Kera Peterson: In uncertain times, voting is sure way to make an impact

August 1, 2020 by

– Kera Peterson is president of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. She wrote this “Labor Voices” column for the August 2020 issue of The Saint Paul Union Advocate.

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“In these uncertain times …”

It’s the marketing catchphrase of 2020, and for good reason. Our lives have been upended by three crises at once: a public health pandemic, an economic free fall and long-standing structural racism. Both locally and nationally, our labor movement is responding to each crisis with urgency and solidarity, and we will carry that same energy into our next big challenge of 2020, the election.

That much I am certain about.

Working people need safe jobs, economic security and freedom from systemic racism. We won’t get it with elected leaders who take orders from the corporate lobbyists and CEOs whispering in their ears. We’re seeing what happens when our federal government puts profits and stock prices before working people’s health and safety, and the results have been tragic.

A staggering number of Americans have lost their lives to COVID-19, more than any other country on earth. And an unacceptable number of cases are being traced back to the worksite, where essential workers have too often felt expendable, forced into the impossible choice between getting sick and getting paid. We can’t have a healthy economy without healthy workers. But the Trump administration was painfully slow ramping up production of the protective equipment and testing needed to keep workers safe, and the president has repeatedly undermined his own agencies’ guidelines for preventing the virus’ spread. OSHA, the federal agency charged with protecting workers, was understaffed before the pandemic. Now, as thousands of complaints pour in from the front lines, the agency stays mostly on the sidelines. We deserve better.

Failing to protect the health and safety of frontline workers has only made our nation’s persistent racial disparities worse. COVID-19 hospitalization and death rates are higher for members of Black and Latinx communities, who make up a disproportionate share of the essential workforce. At the same time, protests of systemic racism, sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, have spilled into the streets nationwide.

Stopping the free fall into even deeper and deadly racial inequality, ensuring the health and economic security of working people, putting our country on a path to prosperity for all – these are our goals as a movement, and they are goals we share with our labor-endorsed candidates. We know this because, over the last four months, local union members have screened these candidates, discussed where they stand on the issues and recommended them for endorsement.

Now, the work of our Labor 2020 campaign begins. Minnesota’s primary election is Aug. 11, and at least one labor-endorsed candidate, U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, will appear on every primary ballot. Across the metro, labor-endorsed congressional candidates and state legislative candidates face primary challenges as well. They need your vote.

Unions are about bringing people together, and our political work is no exception. While the physical distance necessary to fight this pandemic means bringing people together – and getting them the polls – will look a little different in 2020, I know we will find creative and ways to succeed. The easiest way to make a difference right now is to make sure your voter registration is current and to request an absentee ballot, so you can vote by mail in both the primary and general elections. It takes just a few minutes on the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website.

Distance may be inevitable, but division is not. Fundamentally, that’s what the choice in 2020 comes down to. We can join together behind a vision of equality and prosperity for all, or we can continue to be divided by those familiar fault lines of race, religion, sexual orientation, region and beyond. This is a moment that demands clear action and common purpose. And while, in these uncertain times, no one knows exactly how the election will play out, you can be certain which side the labor movement is on.

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Colleagues, labor community mourn Teamster fatally shot during traffic stop

July 7, 2016 by

castile-320

Philando Castile, the man fatally shot during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights last night, was a cafeteria supervisor at J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School in St. Paul and a member of Teamsters Local 320.

Officers of Castile’s union today expressed grief at the sudden loss of their union brother, “an amazing person who did his job at St. Paul Public Schools because he loved the children he served,” Local 320 President Sami Gabriel said.

Grief gave way to frustration today, as hundreds gathered outside the Governor’s Residence in St. Paul to remember Castile and demand justice for his family. Classmates and colleagues from the school district took the microphone to express anger at seeing another interaction with law enforcement turn fatal for a person of color.

St. Paul Federation of Teachers Local 28, which represents teachers and support staff in the St. Paul district, released a statement calling Castile’s shooting “unjustifiable” and urging members to attend a vigil for his family at J.J. Hill, 998 Selby Ave., at 5:30 p.m. tonight.

