Kate Perushek: Labor Department aims to increase awareness of rights, responsibilities

September 3, 2026 by

Kate Perushek is commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.

As we celebrate Labor Day, I am honored to begin a new role as commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI). For seven years, I have served at DLI, and this new role is a continuation of the same commitment that has guided me throughout my career: protecting worker rights, strengthening worker safety and ensuring that Minnesotans can live and work in environments that are equitable, healthy and safe.

My commitment to workers was shaped early in my career, long before I came to DLI. Working as a Spanish interpreter in a public middle school, I learned how much trust matters – how important it is to communicate clearly, listen carefully and make sure that people understand their rights and receive excellent service. Those lessons stayed with me and guide how I think about public service today.

Over the past seven years at DLI, I’ve had the privilege of working closely with Minnesota’s labor community in several roles, including deputy commissioner, assistant commissioner and director of legislative affairs. Before joining DLI, I worked in leadership positions at the Legislature, including serving as legislative director to the Speaker of the House, where I helped pass the minimum-wage increase and the Women’s Economic Security Act.

In each of those positions, one thing has remained constant: this work is about the people. It is about the worker who deserves a safe job site, the parent who needs time to care for a sick child, the family that depends on a fair wage, and the employee who wants to do right by the people they employ.

Gov. Tim Walz understands that. Under his leadership, Minnesota has made historic progress for workers, passing the largest set of workplace protections enacted in a generation. These provisions have strengthened working families, expanded worker knowledge and given Minnesotans a greater voice on the job. Minnesotans now have earned sick and safe time, Paid Leave and increased minimum wages – by more than 20% – to better provide for themselves and their families.

Workers in meat and poultry have stronger protections. Construction workers have greater wage protections. The progress under Gov. Walz reflects a simple but powerful belief: when workers are protected, Minnesota is stronger.

But laws alone don’t change lives. People must know what those rights mean, how to use them and where to turn when they need help. That’s why our DLI staff members have focused so deeply on education and outreach. We know that when workers understand their rights, workplaces become safer, families become stronger and communities become more stable.

From Sept. 13-19, DLI will host its third annual Workplace Rights Week to educate Minnesotans about their rights and responsibilities in the workplace. We invite employees and employers alike to learn more and take part in scheduled events at dli.mn.gov/rights-week.

I am proud to lead an agency and team that works together to serve Minnesotans with fairness, safety and opportunity. As we celebrate Labor Day, I look ahead with confidence and purpose, committed to helping make Minnesota the best place to live, work and raise a family.

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Blissenbach: Aquatic plant removal bill honors memory of fallen workers

April 28, 2025 by

Minnesota Labor Commissioner Nicole Blissenbach speaks during local Building Trades unions’ Workers Memorial Day ceremony on the Capitol grounds.

From the first day on the job to the last, each and every worker, each and every shift, has the right to a safe and healthy workplace. Unfortunately, in Minnesota between October 2023 and March 2024, Minnesota OSHA (MNOSHA) investigated 10 workplace fatalities. We take time each April 28, Workers Memorial Day, to honor and remember all workers whose lives were cut short by a workplace injury, illness or disease.

Workers Memorial Day began in 1970 and, within the year, the first Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed, establishing federal OSHA. That first OSHA law – and every worker protection law enacted since then – has passed thanks to the power of the labor movement and concerned citizens, standing up to advocate for the right to a safe workplace and to protect working people.

Every year our agency meets with unions, businesses, trade organizations, medical professionals, workers’ advocates and individuals who share their ideas for improving worker safety. Our role is to listen, to learn from their experiences and to advocate for advancements in workplace safety laws and regulations.

This year I had the honor of meeting the parents of two young men who died in two separate workplace incidents while removing aquatic weeds in 2022 and 2024. I am grateful to these parents for their strength to fight for improved safety for employees who dive on the job.

After completing its investigations, MNOSHA’s compliance office issued citations to those employers for violations of the commercial diving standard. Earlier this year, the Minnesota Legislature introduced legislation designed to increase protections for workers using scuba-diving equipment to perform aquatic weed and plant removal. Called the Brady Aune and Joseph Anderson Act, the new legislation will align the efforts of MNOSHA Compliance and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to ensure employers permitted to perform this work have formally trained and certified scuba divers and use required standardized equipment.

As summer quickly approaches, Minnesota employers performing aquatic weed removal at lakes across the state will be tasked with implementing requirements to protect workers using scuba-diving equipment as a result of this new legislation.

When employers follow required safety standards, have proper controls in place and make safety and health programs a priority, our brothers, sisters and siblings are safer and our state is stronger. On Workers Memorial Day and throughout the year, we must work together to make sure employers embrace safety and health as a core value in their operations so that every worker goes home safe every day.

All workers – no matter their age or experience – have a right to a safe and healthy workplace. When I came to work for the Department of Labor and Industry, I wanted to make a difference in the lives of workers across Minnesota. I joined a workforce of more than 600 dedicated people working in service to all workers of Minnesota, ensuring safety and health in the workplace is a right, not a privilege. It is now more important than ever to protect the rights that exist for workers while advocating to advance safer working conditions that will save lives.

– Nicole Blissenbach is commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Her column appears in the May 2025 issue of The Saint Paul Union Advocate.

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