Senators, fair-trade groups look to slow down Fast Track

January 28, 2014 by
Members of the Communications Workers union led a march against the Trans-Pacific Partnership fair-trade agreement in Minneapolis last year.

Members of the Communications Workers union led a march against the Trans-Pacific Partnership fair-trade agreement in Minneapolis last year.

President Obama is pushing Congress to approve the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities Act, introduced in the U.S. House earlier this month and better known as “Fast Track authorization.”

Fast Track would force Congress to take an up-or-down vote on trade agreements without offering amendments.

But a large coalition of labor, environmental, family-farm and other grassroots groups are working to slow down fast track, and some powerful allies in Washington are working with them, including U.S. Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota.

Franken was one of 12 senators who signed onto a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expressing concern that Fast Track shirks the responsibility placed on Congress by the Constitution to oversee trade policy.

Two weeks later, the Citizens Trade Campaign unveiled a letter signed by more than 550 organizations – including the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition and the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation – opposing Fast Track.

The complexity of modern trade agreements, the groups say, require more – not less – congressional oversight and citizen input. The letter reads:

Fast Track was designed in the 1970s when trade negotiations were focused on cutting tariffs and quotas. Today’s pending “trade” agreements … are much broader – setting binding policy … relating to patents and copyright, food safety, government procurement, financial regulation, immigration, healthcare, energy, the environment, labor rights and more. Such a broad delegation of Congress’ constitutional authorities is simply inappropriate given the scope of the pending ‘trade’ agreements and the implications for Congress’ core domestic policymaking prerogatives.

Obama has said Fast Track is key to one of his administration’s top trade priorities, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. An agreement with 11 Asian and Latin American countries, the TPP would replicate and expand on previous free-trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement, which has resulted in a net loss of 1 million jobs since its passage 20 years ago.

What’s more, the TPP is being negotiated in secret. Drafts and proposals used during the negotiations are classified, keeping both the media and members of Congress mostly in the dark.

About 600 “cleared advisors” have access to TPP drafts, including representatives of multinational corporations like Walmart, Cargill and Monsanto.

“After decades of devastating job loss, attacks on environmental and health laws and floods of unsafe imported food under our past trade agreements, America must chart a new course on trade policy,” the Citizens Trade Campaign letter says. “To accomplish this, a new form of trade authority is needed that ensures that Congress and the public play a much more meaningful role in determining the contents of U.S. trade agreements.”

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

St. Paul’s ‘labor mayor,’ Coleman has earned a third term in office

November 1, 2013 by
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, pictured second from right, has broad support from labor in his bid for re-election.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, pictured second from right, has broad support from labor in his bid for re-election.

Since being sworn in as mayor in 2006, Chris Coleman has been standing up for St. Paul’s working families. On Nov. 5, working families have an opportunity to stand up for Coleman by reelecting the DFL mayor to a third term in office.

Coleman earned labor’s endorsement, union leaders and activists said, by bringing structural balance to the city’s budget without sacrificing essential public services, and by supporting economic development that creates good-paying jobs. The mayor also has maintained a no-fuss relationship with unions that represent city workers.

Project1_Layout 1“He really understands the value of public service and the value of the work AFSCME members and other public employees do for the City of St. Paul,” said Jim Niland, political director for Council 5 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents workers throughout the city.

Coleman “will go down in history as a good labor mayor,” according to Harry Melander, president of the St. Paul Building and Construction Trades Council.

Melander pointed to a flurry of construction projects afoot within the city limits that have provided much-needed employment for Building Trades members. The list includes the new St. Paul Saints ballpark in Lowertown, the Penfield and West Side Flats housing developments and the Central Corridor light-rail transit line.

“Mayor Coleman has been real instrumental in trying to move development projects like these forward both in town and in the region,” Melander said.

As a result, Building Trades unions trust Coleman’s leadership in guiding development over the next four years. Likely development sites include the Twin Cities Assembly Plant in Highland Park, the former 3M property on St. Paul’s East Side (now called Beacon Bluff), the former Macy’s downtown and multiple properties along the Central Corridor line.

