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While the Local 120 Union is still on strike at the Marathon over safety concerns and lack of willingness on the part of Marathon to even come to the table and discuss the concerns, the union partnered with the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation and the United Way to help the area communities. Saturday and Sunday, from two to five, hundreds of volunteers gathered to distribute over 2,600 boxes of food and gallons of milk. Each box contained some fully cooked meat, bags of onions, potatoes, and apples, along with containers of yogurt and cheese. In all, the boxes contained about 25 pounds of food plus the gallon of milk.

The only requirement to get the food was to show up. No identification required, no preregistration, just show up, wait in line and off you go with a box of food or two. Visitors were allowed to take multiple boxes to deliver to other families. Local 120 members were on hand loading cars, talking to supporters, and explaining their concern for the safety of not only the refinery, but the surrounding communities.

Over the course of the two days, besides distributing 87,000 pounds of food and milk, they were also visited by many local politicians. US Representatives Betty McCollum and Ilhan Omar, State Representatives John Huot, Liz Reyer, Kaela Berg and Robert Bierman, State Senators Greg Clausen and Karla Bigham all stopped by to help and show support.

US Representative Angie Craig visited while The Journal was on site and she took a moment to talk to us about the strike. Two things brought her out.

“I was out here on the picket line last weekend too, with the Teamsters and I wanted to come back this weekend and just show my support for all the good work of St. Paul Regional Labor Fed,” Craig said.

She is also doing what she can to help facilitate talks between Marathon and the Local 120 Teamsters Union.

“We’re encouraging management to stay at the table, encouraging them to come to some sort of resolution as quickly as possible. Look, I worry about the safety of the folks over there. They’re good we’ve got some experienced people and I just want to show my support for organized labor,” Craig stated.

The St. Paul Regional Labor Federation represents roughly 60,000 union members in the four-county area of Dakota, Ramsey, Washington and Chisago Counties. The event was organized to help the community members that may be struggling with groceries and to give them an opportunity to talk to union members about the strike.