“Structural racism is real and present in our country and our community,” SPFT’s statement said. “We are horrified by the number of black citizens and youth dying as a result of police shootings. These are incidences our students are watching and living daily. We can, and must, do better.”

‘Enthusiasm and fist bumps’

Castile, who was 32, began working for the St. Paul school district in 2002. A graduate of St. Paul Central High School, he was well known among students and staff at J.J. Hill, Principal Fatima Lawson said in a letter to the school’s families and staff.

“He welcomed students to the lunchroom with enthusiasm and fist bumps,” Lawson wrote. “Teachers and staff loved working with him and he frequently greeted former colleagues with a smile and a hug. This is a tragic loss for our school, our staff and his family. Our hearts go out to all who knew him and we will definitely miss his presence this fall.”

Minnesota teachers asked for a moment of silence to remember Castile during the National Education Association’s assembly in Washington D.C. this morning, joining teachers from Louisiana who mourned the loss of another black man, Alton Sterling, shot by police Tuesday in Baton Rouge. (Video)

Central High School teacher Kimberly Colbert asked delegates to “send prayers and healing thoughts” to St. Paul. “Please remember him, as we remember all the victims of the horrible violence that’s been going on in our country,” she added.

Demonstrators gathered outside the Governor's Residence in St. Paul today to call for justice in the shooting of Phil Castile.

Demonstrators gathered outside the Governor’s Residence in St. Paul today to call for justice in the shooting of Phil Castile.

A double standard

The shootings of Castile and Sterling drew nationwide attention, including condolences from the nation’s highest-ranking labor leader, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

“Philando Castile was a union member, and so his family is our family,” Trumka said.

Earlier this year the AFL-CIO brought its Commission on Racial and Economic Justice to the Twin Cities, and both Trumka and Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy reiterated their commitment to dealing with racism as a labor issue.

“Labor cannot and will not sit on the sidelines when it comes to racial justice,” Trumka said. “It is not enough to simply say ‘Black Lives Matter.’ We must and will continue to fight for reforms in policing and to address issues of racial and economic inequality.”

McCarthy, meanwhile, called for a thorough, impartial investigation of Castile’s death, while acknowledging a troubling “double standard” African Americans face in dealings with police.

Castile is the 136th black person fatally injured by law enforcement in the U.S. this year, according to The Guardian, which tracks people killed by U.S. law enforcement agencies on its website. Blacks and Native Americans have been much more likely to be killed by police in 2016 than any other ethnic group, according to the site.

“Whether the bias is intentional or not, too many African American men find themselves on the receiving end of deadly force,” McCarthy said. “There are no quick and easy solutions to this all too familiar incident. These are complex problems that will require tough conversations and decisions.

“Minnesota’s Labor movement remains committed to helping address the racial inequalities, in both the economic and criminal justice systems, that continue to persist in our state and nation.”

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After successful petition drive, Minneapolis workers call for vote on $15 minimum wage

June 28, 2016 by
15Now Minnesota supporters rally outside the Hilton in Minneapolis during the DNC's meetings.

15Now Minnesota supporters rallied in Minneapolis last year.

Activists will deliver a petition to City Hall tomorrow with signatures from about 20,000 registered voters who support amending the city’s charter to guarantee workers a $15 minimum wage.

The move, organizers with 15 Now Minnesota said, puts the amendment on track to appear on the Nov. 8 ballot. If approved, Minneapolis would join more than 30 cities nationwide with strong minimum-wage ordinances, including Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

“If they get it, why can’t we get it?” McDonald’s worker Steven Suffridge, a member of the low-wage worker center CTUL, said during a conference call with reporters yesterday. The outpouring of support for the petition drive, he added, shows “people are coming to the realization that yes, we are worth $15 an hour.”

Indeed, 15 Now volunteers collected nearly three times the number of signatures required to compel a vote. Several unions supported the petition drive, including the Communications Workers, the Machinists, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59, the Minnesota Nurses Association, the Letter Carriers and Teamsters Local 320.

[15 Now supporters, led by fast-food workers who are organizing with CTUL, plan a rally tomorrow at the McDonald’s at 210 E. Lake St., before marching to City Hall to deliver the petitions.]

