learn more about what you can do, go here.

Clerical, technical and health care workers are entering the second week of a strike aimed at winning just wages for workers that make the University of Minnesota run. The average worker in these fields at the U earns just $33,000 a year, and what’s more, workers salaries have not kept up with inflation, putting many in difficult financial circumstances.

Anne Markusen, a professor and the Director of the Project on Regional and Industrial Economics wrote in the Star Tribune, “Expert commentary in our times is rife with lament about the worsening distribution of income and wealth. The university’s gap-spreading raises would contribute to the growing inequity in society at large.” (Read the whole article here.) Markusen went on to say that the U’s refusal to pay a decent wage disproportionately effects women in the workforce. Standing up for U Workers is our opportunity to stand up for economic justice and shared prosperity for all.