Transit projects like the Green Line, Coleman said, are key to St. Paul’s economic future, but the competition for federal and state funding is fierce. He believes the East Metro Transit Alliance, a public-private partnership developed with Coleman’s leadership, will “jumpstart” efforts to draw future transit investments to the area.

“One clear lesson we learned as we fought to build the Green Line was that if we in the East Metro are not fighting hard for transit investment, we can’t expect anyone else to do it,” Coleman said. “When we came together to advocate for the Central Corridor, we were a force to be reckoned with.”

Relationship building has been a hallmark of Coleman’s tenure as mayor, whether it’s public-private partnerships like the transit alliance or partnerships with other government entities like the St. Paul Board of Education or the Minnesota Legislature.

“He’s been a real partner with us in terms of improving public services and also advocating with us at the Capitol for full funding of public services,” AFSCME’s Niland said.

For union members, that remains the most important bridge built by Coleman – the one between City Hall and the city’s employees. Union leaders credit Coleman for taking a collaborative approach to the city’s budget issues during tough economic times, and for approaching unions as partners, rather than adversaries, in decisions that affect staffing.

“Mayor Coleman has done a great job trying to make sure there have been no layoffs at the city,” Melander said. “If there were reductions in departments, people were moved around to continue to have employment.”

Paul Slattery, an organizer for Teamsters Local 120, which represents workers in St. Paul’s Department of Public Works, called Coleman “a dedicated friend to the labor movement who supports the right of every worker to bargain collectively for a union contract.”

For Coleman, the relationship with labor is a two-way street. He supports workers because, in turn, Coleman knows he can count on workers’ support.

“We know that we are stronger when we act together, and it is important that we continue to advocate and fight for St. Paul,” Coleman said.

“Mayor Coleman has been on the forefront of creating a labor friendly environment throughout the City of St. Paul,” said St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Bobby Kasper. “As mayor, he has promoted multiple development projects that have enhanced employment opportunities for our union brothers and sisters.”

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

In address to union retirees, Dayton weighs in on Cretex strike, more

September 25, 2013 by
Gov. Mark Dayton (right) greets Minnesota AFL-CIO President Emeritus Bernard Brommer at the Minnesota State Retiree Council convention.

Gov. Mark Dayton (right) greets Minnesota AFL-CIO President Emeritus Bernard Brommer at the Minnesota State Retiree Council convention.

Addressing a roomful of union retirees in Maplewood today, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton recounted his morning meeting with members of Laborers Local 563 who are on strike, fighting to ensure a secure retirement of their own.

Dayton’s remarks to the Minnesota State Retiree Council’s 17th convention came on the heels of a dialogue with workers who have been walking the picket line outside the Cretex concrete plant in Shakopee since June 19. About 40 workers went on strike after the company refused to budge from its demand they give up the defined-benefit pensions many had been self-funding for decades.

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson introduces Gov. Dayton at the retirees' convention.

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson introduces Gov. Dayton at the retirees’ convention.

One Cretex worker, the governor recalled, had “tears streaming down her face” as she explained what losing her pension after 20 years of service to the company would mean for her family’s quality of life. Dayton did not identify Cretex by name, but said it was disheartening to see any company “take advantage of the fact there really isn’t a recourse for working men and women” when management decides to cut workers’ benefits.

The governor also said he planned to reach out to company executives for their side of the story, and that he hopes to see workers return to their jobs soon.

Tim Mackey, Local 563’s business manager, confirmed the meeting with Dayton, saying he was hopeful it would be a step toward resolution of the 3-month labor dispute.

“Thanks to this meeting with the governor, we can hopefully make further progress and get back to work,” he said.

Leaders from Operating Engineers Local 49 also attended the meeting with Dayton. Cretex employs 49ers at several of its facilities, and their current contract with the company is set to expire Dec. 31. That means 49ers are “on deck,” Business Manager Glen Johnson said.

