Best of Neighborhood News 3/30: Franklin Street Bakery workers aid food shelf, seek justice on the job

Last Tuesday, Ned Neterval and other workers from the Franklin Street Bakery presented a check for $1,200 to the Waite House in south Minneapolis which they raised from their their “Taste of Justice” event. Andrea Nettles, basic needs coordinator at Waite House, said the money will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Minnesota Food Share to support giving during March, which is typically a slow time for food shelf donations.

At the same time, they also called on their employer to sign a neutrality agreement so they can unionize to improve their wages and working conditions.

“Workers say they want a union and a fair contract – not charity. They called on the bakery owners to sign a neutrality agreement whereby they would agree to recognize a union if the majority of workers sign cards authorizing one.”

Find out more about the worker’s plans to create a more fair work environment at Workday Minnesota.

Today’s STEM women are important role models for tomorrow’s

Nina Bohrod is one of the STEM Chicks leaders

According to the 2016 Society of Women Engineers workforce culture study, female engineers still account for less than 20 percent of the workforce and are more likely to leave the profession than are male engineers. Thirty percent of female engineers cited “organizational climate” as the reason they left the profession.

Because of this, Anoka-Ramsey Community College is trying to address the problem by creating a new club called the STEM Chicks. STEM Chicks is a club that tries to encourage women’s participation and interest in STEM fields by providing role models.

Find out more about these three exceptional women and how their work has influenced women trying to work in a STEM field at MinnPost.

Controversial ‘Stand Your Ground’ expansion headed to House Floor

The use of deadly force is permitted in Minnesota to resist or prevent an offense when someone “reasonably believes” the offense exposes them “to great bodily harm or death” or prevents the commission of a felony at their residence. Authority to use such a defense mechanism could expand.

Sponsored by Rep. Jim Nash (R-Waconia), HF238, as amended, would provide Minnesotans greater rights to use deadly force while defending themselves or their home.

The so-called “Defense of Dwelling and Person Act of 2017,” would justify the use of deadly force to resist or prevent:

• what an occupant reasonably believes is the commission of a felony in the individual’s dwelling;
• what the individual reasonably believes is an offense or attempted offense that would imminently expose the individual or another person to substantial bodily harm, great bodily harm or death; or
• what the individual reasonably believes is the commission or imminent commission of a forcible felony.