Nursing home workers see Fight for $15 as vital to quality care

April 15, 2016 by
Golden Living Center workers Rhoda Brown (L) and Tsge Abraham rally for a fair contract outside the company's Lakeridge site in Roseville.

Golden Living Center workers Rhoda Brown (L) and Tsge Abraham rally for a fair contract outside the company’s Roseville facility.

On the same day over 100 Twin Cities fast-food workers went on strike, area nursing home workers took up the “Fight for $15” as well, rallying outside a Roseville care center for a contract that includes fair wages.

Employees of Golden Living Center welcomed nursing-home residents, striking fast-food workers and other supporters to an informational picket line outside GSL’s Lakeridge site in Roseville yesterday.

About 350 members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota are in contract negotiations with the company, which operates nursing homes across the state. Tim Sorenson, a 25-year employee and member of the union’s negotiating team, said workers want GSL to put a recent influx of state funding for nursing homes where lawmakers intended the money to go – into workers’ paychecks.

“It’s getting harder to find people who want to do this work for the pay we get,” Sorenson said. “Yet our work is very important. We take care of the most vulnerable people among us, our seniors.”

In Minnesota, certified nursing assistants’ median hourly wage is $12.22, and one-third rely on public assistance. It’s a major reason turnover rates for nursing assistants exceeded 50 percent in 2012 and are expected to climb – an alarming trend in an industry expected to see an uptick in demand as baby boomers retire.

“Too many people I work with want to go to other jobs where there’s better pay instead of staying in this job to take care of our seniors,” Sorenson said.

Tim Sorenson speaks at the rally outside GLC's Lakeridge home.

Tim Sorenson speaks at the rally outside GLC’s Lakeridge home.

Sorenson and other GSL workers were among SEIU members in more than 40 cities nationwide who stood up for fair wages and quality care at nursing homes. The timing of the nationwide day of action – on the same day fast-food workers in a record 320 cities went on strike – is more proof that the “Fight for $15” is catching on among low-wage workers in all sectors of the economy.

“No matter if you’re in health care or maintenance or whatever, we all need to be there for each other,” Sorenson said. “That helps you get what you’re after in the long run.”

GSL workers’ current union contract is set to expire May 1.

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Fight for $15 putting upward pressure where it’s needed – on wages

January 27, 2016 by
Fast food strikers and supporters rallied during a one-day strike in Minneapolis last April.

Fast food strikers and supporters rallied during a one-day strike in Minneapolis last April.

Currents across the country created a wave of support for $15 as a just minimum wage last year, with fast-food workers in New York and airport workers in Seattle scoring high-profile victories in the so-called “Fight for $15.”

But the rising tide is lifting wages for local workers as well, including some who carry union cards.

Several contracts recently negotiated by Minnesota unions demonstrate how $15 per hour is becoming a new threshold for wages – not only among unorganized fast food workers, but also among people working in banks, nursing homes, local government and beyond.

The idea of $15 as a minimum wage has “crept into the consciousness” of working people, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota President Jamie Gulley said.

Employers are taking note too.

St. Paul Federal Credit Union unilaterally established $15 as its base wage last fall, resulting in raises of $1 to $3 per hour for several employees. Tom Glatt, CEO of St. Paul Federal, acknowledged that “talk on the national level” about $15 per hour was a catalyst for the financial institution’s decision.

The buzz around $15 began when fast-food workers in New York staged strikes for $15 and union rights more than two years ago. The spark quickly spread quickly to all corners of the U.S., including the Twin Cities.

“It was laughed at when it first started,” Gulley said. But since then, cities like Los Angeles and Seattle have established $15 minimum-wage laws, and New York state lawmakers passed a measure last September requiring fast-food restaurants in the city to pay $15 by 2018.

No one’s laughing anymore.

“Now workers are bringing the same demands to their union meetings and saying, ‘If fast-food workers can get $15, why can’t I get $15?’” Gulley said. “That’s what is so great about the demand.”

In December 2014, more than 200 people joined a march in support of establishing $15 as a minimum wage at MSP Airport.

In December 2014, more than 200 people joined a march in support of establishing $15 as a minimum wage at MSP Airport.