“We don’t intend on allowing Cretex to take our members’ pensions away,” Johnson added. “We’re ready to fight for our members’ retirement too.”

The rest of Dayton’s remarks to retirees focused on politics. Highlights included:

• Jobs numbers. Dayton pointed to a report showing Minnesota had seen the fifth-most economic growth of any state last year. He also trumpeted the most recent state jobs report, which shows the state has regained all the jobs it lost during the Great Recession. About 122,000 Minnesotans who were unemployed when he took office, Dayton said, have jobs today.

“We’ve got 152,000 Minnesotans unemployed,” Dayton acknowledged. “We’ve got a lot more to do, but we’re making progress.”

• Minimum wage. A labor-backed coalition of groups announced plans during the State Fair to push a bill that would raise the state’s minimum hourly wage to $9.50 by 2015. Dayton said he supports such a bill, pointing out that the state’s current minimum wage of $6.15 per hour is the lowest among Upper Midwest states.

“What does that say about Minnesota and our commitment to working men and women?” Dayton said. “I believe we want work to pay.”

• Union organizing. Dayton said he was disappointed with a federal appeals court’s ruling that temporarily blocks a law passed last spring allowing child-care providers who receive state subsidies to vote on forming a union.

The legal challenge was bankrolled by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which represents providers who oppose the union. Dayton decried the corporate-backed legal fund as an “extreme right-wing element in this state and this country” that was fighting to keep workers from deciding for themselves whether to form a union.

Rather than fighting to strip them of their rights, Dayton added, “we should be embracing” the people who want to improve wages, benefits, working conditions and training opportunities for workers in critical fields like home health care and child care.

• Health insurance exchange. A new federal report shows MNsure, the new health insurance exchange created as part of the federal health care overhaul, will offer the lowest rates of any state in the nation. “That’s something to be incredibly proud of,” Dayton said.

Dayton also thanked AFL-CIO retirees – he called them “the voice of middle-class Americans who have worked hard all their lives and played by the rules” – for their work last fall to win pro-worker majorities in the Legislature. “We really moved Minnesota ahead,” he said.

Union retirees open their 17th convention with a singing of "America the Beautiful" at the Sheet Metal Workers Hall in Maplewood.

Union retirees open their 17th convention with a singing of “America the Beautiful” at the Sheet Metal Workers Hall in Maplewood.

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Steve Hunter: Labor agenda includes investments, tax fairness, new jobs and workplace dignity

January 24, 2013 by

mug-hunter-webThe 2013 legislative session presents Minnesota’s labor movement with opportunities we haven’t seen since 1990, the last time we had a pro-labor governor and labor-friendly majorities in both the House and Senate. After 22 years of playing defense, we finally have an opportunity to accomplish positive change for working people. The Minnesota AFL-CIO, working with our affiliate unions, has assembled an agenda for this session that focuses on new investments, tax fairness, job creation and workplace dignity and fairness.

Our No. 1 priority is the state budget. We need to make new investments in our roads and bridges, schools and colleges – and provide care and dignity for our senior citizens. To make these important investments, there needs to be new tax revenue. We need to increase revenue by reforming our tax system to ensure fairness and stability. We have witnessed years of cuts to state and local government services, education, higher education, health care, human services, transportation and public safety. At the same time we’ve been asked to pay more in fees, property taxes and tuition. To protect the wealthiest Minnesotans from paying their fair share, previous governors and legislators have resorted to spending down reserves and borrowing from schools and endowments. It’s time to balance the budget without gimmicks while providing the additional funding needed to invest in our future.

We can also increase revenue by putting Minnesota back to work. The state AFL-CIO supports the Mall of America expansion, and we also support a significant bonding bill to put people back to work improving our state’s infrastructure, which will support and facilitate future economic growth.

