Workday Magazine (https://workdayminnesota.flywheelsites.com/author/amie/)
Ahead of the first hearing for the 15 activists and community defenders charged with conspiracy by the federal government, a crowd full of supporters gathered and demonstrated in solidarity.
“They’re not prosecuting organizing because organizing failed. They’re prosecuting organizing because organizing worked.”
Workers across the Twin Cities rallied and marched on International Worker’s Day, or May Day, in solidarity with contract fights, to stand with immigrant workers, and to oppose the threats against working people all over the globe.
Many of the actions were led by leaders in the ICE OUT coalition that formed following Operation Metro Surge earlier this year. From the early morning hours into the evening of May 1, workers went out on strike, picketed in front of businesses, and led rallies in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Along with specific demands of various contract fights, the coalition is also calling for ICE to discontinue operations in Minnesota, that any officer who kills a civilian be held legally accountable, no additional federal funding for ICE in the upcoming congressional budget, and an investigation for human rights and constitutional violations committed by ICE. The coalition is also demanding corporations become 4th Amendment businesses, ceasing economic relations with ICE and refusing ICE entry or use of their property.
Minneapolis residents who have been raising funds for neighbors who have been unable to work due to Operation Metro Surge are urging city leaders to take action to prevent an eviction crisis.
Federal workers who led the first-ever young workers march on Washington want to see young workers rise up across the U.S. and demand more from their employers and government.
Nurses say Alex Pretti was upholding his oath to advocate for and protect his patients and community, and they are demanding the abolition of ICE.
This article is a joint publication of Workday Magazine and In These Times. Unions and community groups gathered in front of the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota this morning to announce a day of “no work, no school, no shopping” on January 23 to oppose the ferocious assault on the state by federal immigration authorities. “We are facing a tsunami of hate from our own federal government,” Abdikarim Khasim, a Minnesota rideshare driver, told the crowd. “We’re going to shut it down on the 23rd. We’re going to overcome this.”
JaNaé Bates Imari, representative of the church Camphor Memorial UMC., told the crowd that the joint action will be “a day when every single Minnesotan who loves this state—who loves the idea of truth and freedom—will refuse to work, shop and go to school.
Facing uncertainty, childcare workers and providers are calling for leaders to take action against a federal freeze in funding.
Workers are demanding facilities for rideshare drivers and an end to the airport’s operation of deportation flights.
Minnesota workers rally in support of striking baristas.