Anticipating pushback from corporations and other special interests, 15 Now Minnesota released a legal memo yesterday detailing the legal basis for their ballot initiative.

Laura Huizar, an attorney with the National Employment Law Project who analyzed the legal landscape in Minneapolis, said a minimum-wage ordinance would fall under the city’s “broad powers to address the health, safety and well being of its citizens,” similar to ordinances regulating liquor sales or the number of hours workers can log at a job in one day.

Karen Marty, a former city attorney in Minneapolis, said the city is required to put a proposed charter amendment on the ballot as long as it meets the signature threshold and does not include language in conflict with state or local law.

“The charter doesn’t limit what citizens can offer as amendments,” Marty said. “Minneapolis can adopt a law or a charter provision on any topic that’s not prohibited, which would include a $15 minimum wage.”

When courts around the country have considered whether a city can enact a local minimum wage, the attorneys added, most have upheld those local laws – as long as they don’t conflict with state law. Minnesota law does not currently preclude a local minimum wage, although Republican lawmakers are plotting ways to roll back local control over employment standards.

“We determined that the city has the power to enact a local wage, and we also concluded that this can, in fact, be done by a charter amendment proposed by voters on the November ballot,” Huizar said.

For the city’s low-wage workers, who include a disproportionate number of women and people of color, the pay raise can’t come too soon. It’s estimated 38 percent of people who work in Minneapolis would see their wages increase with a $15 minimum wage, and supporters say it would mark a big step forward in efforts to address racial inequities in the Twin Cities that are among the worst in the U.S.

“Currently, more and more people have to work ridiculous hours at multiple jobs which in many cases leaves no guarantee they will even have enough to get by,” said Marcellina Reis, a restaurant server and member of the community group Neighborhoods Organizing for Change. “It also doesn’t allow them time to function like human beings. Having little to no time to build family, community and find happiness creates physical and mental health damage and brings our society down, not only affecting those struggling to live but everyone in Minneapolis.”

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Faith leaders on earned sick time: ‘Something’s got to happen’

October 22, 2015 by
Rev. Laurie Eaton of Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, calls for a policy guaranteeing workers access to earned sick time at a press conference outside Minneapolis City Hall.

Rev. Laurie Eaton calls for a policy guaranteeing workers access to earned sick time at a press conference outside Minneapolis City Hall.

 

Faith leaders from Minneapolis today called on elected officials to begin addressing Minnesota’s alarming racial disparities by guaranteeing all workers access to earned sick and safe time.

“This is exactly what systemic racism looks like: reasonable people who say, ‘Our hands are tied … because it’s just too costly to change our system,’” Rev. Laurie Eaton of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church said. “Minneapolis, we are better than that.”

The Twin Cities and Minnesota as a whole have ranked poorly in terms of the economic gaps between whites and minorities, with a recent study naming Minneapolis the third-worst place to live for African Americans.

Similar disparities play out in the numbers regarding who enjoys earned sick time. More than half of the estimated 245,000 Minneapolis workers without access to the benefit are non-white, including 62 percent of Latino workers and 51 percent of black workers in the city.

“People are suffering, trying to decide whether to buy medicine or buy groceries,” Rev. Billy G. Russel of Greater Friendship Baptist Church said. “Something’s got to happen.”

Earned sick time remains a plank in the embattled Working Families Agenda that Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and several allies on the City Council still support. But corporations are stepping up the pressure on officials to back off, and the state’s largest newspaper recently dismissed the measure as “anti-business” and “naïve.”

Rabbi Michael Latz of Shir Tikvah Synagogue called on elected officials, editorial writers and business leaders – “people who shower before work, not after,” he said – to “exercise your moral courage” on earned sick time, which he called “a great moral issue of our generation.”

web.SickTime-scene“Sickness and disease are not reasons to … withhold pay from anyone,” Bishop Richard D. Howell Jr. of Shiloh Temple added. “It is a person’s right to seek good health.”

Rev. Paul Slack, pastor at New Creation Church and president of the faith-based social justice organization ISAIAH, urged city council members to listen to the concerns of their constituents, not just corporations.

