Ruling deals blow to faculty union drive at U’s Twin Cities campus

September 6, 2017 by

A Minnesota Court of Appeals ruling issued yesterday dealt a setback to faculty members organizing a union at the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus, who are now weighing an appeal to the state’s Supreme Court.

The ruling overturned a decision by the Bureau of Mediation Services, which oversees public employee labor disputes in Minnesota, to allow contingent and tenure-track faculty members to form a united front in bargaining with the U of M, should they vote to form a union.

The faculty union, Minnesota Academics United, released a statement from its steering committee in response to the decision:

“We are disappointed that the Court of Appeals overruled the Bureau of Mediation Services (BMS). We believe that the Commissioner’s decision was the more accurate assessment of faculty labor on our campus, a decision reached based on a thorough and thoughtful process including meetings of the parties, lengthy hearings, and extensive legal arguments. We stand firm in our belief that contingent faculty and tenure-track faculty necessarily share a community of interest.

“The university administration’s position is driven by backwards priorities that value administrative prerogatives over intellectual excellence and student learning. The University’s position is a deliberate misinterpretation of what campus faculty do, explicitly intended to divide us in order to limit our power to protect and improve our working conditions, which are also our students’ learning conditions.

“Further, it relies on a fundamental disavowal of the value of our contingent colleagues’ teaching, research, and service to our campus community. This approach to university education is anachronistic and unacceptable. In spite of this unfavorable outcome in the Court of Appeals, we will continue to advocate for our students and colleagues through a variety of channels including a possible appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court.”

Faculty members at the U of M filed their petition for a union election in January 2016.

Minnesota Academics United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, has 30 days to appeal the Court of Appeals ruling.

 

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MCAD faculty members unionize; Augsburg adjuncts on track to vote soon

October 19, 2016 by

mcad_thumbnailFaculty at Minneapolis College of Art and Design have voted overwhelmingly to unionize after an organizing drive sponsored by Local 284 of the Service Employees International Union.

The election results were announced this afternoon, just days after adjunct faculty at Augsburg College filed for a union election of their own.

MCAD’s part- and full-time instructors voted separately to form distinct bargaining units, with 64 percent of faculty members voting “yes.”

Negotiations on first contracts for MCAD faculty could begin before year’s end. Faculty members said they looked forward to using their collective voice to advocate for themselves and their students.

“I am thrilled to see such a resounding vote for forming our union amongst both part-time and full-time faculty,” adjunct media instructor Daniel Dean said. “Now, we can work together towards changes that will improve our working conditions as well as our students’ experience.

“As part-time adjunct faculty, we need to know that we will be able to be there for our students when they need us.”

For Augsburg adjuncts, the timeline of their organizing election has yet to be determined, but faculty requested an election by mail ballot in November.

“I want to form an adjunct faculty union at Augsburg because I love teaching here – so much so that I am teaching this semester at a financial loss, as I did over the summer,” adjunct physics instructor Jessica Ennis said. “I have two small children, and I pay more in child care than I make from teaching. This is not sustainable in the long term for my family and me, for my students, or for the Augsburg administration.”

Over 11,000 faculty members nationwide have formed unions with SEIU in the last three years, including adjunct faculty at Hamline University in St. Paul, who voted to join Local 284 in June 2014.

Augsburg adjuncts aren’t the only local faculty poised to vote in an organizing election. Tenure-track and contingent faculty at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities campus have filed for an election, but the university’s administration has bogged down the process with legal appeals.

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MCAD faculty members voting in union election this month

October 5, 2016 by
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photo: Minnesota Private College Council

Like thousands of faculty members on campuses across the country, faculty at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design are seeking a stronger voice to advocate for themselves and their students – and they’re organizing a union in order to get it.

MCAD’s part- and full-time faculty members will vote by mail in separate organizing elections this month, deciding whether to form bargaining units represented by Local 284 of the Service Employees International Union. The National Labor Relations Board will count ballots Oct. 19.

Before petitioning for an NLRB election, a majority of MCAD’s 100-plus faculty members signed cards in support of forming a union. Collective bargaining, union supporters said, would give faculty members a seat at the table in decisions that affect their teaching conditions and their students’ learning conditions.

