News →
Press Releases
2012
Minnesota Restaurant Wages: What Workers Face
Last week, the lobbyist for Minnesota's restaurant industry invoked memories of rural Main Street Ma-and-Pa cafés to push a cap and freeze on the wages of their tipped workers. Servers are mostly adult women. They need their wages and work hard for their tips by making the employer look good. The Restaurant Association would single these workers out.… Read MORE.
Skilled Job Seekers Still Waiting for Opportunities
SAINT PAUL—Jim has been looking for full-time work for one and a half years. With a JD degree from a prestigious college, a license to practice law in Minnesota, and a solid thirteen years at his last job, he never imagined finding work could be so hard. Jim is not alone. Minnesota employers are not creating as many jobs as our colleges and universities are creating educated job seekers.… Read MORE.
2011
Is the US Trading Away Minnesota's Jobs?
This past week, the White House formally introduced the Korea, Panama, and Colombia trade agreements for "fast track" congressional approval. These agreements make it easier for multinational corporations to produce and sell products globally. The goal is higher profits, but according to JOBS NOW Coalition in Saint Paul, there is growing evidence that the US is trading away Minnesota's jobs in the process… Read MORE.
We Want Cossetta's Pizza With Everything, Including Good Wages
The people of Saint Paul learned last month the city doesn't think their work, or their laws, are worth much. On April 13, the Saint Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority voted 6 to 1 to grant the Cossetta Expansion Project a waiver from the living wage ordinance… Read MORE.
For Minnesota Job Seekers, It's Been a Decade of Decline
Over the last few years it has becoming increasingly clear that the unemployment rate provides an incomplete picture of the job market.… Read MORE.
2010
Dean Baker Calls Minnesotans to Demand More from Washington
SAINT PAUL—The economist who predicted the housing meltdown and banking crisis, Dean Baker, came to the Twin Cities last week to ask Minnesotans to demand that Washington give us a larger federal stimulus to create jobs… Read MORE.
Emmer: Some Servers Should Make Less Money
SAINT PAUL—"If you're the best server in the house, you should be allowed to make more than the minimum wage, and if maybe you're not the best, maybe you're the weakest, maybe you should make a little bit less", said Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer at a campaign event… Read MORE.
Black Jobseekers in Metro Area Face Worst Unemployment Gap in the Nation
SAINT PAUL—Black workers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metro area live with an unemployment rate more than three times that of whites. The disparity is greater here than in any other large metro area in the nation… Read MORE.
2009
Minimum Wage Hike Still Leaves Workers Short
SAINT PAUL—On Friday, July 24, 2009, the federal minimum wage will rise from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour, an increase of 70 cents or just over 10 percent. For full-time minimum wage workers, the raise amounts to about $28 a week… Read MORE.
Return to News.