Feb. 1 will mark the 18th month of the American Crystal Sugar lockout. As I write this, both the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra remain locked out, and the NHL has only recently resumed games after a prolonged lockout. Locked out workers in Minnesota qualify for unemployment benefits, but cases like Crystal Sugar show that lockouts can linger well beyond the length of those benefits. That’s why we are proposing legislation to extend unemployment benefits for the duration of a lockout, and also add a penalty to the employer’s unemployment tax after the beginning of a lockout’s second month. Half of that penalty would go to the UI Trust Fund; the other 50 percent would support the Workforce Development Fund.

We will also support initiatives to protect workers’ right to organize, raise minimum wage and limit employers’ use of credit checks related to terms of employment. We will soon announce our complete agenda to the public.

The election was only the first half of ensuring pro-labor policies become law; the other half is holding elected officials accountable. We need union members to contact their legislators concerning these issues. For more information on labor-related legislation, contact our offices, visit www.mnaflcio.org or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

– Steve Hunter is Secretary-Treasurer of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, the statewide labor federation representing over 300,000 workers.

Filed Under: Labor Voices Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Union housing trust invests in St. Paul development project

January 14, 2013 by

The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust announced Dec. 19 it would commit $23.5 million toward constructing the West Side Flats Apartments, a $31 million mixed-use development on the edge of downtown St. Paul. The project is expected to generate 160 union construction jobs at a time when unemployment in the industry remains high.

The HIT is a nationwide initiative investing union pension funds in union construction projects.

The HIT’s investment in the West Side Flats Apartments will help build a five-story building with 178 market-rate and affordable housing units, heated underground parking and ground-floor retail and commercial space.

It marks the second HIT-financed development project afoot downtown St. Paul. Construction is ongoing at the site of the $62.5 million Penfield complex, which received $40.9 million in financing from the HIT.

All told the HIT has invested over $400 million in the St. Paul and Minneapolis metro area over the last 10 years, building or preserving over 4,200 units of housing in 32 projects and generating more than 3,800 jobs for members of the local building and construction trades unions.

“It’s good to see the HIT is investing union pension dollars back into our community for needed housing while, at the same time, creating good jobs for our members,” said Harry Melander, St. Paul Building Trades Council president.

Filed Under: Organizing Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The economic debate hasn’t changed much in 25 years

January 14, 2013 by
A cartoon from the Jan. 27, 1938, Union Advocate presents a familiar problem.

A cartoon from the Jan. 27, 1938, Union Advocate presents a familiar problem.

Business owners say Minnesota’s economic climate is poor, urging lower tax rates and steep cuts to government spending. Union leaders say Minnesota owes its high quality of life to public investments in education and infrastructure that are a catalyst for economic growth.

That’s the debate likely to take place when state lawmakers return to the Capitol next month, and it sounds an awful lot like the “Great Debate” that took place between business leaders and labor leaders in a public forum 25 years ago in St. Paul.

As it turns out, the arguments weren’t all that fresh 25 years ago either, according to the Feb. 1 edition of The Union Advocate: “For the most part the comments were familiar, as both business and labor summarized their positions. The clearest conflict emerged over the questions of workers’ compensation and whether the state has a poor business climate.”

[The Union Advocate’s “This Month in the Archives” feature offers a look back at what our newspaper was reporting from 5 to 100 years ago. Our digital archives are online, searchable and free to anyone. Click here for access.]

Sponsored by the St. Paul Labor Speakers Club, the Jan. 25, 1987, debate drew four participants, two from labor and two from business, including Minnesota Chamber of Commerce President Win Borden.

Businesses will flee Minnesota as the national economy recovers, Borden said, unless the state cuts spending for government services, reduces corporate property taxes and cuts the cost for unemployment and workers’ compensation.

“The tragic fact is some states will be left behind because some states are not as creative as they should be in creating new jobs,” Borden said. “Unfortunately Minnesota is one of those states.”