Winning $15 in contracts

Members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota were among the first locally to seize on the momentum of the Fight for $15 and incorporate it as a demand at the bargaining table.

Last February, members who work in hospitals across the Twin Cities and at the Mayo Clinic won contracts guaranteeing full- and part-time workers make at least $15 per hour within their first six months on the job.

Other bargaining units have claimed similar victories since then:

• In separate negotiations last fall, Hennepin County and the University of Minnesota reached new contracts with six locals of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees that establish $15 minimum wages.

AFSCME Local 34 President Jean Diedrich, a leader in negotiations with the county, called the $15 minimum wage “one of the big wins,” particularly for clerical workers. “Anyone who begins employment with Hennepin County (in 2016) will do so knowing that they will earn at least $15 per hour,” she said.

• Hospitality workers at Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport, newly organized members of UNITE HERE Local 17, saw their wages increase by up to $4 per hour and into the $15 range as a result of their first union contract, which also provides comprehensive health benefits, according to the union.

• St. Paul Federal Credit Union didn’t wait for contract negotiations to establish a $15 starting wage for members of Office and Professional Employees Local 12, which represents 16 to 19 tellers, member-services representatives, loan officers and accounting employees.

“Our contract states they can pay higher (wages) if they want to,” Local 12 representative Lance Lindeman said. “I was surprised, to say the least. I know ($15 per hour) is significantly more than a lot of other banks or credit unions in the Twin Cities pay their employees.”

Glatt, the credit union’s CEO, said investing in “the folks who are the face of the credit union” is money well spent.

“We may be ‘small’ in terms of asset size for a financial institution, but I would put our workers up against any institution of any size as far as delivery of quality service goes, so we didn’t want to lose any of our people to any other employer because of money,” Glatt said.

• Direct-care workers in nursing homes across the state are seeing wage gains as big as $5 per hour as they negotiate new union contracts in the wake of a legislative victory last year that reduced funding disparities between urban and rural care centers.

Sonja Lemire, an SEIU member who has worked at Parkview Care Center in Buffalo for the last 38 years, said her unit recently negotiated a contract that raised wages for all nurses and nursing assistants by $2 in 2016.

“That’s astronomical for us, tremendous,” Lemire said. The bump in pay makes the starting wage $14.86, or “almost to that $15 an hour mark,” she added.

Lemire said union members worked together to push the reimbursement increase through the Legislature, and now they’re working locally to make sure the funds trickle down into workers’ paychecks.

“Employees across the state are seeing the Fight for $15 is real, and a lot are doing their part,” she said.

352A ‘wageless’ recovery

Whether small or large in scale, wage increases for any group of workers are reason for celebration, as slow wage growth has been dragging down the U.S. economy since the start of the 2008-09 Great Recession.

Economist Lawrence Mishel, president of the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute, wrote in a recent blog post that from the beginning of the economic recovery in 2009 to 2014 (the most recent year for which data was available), the income of median working-age households dropped by almost $3,000, from $63,532 to $60,462, when adjusted for inflation.

“This followed the earlier period from 2000-07 where income fell 3.4 percent,” Mishel wrote. “So, we’ve had 14-15 years of pitiful income growth. No wonder people are not feeling the recovery.”

Most economists agree annual wage growth between 3.5 and 4 percent is ideal, but few workers – union or non-union – this side of Wall Street are realizing those kinds of gains.

Generating an upward push from the low-wage sectors of the economy probably would help, and that’s one reason organized labor has thrown its support behind Fight for $15 campaigns, low-wage worker centers and efforts to pass local minimum-wage ordinances, including in St. Paul and Minneapolis.

“Unions are experiencing a difficult time making (wage) gains in collective bargaining,” Gulley said. “The thinking in SEIU was we needed to have a fight over wages that was broader than just the labor movement and across the whole economy.

“Every victory shows that it’s possible – cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and others are making these huge gains. It just shows it is possible if you’re organized.”

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Trumka at U of M: ‘There’s a way for workers to win, and it’s together’

November 19, 2015 by
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka speaks at the U of M's Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka speaks at the U of M’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

In a policy address at the University of Minnesota yesterday, the nation’s highest-ranking labor leader pointed to “thousands of little groundswells” from across the country, including in the Twin Cities, as signs of a renaissance for collective action in American culture.

