Grace Larson, former licensed practical nurse with Planned Parenthood North Central States and bargaining member of SEIU Healthcare MN & IA, poses for a portrait outside of the SEIU offices of St. Paul on March 30, 2023. Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer.
Take a seat in the Break Room, our weekly round-up of labor news in Minnesota and beyond. This week: Planned Parenthood settles with fired employee; how artificial intelligence may impact Minnesota jobs; unionized home care workers reach tentative deal with state; meat and poultry processing workers at high risk of injury; and progressive congressional staffers ask for a shorter workweek.
Planned Parenthood affiliate settles unfair firing dispute
Planned Parenthood North Central States agreed to pay $20,000 to a fired employee to settle a labor dispute with union leaders stretching back nearly two years.
Grace Larson, who was fired from her job as a licensed practical nurse in 2023, said she felt “vindicated” by the settlement even if the Planned Parenthood affiliate did not admit any wrongdoing as part of the agreement.
“I was in a really dark place for a really long time,” Larson said in an interview. “I feel really good … like I can finally move on.”
Larson has moved on — she’s a teacher at an early childhood center she co-founded called Little Garden Montessori. So have nearly all the original bargaining team members for the Planned Parenthood union, which was organized with SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa in 2022 and includes roughly 400 employees.
Just two of the 13 union leaders remain since the organization disciplined them for what the union described as blatant union busting based on trumped up misconduct allegations.
A spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood North Central States — which covers Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and the Dakotas — shared a statement on behalf of the organization’s general counsel Kenneth Bailey saying the decision to settle was about “priorities.”
“The next four years will require constant vigilance to maintain resources and fight attacks on sexual and reproductive health care access from Congress, the Oval Office, state legislatures, and in the courts,” Bailey said.
Larson and the union fought her termination since 2023, even protesting at the state Capitol, where CEO Ruth Richardson was then a state representative. The union also filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board, which oversees private sector unions. The agency’s regional office sided with Planned Parenthood, but the NLRB’s Office of Appeals found there was merit to the unfair termination charge. The case was scheduled to go to trial this month.
Report: 500,000 Minnesota jobs could be affected by artificial intelligence
Seventeen percent of Minnesota workers — or nearly 500,000 of us — are at “high risk” of having their job impacted by artificial intelligence, according to a new report from the union-backed North Star Policy Action.
The jobs tend to require advanced degrees — like lawyers, software engineers, and health services managers — in a striking contrast to the types of jobs that have traditionally been impacted by automation or computerization.
But the report also highlights some unexpected jobs at risk: carpenters, farmers and agricultural workers.
“AI-powered computer vision means it can operate machines to make exact cuts and assemble pieces together. Even industry groups are noting the capacity for AI to create unprecedented efficiency, precision, and productivity for carpenters,” the report says.
The report’s author notes that “impacted” does not mean the job will disappear, although it could. The job could also be improved by delegating tedious tasks to computers or worsened if technology’s role leads to lower wages.
Still, plain old automation — like a restaurant server being replaced by a tablet — is expected to impact more jobs in Minnesota than AI, according to the report.
The report makes four policy recommendations: increase collective bargaining rights; invest in training programs for displaced workers; regulate the use of AI in hiring and surveillance; and continue to assess AI’s impact as the technology continues to evolve.
Unionized home care workers reach tentative deal with governor
SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa, which represents some 35,000 home care workers, announced a tentative agreement with state leaders on Saturday morning on a two-year contract raising wages and laying the groundwork for a retirement fund.
The home care workers, who help disabled and elderly residents live independently, are paid through Minnesota’s Medicaid program called Medical Assistance and have negotiated wages and benefits with the state since unionizing in 2014.
The contract provides annual 40 cent raises to workers with more than one year of service; increases the pay bonus for workers who serve clients with the most intense needs; and provides funding to establish a retirement contribution program (although it doesn’t fund retirement benefits).
The deal is much more modest than two years ago, when the union won the biggest raise for workers in its history. That agreement raised the minimum wage from $15.25 per hour to $20 in 2025 and awarded $1,000 bonuses to workers with at least six months on the job. The contract also established a wage scale for the first time, from which workers will continue to benefit. This month, some home care workers saw their hourly rate increase from $19 to $22.50 as they gained experience.
The smaller raises this year reflect a bleaker state budget outlook, with Gov. Tim Walz proposing to slow the growth of spending on disability services.
USDA studies finds meat processing workers face high injury risks
More than 80% of poultry workers and nearly half of pork processing workers face a high risk of suffering musculoskeletal disorders from the rapid pace and repetitive movements of butchering animals on an assembly line, according to a pair of studies released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture this week.
Meat and poultry processing plants are among the most dangerous workplaces in the country and rely on an immigrant workforce to serve hundreds of millions of chickens and millions of pigs to American consumers every day.
The New York Times exposed how meatpackers also routinely employ immigrant children in dangerous roles, and reported this week the Biden administration reached multimillion dollar settlements with large processors Perdue Farms and JBS, with most of the money going to help the children.
The studies recommend reducing piece rates and increasing staffing levels.
In 2023, Minnesota adopted new standards for large meat and poultry processing facilities, which are required to take steps to reduce workplace injuries through additional training. Meat and poultry processing facilities must also have ergonomic programs to assess the risks of musculoskeletal disorders and provide employees a way to report injuries.
Minnesota labor regulators have also gone after meat processing giant Smithfield, securing a $2 million penalty to resolve a child labor compliance order.
Progressive congressional staffers float shortened work week
Ahead of a Republican trifecta in Washington, D.C., staff for progressive members of Congress are asking for a shorter workweek. The Congressional Progressive Staff Association, with over 1,500 members, sent a two-and-a-half page letter to Senate and House leaders on Thursday proposing a 32-hour rotating workweek without a reduction in pay.
The group said a shortened work week would increase efficiency by reducing burnout and turnover, citing studies of companies that introduced a four-day workweek
“Staffers routinely work long hours at a level of rigor that regularly leads to burnout,” the letter says. “We hope that by adopting this policy, members of Congress can help to advance the discussion around a more sustainable workweek as a national priority.”
While progressives aim to be champions for workers, the proposal was lampooned by many on the left for its timing, coming after a bruising election that’s forcing Democrats to confront their waning appeal to working class voters.
“Congress and our staff are entrusted by the American people to work on behalf of those struggling to get by — balancing multiple jobs, navigating child care, providing for their families, and working to realize their own American dream. Our work for the people is a full time job,” Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, a staunch labor ally, wrote on X.
Spokespersons for Sen. Tina Smith, Rep. Angie Craig and Rep. Betty McCollum said their offices would not be adopting a 32-hour workweek. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Ilhan Omar did not respond to requests for comment.