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Labor historian Peter Rachleff, an emeritus professor at Macalester College, will join a variety of speakers to provide the keynote address at the April 27 event at the Duluth Labor Temple.

Recent years have seen a groundswell of labor activism and advances in the Twin Ports region, Minnesota, and beyond. Tapping the riches of labor history, engaging in creative expression to touch hearts and minds through the everyday realities of working people, and building broad empowered coalitions have all contributed to the recent advances in labor organizing.

This groundswell has been translated into the theme of “Unearthing our History and Forging Our Future” for the 4th annual Twin Ports May Day Labor Rally on Saturday, April 27 at the Duluth Labor Temple.

Socializing, music and a picnic lunch start at Noon; the formal program is slated from 1-3 pm. The rally will also feature round-table discussions and tabling by organizations. Twenty-one regional and state labor organizations have endorsed the rally, double last year’s support. This groundswell of energy has boosted May Day’s sustainability as a way to celebrate labor’s primacy as the productive base of society and to foster solidarity as the path toward an inclusive, just and equitable society.

The Twin Ports Labor Solidarity Working Group has been facilitating the planning process. Solidarity, history and creative expression are reflected in this year’s keynote speaker and the addition of an art slide show. Noted labor historian Peter Rachleff, an emeritus professor at Macalester College, will join a variety of speakers to provide the keynote address. Carolyn Olson, a narrative artist living in Duluth, will share her work through a slide show exhibit and interpretative comments.

“Planning Committee members and I are energized about this year’s rally,” stated MAPE state Director and Local 1701 President David Clanaugh. “We have planned an event that captures labor’s holistic qualities in our society: not only as our society’s productive base, but also labor as society’s congealed memory about what is most important within human struggle, and labor as the grist and fuel for human creativity and expression.

“Labor – as our common bond – brings us together and provides the opportunity to forge something better for ourselves and those who come after us. It has been satisfying this year to double the number of labor groups supporting the event, and it is only fitting that we are moving into a larger venue at the Duluth Labor Temple.”

Activist historian Rachleff will tap his Duluth experiences and research to talk about past critical regional coalition building efforts that offer models, inspiration and wisdom for forging labor’s future. Rachleff was deeply involved in the mid-1980s Hormel strike and the mid-2000s Northwest Airlines mechanics strike, writing a book about the first struggle. An engaging storyteller, Rachleff has also researched how marginalized and oppressed groups have participated in and led the way in the labor movement.

With partner, Beth Cleary, Rachleff co-founded the East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul in 2013, which is a treasure trove of Minnesota labor history and a home base for educating and supporting labor organizers. You can learn more about this project at https://eastsidefreedomlibrary.org.

Artist Carolyn Olson’s work will be projected throughout the gathering, focusing on essential workers and full-time workers who do not make a living wage. Many of these troubling workplace realities are feeding into the recent groundswell of labor activism. In the midst of music, food and rousing speeches, Olson’s art will graphically illustrate how struggle and dignity intertwine through labor, solidarity and community building. This art will also foster an atmosphere of identification and reflection among event participants.

A retired K-12 art teacher, Olson’s style of gestural line, bold color and full compositions reflect our everyday life stories. Her series of narrative portraits of essential workers during the COVID pandemic was inspired by family members. Olson visually retells the stories of essential workers who were asked to work unvaccinated, with low wages, a lack of affordable housing and not being able to afford needed health care. Olson’s work can be seen at Lizzard’s Art Gallery in Duluth and online at https://carolynolson.net.

Diverse labor groups are sponsoring the event: Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA), Duluth Central Labor Body, Minnesota AFL-CIO, AFSCME Council 5 (including Locals 1092, 3173, and the NE Minnesota Retirees Subchapter), United Food and Commercial Workers Local 663, Service Employees International Union Healthcare MN/IA, Duluth Firefighters Local 101, Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (including Locals 1401, 1402 and 1701), LiUNA! Local 1091, Minnesota State College Faculty Local 4901 (Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College), Steelworkers Local 9460 Workers Aid Committee, Northwoods Socialist Collective, the DFL SD8 and Duluth DFL Committees, and the Twin Ports Democratic Socialists.

Newly elected MNA President Chris Rubesch will speak about the recent nurses’ strike and speakers are expected from other unions making recent major progress. Minnesota Senator Jen McEwen, chair of the Senate Labor Committee, has been invited to provide an update on a robust legislative agenda to improve working conditions across the state.

Public servant colleagues of McEwen at various levels of government and from both parties have also been invited to attend, hear union perspectives and deepen their support for labor organizing. Laverne Capan, an AFSCME retiree and long-time organized labor participant, has also been central to the planning process.

Capan, whose grandfather was a USW Local 1938 organizer on the Mesabi Range, said this year’s May Day rally aims to echo the best aspects of past labor organizing struggles, strategies, and tactics.

“Our goal is to provide a welcoming and inclusive antidote to divisions sown by anti-labor interests,” Capan said. “This gathering strives to connect workers and unions around core issues without expecting lockstep agreement. We encourage openness to learning from one another and our diverse perspectives.”

“Anyone curious about the labor movement is welcome,” John Krumm, another planning committee member and Twin Ports DSA member, concluded. “The gathering will provide a great opportunity to share, listen and learn to deepen our sense of shared struggle, understanding, and solidarity. This type of engagement and conversation builds the power and resolve that builds a better world for all.”

Capan, Krumm and Clanaugh noted that unions have been under assault, yet workers are persevering, fighting back, and getting stronger. They pointed to encouraging recent signs with victories by nurses and care workers, auto workers, public servants, transportation workers and many others. They said everyone – whether part of a union household – is welcome to attend the rally and tap into the energy and power that comes through connecting, organizin, and celebrating.

For additional information, you can visit this Facebook event page: https://fb.me/e/8w9u1ydA7