Eliot Seide, then the area director for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, wasn’t buying what Borden was selling. He “chided the business lobbyists for failing to acknowledge what Minnesota gets for its tax dollars – excellent education, a good transportation system and a great quality of life – all factors that attract business,” The Advocate reported.

Seide even seemed a little disappointed to be repeating the same old, tired debate still echoing in the House and Senate chambers today.

“I came here hoping to hear something different,” he acknowledged.

Tom Majeski (left), a reporter for the Pioneer Press, distributed fliers outside the Xcel Energy Center Jan. 14, 2003. About 50 members of the Minnesota Newspaper Guild, took part in the action to protest cuts sought by management during bargaining.

Tom Majeski (left), a reporter for the Pioneer Press, distributed fliers outside the Xcel Energy Center Jan. 14, 2003. About 50 members of the Minnesota Newspaper Guild, took part in the action to protest cuts sought by management during bargaining.

10 Years Ago: Proposed wage freeze drew cold reception from PiPress workers

More than 50 Pioneer Press employees, members of the Minnesota Newspaper Guild Typographical Union, froze their tails off outside a Minnesota Wild game to protest management’s attempt to freeze workers’ wages for three years, The Advocate reported in its Jan. 23, 2003, edition.

Union members at the Pioneer Press, who had been working without a contract since July 2002, distributed handbills to Wild fans heading into the arena. The sheets featured team rosters on one side and bargaining information on the other.

In addition to the wage freeze, Knight-Ridder, which owned the newspaper at the time, sought to “raise the employees’ share of family health-care costs by 50 percent, freeze pension contributions, and extract other concessions, even though the paper is profitable,” The Advocate reported.

75 Years Ago: Minnesota Box Company landed on do-not-patronize list

The St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly put Minnesota Box Company on its do-not-patronize list, prompting the city’s unions begin pressuring area brewing companies and bottlers to make sure the union label appears on their crates and boxes carrying its products.

Trades and Labor President Ray Wentz put Minnesota Box on the list after management refused to include employees laid off during a “seasonal slump” in a union election.

Minnesota Box President N.J. Lennartson “has frequently stated that he did not believe any of his employees wished to join a union, and his attitude has been one of antagonism against unionization,” Wentz told The Advocate.

Landing on the list meant Minnesota Box would have trouble competing with manufacturers entitled to use the union label on their boxes and crates, Box Makers business representative Charles LaVaque said.

“The St. Paul Bottling company and the Superior Bottling company use nothing but union-made boxes for their soft drinks,” LaVaque said. “The Hamm Brewing company also uses union-made cases, and we urge our friends to insist on union-made boxes, shipping cases and wooden cartons.”

100 Years Ago: Democrats in St. Paul Fire Department fired

St. Paul Mayor Herbert Keller drew sharp criticism in a front-page story in The Union Advocate’s Jan. 31, 1913, edition, after the city’s Fire Commissioners fired nine St. Paul firefighters for being “too old to be efficient” any longer.

The Advocate suspected there was an additional reason for the firefighters’ dismissal: “the fact that they are all Democrats.”

Keller, who held office from 1910 to 1914, claimed to be running a non-partisan administration. The city’s union leaders weren’t buying it.

“None of (the fired firefighters) is really too old to be efficient, but the mayor wanted their places for some of his political friends,” The Advocate claimed.

The firings added insult to injury for city firemen, who had been granted only a “small increase in pay” by Keller’s administration months earlier.

Filed Under: From the Archives Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Bobby Kasper: A new year, a new labor vision

January 14, 2013 by
Bobby Kasper

Bobby Kasper

After an amazing 2012 political election in Minnesota, we as union members must stay politically involved. It must be a year-round campaign. Our focus is to make sure our electoral gains translate into effective pro-labor, pro-jobs agenda. We must push for policy reform that strengthens the union workers.

After a 22-year hiatus of having a full majority of both houses and a Democratic governor, we have an opportunity to create a better union.

We must learn from our past. Like a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. “History is a great teacher. Now everyone knows that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it. By raising the living standards of millions, Labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed of levels of production. Those who attack Labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them.”

