Workers see corporate power grab behind court case challenging their union rights

January 8, 2016 by
Anna Angeles-Farris, a custodian in the Lakeville schools, and Capt. Chris Parsons of the St. Paul Fire Department stand together for strong public-sector unions.

Anna Angeles-Farris, a custodian in the Lakeville schools, and Capt. Chris Parsons of the St. Paul Fire Department stand together for strong public-sector unions.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday in a case with big implications for Minnesota firefighters, teachers and other public-sector workers who benefit from the collective bargaining process.

At a press conference inside the Firefighters Hall and Museum in Minneapolis today, public workers warned that the case, Friedrichs v. CTA, is an attempt by corporate interests to weaken not only their unions, but also the services they provide.

“I’m worried that this lawsuit could weaken my ability to advocate for my students,” St. Paul special-ed teacher Shannon Jax said. “It will make it harder for educators to fight for what children need.”

Bankrolled by the right-wing Center for Individual Rights, the Friedrichs case challenges unions’ ability to collect fees from public-sector workers who choose not to join a union but, as members of the bargaining unit, enjoy equal access to benefits provided by the contract.

“Fair-share fees,” ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court 37 years ago, ensure no worker contributes to a union’s political activities without first giving consent, but require all workers share equally the cost of negotiation and representation.

The system works well, St. Paul firefighter Chris Parsons said, in Minnesota and other states that have not already prohibited unions from collecting fair-share fees.

“In the fire service we believe in fraternity, loyalty, honesty and integrity,” Capt. Parsons said. “We believe in family and in being our brother’s keeper. We also believe that each man and woman has the obligation to pull their own weight.”

Prohibiting public employees from forming strong unions, Parsons said, makes it harder for firefighters to bargain for the equipment they need to work safely or for staffing levels that keep the community safe.

"I can speak up for better working conditions for myself and my colleagues to do my job to the best of my ability," St. Paul teacher Shannon Jax said.

“I can speak up for better working conditions for myself and my colleagues to do my job to the best of my ability,” St. Paul teacher Shannon Jax said.

Jax said her union, Education Minnesota, has empowered teachers in the St. Paul Public Schools to fight back against cuts to art and music programs, and to hold the state accountable for meeting special-education funding requirements.

“Our children are coming to school with more and more needs than ever before, and I want to make sure I do everything I can to help them succeed,” Jax said. “Being a union member gives me a voice in my profession. I can advocate for my students, make a difference and help them get the resources they need.”

Other workers at the press conference said strong public-sector unions help set high standards when it comes to pay equity, earned sick time and other “benefits that everyone needs to raise a family,” retired AFSCME member and former Itasca State Park worker Connie Andrews said.

That corporate interests are looking to roll back those gains comes as no surprise to Anna Angeles-Farris, a custodian in the Lakeville schools and member of SEIU Local 284.

“Unions have made workforces more equitable for all working people. This court case is a clear attack on families who provide essential services for our communities,” Angeles-Farris said. “Our schools, our hospitals and our communities deserve better.”

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In contract talks, state workers beat back health care concessions, win raises

July 7, 2015 by

Project1_Layout 1After reaching a tentative agreement with the state July 1, members of two public-employee unions are set to vote this month on a two-year contract that includes annual raises of 2.5 percent.

Bargaining teams from both Council 5 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees recommended members vote “yes” to ratify the 2015-17 contract, according to articles published on the unions’ websites.

Wage increases included in the tentative agreement would offset an increase in employees’ share of health care costs – though not nearly as steep as the increase sought by state negotiators.

AFSCME and MAPE said their bargaining teams beat back $74 million in proposed takebacks, including a proposal to increase employees’ health insurance premiums. Instead, state workers would see a modest increase in out-of-pocket costs like co-pays and deductibles under the proposed contract.

“Even though the tentative agreement does increase health care costs in a few areas, the contract’s pay increases more than offset those costs,” AFSCME Council 5’s statement said. “Even members who pay the maximum out-of-pocket insurance costs will come out ahead by the end of the proposed contract.”