“We have protected companies, corporations by giving them community benefits,” Slack said. “Now let’s give a benefit to people who work in those jobs. Let’s protect our low-wage earners. Let’s protect their children and their families.”

The clergy members spoke at a press conference on the steps of Minneapolis City Hall before visiting council members individually to urge action on the issue.

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‘Moral Mondays’ leader joins March for Equity in Minneapolis

August 18, 2014 by
Rev. Dr. William Barber II speaks to a crowd of more than 150 people in Peavey Plaza before the Minneapolis teachers' March for Equity.

Rev. Dr. William Barber II speaks to a crowd of more than 150 people in Minneapolis.

A leading progressive voice from the South delivered a spirited, Saturday-morning sermon downtown Minneapolis Aug. 16, making a scripture-based appeal for social justice and leading a “March for Equity” along Nicollet Mall.

“We have a tale of two cities, whether it’s up north or down south,” Rev. Dr. William Barber II told a crowd of more than 150 people gathered in Peavey Plaza. “In America we are both the richest and the poorest nation in the world, and it is a scar on our moral integrity.”

Activists march down Nicollet Mall after Barber's speech. The March for Equity was organized by the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers.

Activists march down Nicollet Mall after Barber’s speech. The March for Equity was organized by the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers.

Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP, has staked a progressive claim to the moral high ground in his Bible Belt state. With an act of civil disobedience at the state’s legislative building in April 2013, he sparked the “Moral Mondays” campaign, a grassroots revival of anti-poverty, pro-worker activism that has spilled into neighboring states.

“These are not just policy issues,” Barber said. “It’s not a left-versus-right debate or a conservative-versus-liberal debate. These issues form the centerpiece of our faith, the very soul of our democracy.”

Since Barber’s initial arrest – he was leading a protest of efforts to restrict voting rights in North Carolina – the “Moral Mondays” campaign has grown, drawing support from a diverse group of religious and community groups.

Thousands of people have joined weekly demonstrations in Raleigh, and more than 900 have been arrested for protesting a wide range of conservative bills passed by the Legislature, including cuts to unemployment benefits, health care and public education.

Cutting programs that lift people out of poverty, Barber said, goes against the teachings of Christ.

“If you’re going to put your hand on a Bible and swear yourself into public office, you ought to know what’s in that Bible,” he said. While many right-wing lawmakers focus on divisive issues, like gay marriage or prayer in schools, he added, “none of them trump the scripture that says you must love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

“When we put the poor at the center – and not the margins – of our agenda, that’s what equity looks like,” Barber said.

The March for Equity was part of a weekend-long series of events organized by the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers as a kickoff to the 2014 election push. Union members will work to elect candidates who support not only public schools, but policies that lift families out of poverty, so that students in their classes are in a better position to learn.

St. Paul Federation of Teachers members at the March for Equity included Kimberly Colbert, Leah Lindemann, President Denise Rodriguez, Rebecca Bauer, Sue Snyder, Erica Schatzlein, Nick Faber and Ellen Olsen.

St. Paul Federation of Teachers members at the March for Equity included Kimberly Colbert, Leah Lindemann, President Denise Rodriguez, Rebecca Bauer, Sue Snyder, Erica Schatzlein, Nick Faber and Ellen Olsen.

It’s a mission – and a message – the teachers’ union in St. Paul carried into its contract campaign earlier this year. Several members of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers joined the march in Minneapolis.

“Our families and students do better if parents are earning a living wage, if they have access to health care and affordable housing,” SPFT member Sue Snyder said. “We need to come together for all people – for students, for families, for the community – so we can all do better.”

Barber, SPFT member Ellen Olsen added, is a progressive “rock star” whose Moral Mondays campaign embodies the type of organizing work teachers are aiming to do.

“This is not a special interest thing,” Olsen said. “They have been building bridges and community relationships for a long time. And that’s what we need to do, that’s what we’ve been trying to do in St. Paul.

“We’ve got so many different people working on different things – we’ve got to come together. That’s where the power is, in numbers.”

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