We need to not be complacent as union members. The work for us has just begun. We need to be on the offense and develop policies that promote union organizing. Union organizing is our only survival. If we are to make our voice louder we need to have a strategic campaign to organize union workers. We need to be smart and embrace new technologies. Believe me – we have the capability to become the strongest state economy in the United States.

We worked very hard to take back both houses and we worked with a strong cohesive force. We need to work together on good ideas and policy. We are still up against anti-union sentiment, Labor lockouts, right-to-work and change in prevailing wage. Just look at our neighbor states.

The next steps are clear. At a congressional level, the first that we have to do is stop lowering tax rates for the wealthiest Americans and Wall Street. Furthermore, we must work to rein in healthcare costs. As the main driver of projected long-term deficits, a key goal for us will be to get providers (pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and physicians) to deliver care in more cost-effective ways. Medicare must be allowed to negotiate drug costs with drug companies, it should “bundle” payments to hospitals for post-acute care so Medicare pays for results rather than the volume of services provided, and pay-for-delay, and agreements between brand-name and generic drug manufacturers must end.

Critically, the elimination of all tax incentives for exporting jobs overseas would ensure our sisters and brothers have more of a chance to work and pay their own taxes. We can raise further revenue with a .03% tax on Wall Street speculation, letting estate and gift taxes expire at the end of the year, ending special low tax rates on income from stocks and bonds, and increasing taxes for millionaires and billionaires. All told, these changes would net more than $2.5 trillion over ten years.

As for social security, it should not be weakened to pay for any deficit reduction negotiations. It fact, social security should be strengthened by taking off the cap so that all earnings are subject to the Social Security payroll tax. High earners should contribute the same percentage of their income to Social Security as everyone else.

On the state level, there is also much work to be done. It is time to support our unions by giving our state workers the contract they deserve and by passing legislation that financially punishes employers who lock their workers out. Similarly, with a main focus on revenue this legislative session we need to hold out legislature accountable and support Gov. Dayton’s proposal to raise taxes on the wealthiest Minnesotans so we can pay back the money we borrowed from our schools to meet the budget shortfall last year.

For the bonding bill, we cannot take our eyes off of the critical projects that furthers our state and puts our union sisters and brothers back to work. Instead of pushing for an unspecific bonding bill, it is up to our unions to focus on specific projects that we want built. No money should be put toward wasteful projects, but after years of infrastructure neglect in this state – remember when the bridge collapsed? – there are a seemingly endless array of vital projects that need to be looked at.

There is a long road ahead of us but we dare not flinch as we look down it. The unions are the gatekeeper of worker’s rights everywhere and our responsibility is to never let down the fight to make a better state and a better country. Too often we leave the legislative process to others and allow our hard work from the campaign season to go to waste. But not in 2013. In 2013 we have reason to hope that, with a Minnesota majority and with the Democrats’ hand stronger than in the last session, we can continue down the path to prosperity.

This is our time. It should not be wasted. Here’s to a productive, prosperous and historic year for our labor movement in Minnesota. Happy New Year!

– Bobby Kasper is president of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, representing 50,000 union members in Ramsey, Washington, Dakota and Chisago counties.

Filed Under: Labor Voices Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Bobby Kasper: Thanks for making Labor Day a success

September 20, 2012 by

Thank you to everyone who helped make our participation in the 2012 Labor Day parade at the Minnesota State Fair an enormous success.

We had over 250 participants who marched in our unit this year, and it was the first year we had a float. The Minnesota State Fair capped our unit at 200 marchers, however we had people join us on the other side of the street after the parade began. We doubled the size of our unit from last year. This was the first time we even knew that a cap of participants existed.

It was a warm and humid day, and I know the parade route was a challenge for some of our walkers. I really appreciated everyone’s enthusiasm and help.

