Pine Knot News - A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news

We’re all for unionized workers. Unions have helped make Northern Minnesota great, and — as a practical matter — they help bridge the gap between management, who is experienced and adept at negotiating, and workers who, well, are good at their jobs.

But it struck us as curious that the lame-duck Cloquet City Council suddenly decided to endorse unionization for the police chief and the department’s two commanders. After all, this is the same city council that felt suspending the last police chief at a quickly called “emergency meeting” was the appropriate way to deal with news of dissatisfactio...