Union organizing, actions on the rise in different kinds of Minnesota workplaces

Union activity across industries and workplaces not always associated with the labor movement — museums, nonprofits, restaurants and bookstores among them — has ramped up in recent years, both in Minnesota and around the country.

That brings new attention to the labor movement from people who might associate it with more traditional blue-collar workplaces, said John Budd, professor of work and organizations at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.

Major strike activity increased by 280% in 2023, and in 2022 the number of unionized workers increased by 200,000, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Still, the share of U.S. workers represented by a union has not grown: while more jobs were unionized, non-union jobs were added at a faster rate.

That contrast "is real and important," Budd said. "There's 300 Starbucks stores that are unionized now. Pre-pandemic no one really would have imagined that."

For many workers, the pandemic made it newly clear who was calling the shots in decisions that affected their lives and health, in ways they might not have felt so strongly before, Budd said. Organizing 30 workers at a time doesn't make a dent in that mountain of all U.S. workers, he said, but it can lead to workers who have not considered the benefits of unionizing to explore the process.

Union representation petitions are up marginally in Minnesota compared with the previous 15 years, according to the Bureau of Mediation Services: 65 petitions filed in 2023 and 31 filed so far this year.

Here are some of the notable workplaces in Minnesota that have moved to form unions post-pandemic.

2024

Food/beverage

• Kim's: Sixty-five percent of Kim's staffers voted in favor of unionizing in June. It will be the first of award-winning chef Ann Kim's restaurants to form a union.
• Colita and Cafe Ceres: Employees at chef Daniel del Prado's restaurant and four cafe locations notified management of their intent to form a union in June.
• Indeed Brewing Co: Eighty percent of workers voted to unionize in April, Racket reported.

Arts/entertainment

• Guthrie Theater: Front-facing staff workers have asked the theater to voluntarily recognize them as a union with IATSE Local 13, which represents entertainment workers. The theater said in May the request is under consideration.
• Half Price Books: Workers across the four bookstore locations in Minnesota ratified their first contract in June. It includes increased pay as well as policies and procedures for discipline and grievances.

Health care

• Essentia Health: More than 400 nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other clinicians in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin voted to unionize recently.
• Planned Parenthood North Central States: Workers in Minnesota and Iowa voted to form a union in 2022. Workers reached an agreement for their first contract in January. `

2023

Arts/entertainment

• First Avenue: Workers across seven music venue locations unionized in November.
• Minnesota Science Museum: Two hundred workers unionized after a vote that came after more than 100 workers were laid off during the pandemic.

Health care

• Allina Health: Doctors in Minnesota and Wisconsin voted to form what might be the largest group of unionized private sector doctors. The hospital announced this year they will no longer attempt to block the union and will negotiate with its staff doctors.

Other

• Sun Country Airlines: Airline fleet employees voted to form a union.

2022

Food/beverage

• Starbucks: Several Starbucks stores around the Twin Cities have unionized, joining hundreds of other locations around the U.S. Still, no store in the country has finalized a contract agreement with Starbucks.
• Trader Joe's: The downtown Minneapolis location became just the second store in the country to unionize.

Other

• Sun Country Airlines: Airline mechanics formed a union.

2021

Nonprofits

• Minnesota Historical Society: The nonprofit unionized after more than a third of the workforce was laid off during the pandemic. It was one of the largest nonprofits in the state to unionize and workers won pay raises in their first contract in 2023.
• Minnesota Council of Nonprofits: Workers voted to unionize in 2021, and early last year union members unanimously voted for their first union contract.

Education

• Augsburg University: Professional and clerical employees at the university became the first unionized professional staff at a private college in Minnesota.

Other notable activity

• Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board: After a three-week strike, the park system's first in its 141-year history, Minneapolis park workers are back to work this week. The tentative labor agreement between the Park Board and its workers included a 10.25% wage increase and a $1.75 hourly market adjustment over three years.
• Metropolitan Council (AFSCME): The union representing more than 700 Met Council workers announced results of a strike vote July 12. Ninety-four percent of workers voted in favor of a strike depending on the results of their next mediation session.