Our float carried banners featuring two messages. “We the People – Workers Stand for America” was on one side of the float, and “Invest in America – Bring Our Jobs Home” was on the other. I believe these messages really resonated with the people lining the parade route on the State Fairgrounds. I heard a lot of cheering as we went by. The union musicians, the Twin Cities Labor Chorus and, of course, Uncle Sam were a hit and gave our unit so much character! A lot of time, energy and sweat equity went into the planning and making of the float, as well as the organizing of our marching unit. I have a few ideas for improvement during next year’s parade, and I welcome your input and ideas to build on.

The St. Paul Regional Labor Federation’s float, carrying union musicians.

The amount of people involved was great. I have a long list of people to thank. I am proud to say that when you pull union people together to do a job, it is amazing what you can accomplish. That is what I saw take place and it was an honor to be a part of recognizing and celebrating labor on our day! Special thanks goes to the following:

• The St. Paul Regional Labor Federation staff for helping to put the ideas into action. To Peter Polga-Hecimovich for entertaining us all as Uncle Sam, to Vicki Beebe and Lynne Larkin-Wright for making the float a reality and to Kera Peterson for coordinating the parade check-in process.

• To UFCW for loaning us a trailer for the float.

• To Mary Sansom for the use of her vehicle to pull our float, and to Michael Meyer for driving the float skillfully through the parade route.

• To Perry Schmidt for help with decorating the float and getting needed supplies.

• To the Musicians and Twin Cities Labor Chorus for their patriotic music and songs.

• To all of the retirees and other union members for marching with us!

This event made me proud to be a union member and we sent a strong message that union members built and believe in America too!

– Bobby Kasper is president of the 50,000-member St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO.

Filed Under: Labor Voices Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

St. Paul Steelworkers pitch manufacturing policy to Dems’ platform committee

August 3, 2012 by

Bob Ryan, a Steelworker from St. Paul’s Rock-Tenn paper-recycling plant, addresses the DNC platform committee.

Eighteen of the nation’s most prominent lawmakers listened last weekend as two Steelworkers from St. Paul testified about the importance of revitalizing the U.S. economy with initiatives designed to grow middle-class manufacturing jobs.

Bob Ryan and David Hallas, members of the United Steelworkers union, addressed the committee charged with drafting the Democratic Party’s platform in advance of its national convention Sept. 4-6 in Charlotte. The Platform Committee met in Minneapolis the weekend of July 27.

Ryan and Hallas offered committee members several suggestions for supporting American manufacturers and the middle-class workers they employ, including infrastructure investments, “Buy American” laws and trade agreements that level the playing field for domestic manufacturers.

“My manufacturing union job at the paper mill has given me a good, middle-class standard- of- living,” Ryan told committee members. “America now desperately needs a Democratic vision for how to address our national and local economic … challenges to keep us a strong economy in the global marketplace.”

Ryan is a member of Steelworkers Local 264, which represents 500 workers at the Rock-Tenn plant in St. Paul’s Midway district. Hallas is a member of Local 7263, representing 350 workers at the Gerdau Long Steel plant, located off Highway 61 and Interstate 494.

Ryan reflected for committee members on what the Rock-Tenn plant has meant to his family, which enjoys a “good, middle-class standard of living” as a result of his job, he said.

But like many manufacturing jobs, Ryan’s has been threatened in an era of global competition, as companies are increasingly able to exploit cheap labor supplies overseas. Rock-Tenn, a paper recycler, competes with companies that collect waste paper from municipalities and, in turn, ship it to recycling companies in China.

“Waste paper is now the largest export by volume to China,” Ryan said. “Instead of exporting waste paper, we should keep it here to create and sustain good jobs for value-added products in the U.S.”

To protect jobs like Ryan’s, he said, Democrats must commit to policies that reward companies for keeping jobs in the U.S. The party’s leaders also must commit to confronting China and other countries that fail to abide by the rules of fair trade, particularly when it comes to currency manipulation and protectionism.

“The Asian tiger refuses to play by the rules of global trade and sees trade as a one-way ticket to our market, without our having the competitive access to their own markets,” Ryan said. “This must stop.”