“Right now workers are standing together and asking for a better life – and standing together to get that better life,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said. “There’s a way for workers to win, and it’s together.”

Trumka offered his remarks, entitled “The Right Deal for America, and the Political Path to Get There,” to students, faculty, labor leaders and other dignitaries, including former Vice President Walter Mondale, at the U of M’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

The labor leader’s visit came a day after frontline workers at the university, members of AFSCME and the Teamsters, escalated their campaign for a fair contract with informational picketing on campus.

But Trumka did not shy away from standing in solidarity with their campaign for raises and respect. And he praised U of M faculty – his “soon to be brothers and sisters” – for taking steps to organize a union with SEIU Local 284 and gain a voice in shared governance at the university.

U of M workers, Trumka said, are among 5 million union members bargaining contracts this year, the most in recent history. It’s an opportunity, he said, for workers to get their “fair share” of an economic recovery built on their productivity and sacrifice.

“Raising wages will kick start the greatest engine of economic growth the world has ever seen: a well-paid American workforce,” Trumka said.

The address touched on public policies and political issues that affect U.S. workers, including rising income inequality, legal challenges to collective bargaining, and trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership that put corporate profits before middle-class jobs.

Those and other challenges, Trumka said, reflect the overwhelming influence of corporate money and the so-called “1 percent” on U.S. policymaking.

“The 1 percent have used every political and economic tool to drive down wages and divide working people … and they aren’t finished,” Trumka said. But he also likened corporate power to “a dinosaur that’s lived past its time” – big, vicious and “about to be pushed into extinction.”

Trumka poses for a photo with St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Bobby Kasper (L) and Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy.

Trumka poses for a photo with St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Bobby Kasper (L) and Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy.

How? Trumka pointed to the AFL-CIO’s Raising Wages Agenda, which “we’re pursuing right here in Minneapolis and St. Paul with a real vigor.”

The federation has come out strongly in favor of policies like a $15 minimum wage, fair scheduling and earned sick and safe time, and it’s given allies from outside the labor movement – worker centers and other groups advocating for gender equity, racial justice and immigrant rights – a real voice in the AFL-CIO’s power structure.

Trumka acknowledged flexibility and openness haven’t always been characteristics of the 60-year-old labor federation.

“There are a million little fires out there,” Trumka said. “It used to be if we couldn’t control them, then we didn’t want anything to do with them.”

After his address, Trumka answered questions in an informal exchange with Morris Kleiner, professor and AFL-CIO Chair in Labor Policy at the Humphrey School. The U of M established the position after receiving a contribution from the AFL-CIO in 1985, and it remains the only public affairs school in the U.S. with a dedicated AFL-CIO chair.

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Bobby Kasper: This Labor Day, let’s commit to a Raising Wages agenda

September 4, 2015 by
Bobby Kasper

Bobby Kasper

Whether you celebrate with a backyard barbecue, a trip to the cabin or by marching alongside fellow union members at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, Labor Day is our opportunity to celebrate the everyday heroes who make our country great.

American workers are the backbone of our economy, and hard work is deeply embedded into the fabric of our society. Our productivity as a workforce has increased 64 percent since 1979. It’s a big reason the U.S. economy, despite its ups and downs, remains a model for countries around the world. On a level playing field, American workers can compete with anyone.

Just as there’s no shame in working hard, there’s also no shame in demanding fair compensation for our labor. That’s why I’m excited that St. Paul is one of 13 communities targeted by the AFL-CIO’s Raising Wages campaign. Because despite our steady gains in productivity since 1979, American workers’ hourly wages have increased by just 8.8 percent.

The reasons why our wages aren’t going up are well documented. The share of workers who belong to unions is trending downward. CEOs and the richest 1 percent of Americans are capturing a larger share of profits. Free trade agreements like NAFTA shipped middle-class manufacturing jobs overseas. The bottom line? Between 2000 and 2013, income for the typical U.S. household fell from $64,800 to about $58,448.

