St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Kera Peterson is pictured speaking at the 2022 MN AFL-CIO Convention.
Things are too expensive. That’s not breaking news to anyone who’s shopped for groceries or filled their gas tank lately. This economy is putting the squeeze on working people. Too many of us are living on the edge, working longer and harder for less in return and stressing over every bill, every purchase, every paycheck.
It shouldn’t be this way. The U.S. economy is growing. Corpo-rate earnings are up and so is the stock market. The S&P 500 hit an all-time high last month. American workers are more productive than ever, but our share in the economic growth that labor creates is at historic low point. An NBC News report found that the share of economic output going to workers’ pay and benefits has sunk to its lowest level since the Department of Labor started tracking it in 1947. The pie is getting bigger, but our slice is getting smaller.
None of this is happening by accident. It’s the direct result of policy choices – tariffs, healthcare cuts, foreign wars, attacks on collective bargaining – made by politicians who answer to billionaires and CEOs instead of working people. That’s why our federation of local unions is working to elect labor-endorsed candidates Nov. 3 who will put us first and hold corporations and billionaires accountable.
Here in Minnesota, we know firsthand what’s at stake in this election. We’re less than a year removed from the federal government’s shockingly violent and lawless occupation of our state in the name of immigration enforcement. Operation Metro Surge trampled on our rights, tore families apart and disrupted life in our neighborhoods, schools and workplaces. The occupation dealt an economic blow, too, costing our state 32,000 jobs, reducing economic activity – especially in the hospitality sector – and increasing security costs for local communities by an estimated $700 million.
The tragic failures of Metro Surge reflect a pattern that has repeated itself throughout Trump’s second administration. Bad ideas go unchecked by enfeebled congressional majorities and a compliant Supreme Court, and the American people pay the price – literally. Trump’s tariffs raised our cost of living, and his war in Iran has only made it worse. Minnesotans’ real wages, adjusted for inflation, fell 1.4% in the first seven months of this year. And as predicted, the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” has forced more Minnesotans to go without healthcare coverage and increased premiums for those who remain insured.
This election is our opportunity to begin putting an end to the chaos, and union members are, unsurprisingly, stepping up to the challenge. Internal poling by the AFL-CIO shows that 83% of union members are “extremely motivated” to vote in the midterms – a 10-point increase from 2022. In Minnesota, union volunteers are talking with their neighbors and co-workers, encouraging them to make their plan to vote. (You don’t have to wait until Nov. 3 if you vote early; go to mnvotes.org to learn how!) Others are signing up as election judges or training to serve as election protection volunteers.
If the challenges ahead feel overwhelming, I empathize. Instead of becoming demoralized, though, let’s focus on what is possible when after Election Day if we make our voices heard. Together, we can help deliver majorities for pro-worker candidates up and down the ballot who will support our right to bargain for better pay and benefits, fight for affordable healthcare and stop the squeeze on working families.
– Kera Peterson is president of the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO.
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