MAPE said state negotiators’ opening offer included raises of just 1 percent annually. “MAPE negotiators battled back, unwilling to accept any pay increase that would not more than offset the increases being proposed to the health care plan,” the union said.

“The governor’s team dropped their most onerous health care proposals after hearing from seven MAPE and AFSCME members who shared their personal stories with Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Myron Frans… Each member spoke of how detrimental any serious increases to out-of-pockets or premiums would be for them and their families.”

The tentative agreement also includes a compromise regarding the unions’ proposal to expand paid family leave. If approved, the state would “establish a task force to assess opportunities for paid parental leave for all employees of the State of Minnesota,” according to MAPE.

In addition to wages and benefits, the tentative agreement includes several language changes suggested by union members, AFSCME said.

The contract covers nearly 17,500 AFSCME members and 13,000 MAPE members employed by the State of Minnesota.

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High court will hear case targeting public-sector unions

June 30, 2015 by

1024px-Supreme_Court_Front_DuskThe Supreme Court today announced it would hear arguments in a case challenging unions’ ability to collect fees from public-sector workers who choose not to join a union but, as members of the bargaining unit, enjoy equal access to benefits provided by the union contract.

Eliminating so-called “fair share fees,” ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court 37 years ago, is a top priority of the National Right to Work Committee and other right-wing legal groups that are bankrolling an assault on workers’ collective bargaining rights in the court system.

Unions pledged a vigorous defense of the fair-share structure, which empowers teachers and other public-sector employees to form strong unions for a collective voice on the job – while also ensuring no worker contributes to the union’s political activities without giving consent.

“It’s extremely frustrating that at a time when corporations and the super-rich have unprecedented power, the court would agree to take up a case that could further undercut working Americans,” Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson said.

The case stems from California, where Orange County teacher Rebecca Friedrichs sued the California Teachers Association for collecting fair share fees. The conservative, Washington-based Center for Individual Rights picked up Friedrichs’ legal fees and put the case on a fast track for the Supreme Court, arguing that forcing her to pay for union representation she doesn’t want amounts to “forced speech.”

The Supreme Court’s most conservative justices, led by Samuel Alito, have signaled more than once that they are sympathetic to 1st Amendment arguments to overturn the 1977 decision, Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, which deemed fair share fees constitutional.

But union members like Kimberly Colbert, a teacher from St. Paul, warned overturning Abood would stifle workers’ speech – not support it – because public sector unions are required to represent all employees in a bargaining unit, regardless of whether or not they pay dues.

“When educators come together, we can speak with the district about class size, about adequate staffing, about the need for counselors, nurses, media specialists and librarians in schools. And we can advocate for better practices that serve our kids,” Colbert said. “With that collective voice, we can have conversations with the district that we probably wouldn’t be able to have otherwise – and do it while engaging our communities, our parents and our students.”

The court will hear arguments in Friedrich v. CTA during its upcoming term, which begins in October.

“While we hope that the court will not over turn their previous decision in Abood, an unfavorable ruling will not stop Minnesota’s labor movement from growing,” Knutson said. “Workers across our state and nation continue to stand up for their rights; we will continue to stand with them and their organizing efforts.”

Denise Specht, president of Education Minnesota, agreed.

“This will be a fiercely argued case and no one knows how it will be decided, or when, but I can promise one thing,” Specht said. “No matter what happens, the educators of Education Minnesota will continue to speak out for our schools, our students, our educators and the future of our state.”

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AFSCME members defend public service during Council 5’s Day on Hill rally

March 25, 2015 by
David Ruth, a mental health worker in Cambridge, calls for safe staffing levels at the state's hospitals and group homes during AFSCME Council 5's Day on the Hill rally.

David Ruth, a mental health worker in Cambridge, calls for safe staffing levels at the state’s hospitals and group homes during AFSCME Council 5’s Day on the Hill rally.