Hallas offered another suggestion for revitalizing the manufacturing sector: pairing increased investment in public infrastructure with “Buy American” laws that ensure the materials used to build and repair highways, bridges and water systems come from U.S. companies whenever possible.

Hallas talked about the pride he and other workers at Gerdau took in producing the 63-millimeter anchor bar bolts that secure the new Interstate 35-W bridge to bedrock in Minneapolis.

“I remember well that as the steel bars moved from one work station to the next, we steelworkers reminded each other of our skills and the importance of what we were doing,” he said.

Hallas also responded to criticisms of “Buy American” laws – that they create inefficiency and waste, that they could spark trade wars with other countries.

“Most industrialized countries already utilize their own domestic procurement requirements,” Hallas said, pointing to “Buy Canadian” laws and “Buy European” laws in Canada and the European Union. “Providing a preference for domestic content is fully within the rights of the United States.

“As national polling shows, Americans not only support U.S. manufacturers and their workers, but they also favor ‘Buy America’ preferences when their tax dollars are spent on public infrastructure projects. American voters understand what’s at stake: good-paying jobs and the strength of the U.S. economy.”

The U.S. economy’s manufacturing sector was hit particularly hard during the most-recent recession. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the industry lost 2 million jobs – or 17 percent of its workforce – between December 2007 and December 2009, when U.S. manufacturing employment fell to its lowest level in six decades.

Efforts to stem the tide of job losses took a hit last month, when Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have eliminated a tax credit U.S. employers use to move jobs overseas – and replaced it with a 20 percent tax break for the costs of moving jobs back to the U.S.

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

UNITE HERE Local 17: Bottom line is Vikes stadium will create jobs

June 20, 2012 by

The Vikings Stadium deal is done, and the members of UNITE HERE Local 17 are happy about that. We are happy about the jobs that it will provide over the next few years while it’s being built and about the jobs it will provide over the next 30+ years for our members.

Local 17 represents workers in the hospitality industry, including sports arenas. When Target Field opened, there was no doubt what that did for the hospitality industry in downtown Minneapolis, with people eating at restaurants, shopping, and staying in hotels. Our union, which was hit hard in a bad economy, regained members, saw wages rise and people called back from layoff. Target Field employs as many as 800 of our members at each game, many of them coming from inner city neighborhoods where unemployment is high.

As we listened over several months to the endless debates, opinions, and commentary about the jobs that would be created once the new stadium was built, we also heard a lot of misconceptions and untruths about the type of jobs these would be. Some politicians and some labor people described them as “dead end, low wage jobs.”

We need to respect all workers and not allow politicians to look down their nose and create “jobism.” We should not be taking a position that working in a stadium or a hotel is somehow less important. Not everyone will be a teacher or a lawyer or a skilled professional, and some who are will continue to vend the beer, sell the hotdogs and work in the bars, restaurants and clubs that will be part of the new stadium.

The fact is, for each of the jobs created at the site, many more are truly created; it’s a ripple effect that could hardly be quantified. Think of it this way: for every hotdog sold, not only is the cook and the server of the hotdog working, but the person who delivered the hotdogs to the stadium. There’s a person that keeps that person’s truck running and in good tires and brakes, which someone else makes, and then there’s the farmer who raised the pigs or cows to make the hotdogs and the people who make and print the bags they come in and the makers of mustard, ketchup, pickles and onions. And let’s not forget the bakers of the buns. We could go on and on.

This is how the economy is built. One job relies on the job of another and then expands to create more jobs. It is shallow and shortsighted to claim that we are giving billionaires millions. We are giving ourselves millions in pride in our community that cannot be estimated in dollars.

– Nancy Goldman is president of Twin Cities-based UNITE HERE Local 17. Martin Goff is senior vice president of Local 17. For more information on their union and the workers it represents, go to www.uniteherelocal17.org.

Filed Under: Labor Voices Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Next Page»