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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Flanagan marks first Workplace Rights Week at union laundry in St. Paul

September 25, 2024 by

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry is putting a spotlight on workers’ rights this week, with hundreds of outreach events across the state to educate workers and employers.

It’s the state’s first-ever Workplace Rights Week, and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan marked the occasion today at an industrial laundry facility on St. Paul’s East Side, where she and DLI Commissioner Nicole Blissenbach met with union workers and plant managers.

“This is a place where workers can feel supported and know their rights,” Flanagan said. “We can help spread that word to other worksites across the state of Minnesota.”

Health Systems Cooperative Laundries (HSCL) employs 230 people who pick up, clean and deliver linens to 600 clinics and 28 hospitals. The 80,000-square-foot facility, located on the former Hamm’s brewery site, processes up to 1 million pounds of laundry each week.

Members of three unions work at HSCL: the SEIU-affiliated Workers United, Operating Engineers Local 70 and Teamsters Local 471. The workforce is diverse, with 12 different languages spoken at the facility.

Workers United Vice President Kathy Hanshew spoke during an event at Health Systems Cooperative Laundry during Workplace Rights Week.

Workers’ rights on the job are the same no matter what language they use, Flanagan noted, crediting HSCL and its unions for working together to educate all employees about their protections and benefits.

Kathy Hanshew, vice president of Workers United, said union members at HSCL “have no trouble … defending themselves, defending their fellow workers and standing up for what’s right inside the workplace.”

“We understand that a safe, supportive and fair environment to work in is not only essential for our success as a company, but also to the individual employee,” HSCL Director of Operations Tabitha Zieman said. “I’m proud to work alongside these 230 employees who come from various backgrounds.”

DLI rolled out Workplace Rights Week in response to a flurry of new labor laws passed by state lawmakers since 2023, when union-endorsed DFLers took control of the Legislature.

The changes include an earned sick and safe time law, new protections for pregnant and lactating parents, and safety standards specific to the meatpacking and warehouse industries. Other laws crack down on wage theft, ban noncompete clauses and prohibit employers from holding captive-audience meetings about politics, religion or collective bargaining.

Blissenbach said the agency hopes its weeklong push will “reach workers, managers and owners with the message and materials” they need to maintain compliance with the new regulatory landscape – and ensure Minnesota remains “one of the best places for workers and their families.”

“We know that it takes everyone to maintain a safe and healthy work environment, where every worker realizes protections afforded to them in the law,” she said.

Learn more about Workplace Rights Week, which runs through Sept. 28, at https://dli.mn.gov/rights-week.

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Workers encouraged to make sure they see full benefit of Minnesota’s new sick time law

January 30, 2024 by

A member of the Twin Cities worker center CTUL spoke about the importance of having access to earned sick and safe time – and why CTUL was among the leading advocates of expanding the benefit statewide.

Minnesota’s new earned sick and safe time mandate took effect Jan. 1, and state lawmakers and regulators are encouraging workers to check with their employers to make sure they are earning the full benefit provided by the new law.

That means banking a minimum of one hour of earned sick and safe time for every 30 hours worked. Accrual must begin immediately upon employment, and workers may earn up to a 48 hours in a year, at minimum.

The new law applies broadly, covering full-time, part-time and temporary employees, although federal workers, independent contractors and some construction workers covered by collective bargaining agreements are exempt from the law.

“We know that everyone deserves paid time away to heal, to grow and to live,” Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said during a press event at a bakery in Minneapolis, where she and other officials sought to raise awareness of the new mandate. “And when you come back your job should still be there.”

Employers must allow workers to access their earned sick and safe time to recover from illness or injury, access preventative care or care for family members. Workers also may access earned benefits to seek assistance for domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.

State Sen. Sandy Pappas (D-St. Paul), lead author of the new law, recalled fighting to include earned sick and safe time in the Women’s Economic Security Act of 2014.

Sen. Sandy Pappas of St. Paul was lead author of the ESST bill.

“I couldn’t get it over the goal line at that time, but I was really pleased with my city of St. Paul … that we were the guinea pigs to show that it could work and be successful,” Pappas said. “Now, earned sick and safe time will raise the bar for all Minnesota workers.”

St. Paul was one of four Minnesota cities that put sick-time ordinances on their books before state lawmakers expanded the benefit during the 2023 legislative session. Fourteen other states have passed similar laws too, Department of Labor and Industry Commissioner Nicole Blissenbach said.

“This law is providing an important workplace benefit that allows workers – regardless of their income, regardless of their background – the right to take time off to prioritize their health and the health of their families,” she said. “We know that it works.”

Some employers in cities like St. Paul and Minneapolis have cited the benefits of expanding earned sick and safe time benefits. Daniel Swenson-Klatt adopted the policy at Butter Bakery Café seven years ago, as city council members in Minneapolis were debating an ordinance. He called it “an investment that paid off.”

“In the end it provided my staff with safety and security. It reduced turnover,” he said. “There was an associated cost of hiring and turnover that just wasn’t there anymore. Over the years, it has added a little to my payroll costs, but it has brought back rewards far greater.”

Officials also emphasized that earned sick and safe time is not the same as paid family and medical leave, another workplace benefit state lawmakers voted into law last legislative session. The medical leave bill, which provides partial wage replacement for extended absences like the birth of a child, will go into effect in 2026.

Find more information about workers’ rights under the new ordinance on the Labor Department’s website.

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