 

“Everyone in this room is an expert in public service,” AFSCME Council 5 Executive Director Eliot Seide told nearly 1,000 members of the union during its Day on the Hill rally yesterday. “You’ve forgotten more than (politicians) will ever know.”

After the rally, held at a downtown St. Paul hotel, union members bused to the Capitol, where they met with their legislators to pitch the union’s priorities this session, including:

• New revenue for a long-term, comprehensive investment in the state’s roads, bridges and transit options.

AFSCME members, MnDOT worker John Gaither said, see the disrepair of the state’s infrastructure every day. “We’re here to tell you the need is urgent,” Gaither said.

• Staffing up for safety at state-run prisons and mental health facilities.

David Ruth, who works at a state facility in Cambridge, listed the injuries AFSCME members have suffered on the job, from sexual assault to being stabbed in the eye with a pen. “We as staff expect some level of danger at our jobs, but we are not willing to risk our lives,” Gaither said.

AFSCME members get fired up during Council 5's Day on the Hill rally.

AFSCME members get fired up during Council 5’s Day on the Hill rally.

Other priorities include reinvesting in public services to support Minnesota’s quality of life, protecting retirement security and defined-benefit pensions and passing the Working Parents Act.

The rally’s theme – “Minnesota Rising!” – played to the difference between Minnesota, where Gov. Mark Dayton and DFL legislators have expanded collective bargaining rights and raised taxes on the wealthiest to protect public services, and other Midwestern states. Any mention of Wisconsin, where Republican presidential hopeful Scott Walker recently signed Right to Work into law, drew jeers from the crowd.

AFSCME Local 8 President Angela Marlow, a child support agent, told members she used to work in Wisconsin; now she works for Ramsey County.

“Remember that bumper sticker that read ‘Escape to Wisconsin?'” Marlow asked. “Well I escaped from Wisconsin to work in Minnesota.”

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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.”

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Expenses, stress mount for essential employees during Tea Party shutdown

October 15, 2013 by
Federal workers and supporters demonstrate against the federal government shutdown outside the Social Security Administration offices in Minneapolis.

Federal workers and their supporters demonstrate against the federal government shutdown outside the Social Security Administration offices in Minneapolis.

Gloria Jones and May Sy Lawrence won’t get paid for doing their jobs until Tea Party Republicans in Congress get serious about doing theirs.

Jones and Lawrence are essential federal employees – officially classified as “accepted employees.” As they have throughout the 15-day shutdown, they showed up for work today at the Social Security Administration offices in Minneapolis, but they won’t see their wages until members of Congress – who are getting paid – pass a clean budget to fund the government.

On their lunch break, Jones and Lawrence joined a demonstration outside the Social Security Administration, calling on Tea Party Republicans to end the shutdown and stop holding the economy – and the federal government – hostage. [Click here to add your voice.]

Republicans in the House initially allowed the government to shut down in an attempt to defund the Affordable Care Act. When that failed, they tried using the shutdown – and a looming deadline to extend the nation’s borrowing authority – to gain leverage in budget negotiations.

Jones said Tea Party Republicans might not be so cavalier about shutting down the government if their paychecks, like hers, depended on it.

“If they were in our shoes what would they do?” she asked. “They need to get their act together and end this now.”

About 19,000 federal workers in Minnesota – and 800,000 nationwide – are either out of work or working without a paycheck.

The strain is, perhaps, greatest on essential workers, who, unlike furloughed workers, must continue to pay for child care while they are at work, transportation to and from work, and other expenses – without the benefit of a paycheck.

Lawrence said the shutdown already has taken a toll on her family’s ability to meet its financial obligations. She called her mortgage company to ask for some relief from monthly payments during the shutdown, she said, and was denied.

“It’s pretty stressful,” Lawrence said, “especially when you have small children. We need to get it settled as soon as possible because it is affecting everyone.”