In Minnesota our economy is continuing its recovery from the Great Recession. We’ve seen job growth, but much of it is happening in sectors of the economy that traditionally offer low pay and few benefits – service jobs, long-term care and retail, for example. Despite our lower unemployment rate, negative corporate trends are hurting workers. To combat those trends, the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation is teaming up with our community partners – faith communities, nonprofit agencies, immigrant groups and others – to launch a new campaign: St. Paul Works.

St. Paul Works is our response to the AFL-CIO’s call to make Raising Wages a priority, to build an economy based on shared prosperity that lifts families up and strengthens our nation. We’ll focus on local elections in the City of St. Paul this fall, and we will hold our elected officials accountable for passing laws that empower working people to not just survive, but thrive.

Our campaign has four policy priorities: guaranteeing workers access to earned sick and safe time, ensuring fair scheduling practices, boosting enforcement efforts targeting wage theft and raising the city’s minimum wage to $15 per hour.

It’s true that as union members, most of us already realize most of these benefits. But as a labor movement, we can’t afford merely to cling to what we have. We must broaden our horizons in order to grow. We must reach out into our communities and partner with organizations that share our commitment to economic justice.

The St. Paul RLF will lead the St. Paul Works campaign, bringing together union leaders and our community partners to build power for working people in St. Paul. We will plan the campaign work. We will build political support for our policy objectives. And we will build support for a $15 minimum wage. We need to organize small business owners, engage with our affiliate unions and prepare our response to the opposition – which will be fierce. And we need to align our campaign with statewide efforts and campaigns in other cities.

On Labor Day, let’s refocus on doing what is best for our families, our communities, our state and our nation. Working people everywhere are standing up and speaking out for fundamental, lasting change, regardless of whether they work in manufacturing, engineering, service or retail. Every day, they work hard and sacrifice to make our country stronger. This Labor Day should be a celebration of working families, because we are ready to speak up together, change the rules and bring lasting economic balance so every family can pursue the American Dream and work for a better life. That’s what St. Paul Works is all about.

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

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St. Paul unions weigh support for campaign to pass citywide $15 minimum wage

August 12, 2015 by
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler leads a discussion about the Raising Wages Agenda at the East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler leads a discussion about the Raising Wages Agenda at the East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul.

 

Backing the emergent campaign for a $15 minimum wage in St. Paul is the right thing to do, labor leaders said in a meeting with AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler last night. But as unions look to reverse the trend of declining density, joining the fight to raise wages is also about remaining relevant.

“We want the union movement to be seen as out there fighting for working families beyond just our members,” Shuler said. “It’s our job to make the labor movement relevant to everyone who works for a living, and I think that’s what raising wages is all about.”

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler listens to St. Paul RLF President Bobby Kasper's remarks.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler listens to St. Paul RLF President Bobby Kasper’s remarks.

Shuler, the second-ranking officer in the nation’s largest labor federation, joined St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Bobby Kasper at the East Side Freedom Library in leading a frank discussion about the AFL-CIO’s Raising Wages Agenda. St. Paul and Minneapolis are among the 13 cities targeted by the AFL-CIO’s campaign.

Shuler emphasized there’s no “cookie-cutter approach” cities must follow, but what most campaigns have in common is a focus on electing candidates who pledge to support working families – and holding them accountable.

Kasper said the St. Paul RLF, which unites more than 100 local unions in Ramsey, Washington, Dakota and Chisago counties, aims to do more than increase the city’s minimum wage. The RLF and its community partners – including faith-based, progressive, minority and immigrant-rights groups – plan to form a St. Paul Works coalition to advocate for policies stepping up enforcement of wage theft, guaranteeing access to earned sick time and supporting fair schedules.

About 30 union activists and labor leaders join the Raising Wages discussion.

About 30 union activists and labor leaders join the Raising Wages discussion.

A similar coalition is gaining momentum in Minneapolis. And St. Paul community groups launched a 15Now campaign earlier this month.

15Now’s push to raise the minimum wage and improve working conditions in cities across the country, Kasper said, “is a golden opportunity to get together with community groups and work on common goals, common interests. But we need buy-in from the unions.”

That investment will pay off for unions in the long run, Kasper added. “We need to have the community working with us. We’re a small speck in the community. But if we can take the lead and not be ashamed of who we are … then when we run organizing or political campaigns in the future, we’ve got the community on our side.”

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