Lawrence, Jones and their co-workers at the rally today are members of the American Federation of Government Employees. Members of several other organizations joined them today, including the largest union of state government employees in Minnesota, AFSCME Council 5.

“At AFSCME, we’re familiar with shutdowns,” said Council 5 spokesperson Jennifer Munt, referencing a 20-day state shutdown in 2011. “We don’t like them because they hurt everyday people.

“We took Minnesota off the Tea Party choke chain. The Republican Party in Washington needs to do the same.”

Social Security Administration workers brave the rain to join a demonstration against the government shutdown outside their Minneapolis offices.

Social Security Administration workers brave the rain to join a demonstration against the government shutdown outside their Minneapolis offices.

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Author sees reason for hope in Wisconsin recall campaign

May 8, 2012 by

John Nichols’ book “Uprising” provides an insider account of the union protests that swept across Wisconsin last year.

Progressive writer John Nichols energized and entertained during a May 2 lecture at the Carpenters Union Hall in St. Paul, providing a first-hand, insider’s account of union protests that swept across Wisconsin last year, sparking a renewed interest in grassroots democracy and progressive activism nationwide.

Nichols, a Wisconsin-based writer for The Nation magazine and author of the new book “Uprising,” appeared in St. Paul as part of The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library’s annual labor-history series, “Untold Stories.”

(That series continues tonight at 7 p.m. with “Czechs & Paychecks: Working-class History of West 7th,” a panel discussion at the CSPS Hall, 383 Michigan Street; and tomorrow with a post-show discussion following the Guthrie Theater’s presentation of “Are You Now or Have You Ever Been,” a play about Langston Hughes’ appearance at the McCarthy hearings. Click here for more information.)

Nichols brought a roomful of about 30 people back to the winter of 2011, when Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Republican majorities in the State Legislature outraged union members across the state with plans to strip teachers, nurses and other public employees of most of their collective-bargaining rights.

The governor’s plan was mean to address a budget “crisis” the Republicans created by handing out $140 million in tax breaks to corporations after sweeping into power during the 2010 elections. The so-called “budget-repair bill” eliminated public employees’ ability to deduct dues out of their paychecks, forced them to hold elections every year to “reconstitute” their unions and stripped them of their ability to negotiate for health insurance and pension benefits.

According to Nichols, Democratic lawmakers and many union leaders responded by throwing up their hands and warning union members to brace themselves for bad news.

But one local union of graduate-level teaching assistants from the University of Wisconsin decided to fight back. The union’s decision to protest inside the State Capitol, crowding the hallway outside Walker’s office, was a “light-bulb moment” for angry public employees across the state, Nichols said.

“Suddenly, everybody watching the TV news saw people protesting,” Nichols said. “And if you have an ongoing protest, it’s something people can join.”

And join they did. Emboldened by the demonstrators, Democratic state senators fled the state, preventing a vote on the union bill and forcing Walker and Republican lawmakers to face the public backlash and outrage it had created. Students and workers occupied the Capitol for 18 consecutive days, “assembling and petitioning for the redress of grievances, as they had been taught to do in school,” Nichols said.

“People weren’t waiting for politicians to solve their problems. They were demanding their basic rights, demanding their basic freedoms. That’s what Wisconsinites did.”

Although Walker’s attacks on public workers and their unions eventually passed into law, protests outside the Capitol drew hundreds of thousands of people, sowing the seeds of grassroots democracy that have now grown into a political effort to recall Walker, his lieutenant governor and four of his closest allies in the Legislature.

More than 1 million Wisconsinites signed onto the Walker recall, the highest percentage of a state’s population ever to petition for removal of a leader. The state is holding a primary election today to determine Walker’s opponent in the June 5 recall election.

Nichols said he remains hopeful the recall will succeed, pointing to Walker’s sliding poll numbers. “We will be told again and again that we’ve been defeated, that we have to accept what we are told, that we can’t win this fight,” he said. Then Nichols offered the advice of Wisconsin’s former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold: “This fight isn’t over until we win it.”

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