Full- and part-time faculty members agreed their organizing drive is part of a broader effort to push back against some troubling trends in higher education – a “corporatizing” effect, full-time MCAD Professor Frenchy Lunning said, that makes top scholars less likely to enter the field.

“For me, this is about the future of higher education,” part-time MCAD faculty member Dawn Pankonien, a political economist, said. “It is about ensuring pay rates and job security that will allow not only secondary but also primary household earners to assume positions as educators without needing to arrive at their morning lectures after working night shifts in other industries.”

If they vote to unionize, MCAD faculty would join over 11,000 faculty nationwide who have formed unions with SEIU in the last three years.

That includes adjunct faculty at Hamline University in St. Paul, who voted to join Local 284 in June 2014. Since then, more than half of faculty members on campus have seen their base pay increase by 20 percent – the first pay increase in more than a decade for many instructors.

Tenure-track and contingent faculty at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities campus are on track to vote in a union election after an organizing drive with Local 284 as well.

Hamline adjunct professor David Weiss said he looks forward to welcoming MCAD and U of M faculty into the local soon.

“Together with faculty at other colleges and universities across the Twin Cities, we can raise standards for our students and stop the race to the bottom in higher education,” Weiss said.

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Ruling sets stage for 2,500 Twin Cities faculty to take union vote

September 20, 2016 by

cs0bau0ueaaidznThe historic organizing drive among faculty at the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus cleared a major hurdle today, when a state agency ruled contingent and tenure-track faculty could join together in one potential bargaining unit.

The Minnesota Bureau of Mediation Services’ decision clears the way for about 1,000 contingent and 1,500 tenure-track faculty members to vote in an organizing election as soon as this fall. If successful, the vote would create one of the largest single-campus faculty unions in the U.S.

Supporters of the organizing effort, sponsored by MN Academics United and SEIU Local 284, said the ruling confirms faculty members’ shared stake in a strong, unified voice at the university.

“As the university’s administration has increased the number and ratio of non-tenure-line positions, the fates of all faculty are increasingly intertwined,” Irene Duranczyk, an associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development, said. “We believe that the precarious working conditions under which contingent faculty labor are not only bad for them but also bad for students and bad for us, the remaining tenure-line faculty.”

How soon Duranczyk and other U of M faculty get to vote depends on whether the school appeals the BMS ruling.

An appeal seems likely, as university administrators have made every attempt to derail the union-organizing election since faculty filed for representation in January – efforts that have focused mostly on dividing tenure and contingent faculty.

Last week the nonpartisan Minnesota Public Interest Research Group revealed documents obtained from the U of M showing over $500,000 of spending on outside legal counsel between January and June for services related to the organizing drive.

Even more egregious, faculty members, students and state lawmakers said, are annotations indicating the payments came out of funds the university collected from tuition-paying students and the Minnesota Legislature.

“I’m sure no one in the legislature – Democrat or Republican – intended for … taxpayer dollars we appropriated to the University of Minnesota’s general fund to be used for attorney’s fees fighting the University’s own employees in exercising their right to form a union,” Rep. Jim Davnie said.

U of M sophomore Jada Brown pointed out that Minnesotans, on average, have the 5th-highest student debt in the country, urging administrators “to spend money on our education, not on fighting the people who teach us every day.”

Paying high-priced attorneys to run out the clock on an organizing drive is a move straight out of the corporate anti-union playbook and, lecturer Jason Stahl said, yet another reason for faculty to seek a more powerful voice in university governance.

“We are building this union together to strengthen the voice of faculty on our campus for ourselves and our students,” Stahl said. “And we are confident that we will win our vote.”

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Faculty blast U’s attempt to delay union vote with legal appeal

March 31, 2016 by

10390206_1380042375657915_7758383538287175658_nThe University of Minnesota is asking the state Court of Appeals to slow down a historic union-organizing effort among faculty at the Twin Cities campus. Union supporters today branded the university’s decision as divisive and wasteful.

“We are forming a union so we can gain a stronger voice in university governance, and this is a perfect example of why,” Associate Professor Irene Duranczyk said in a media release issued by MN Academics United, the SEIU-backed union supporting faculty members’ organizing drive.

The university’s appeal seeks to divide tenure-track and contract faculty members, who successfully petitioned the state Bureau of Mediation Service to be united in one bargaining unit earlier this year. That set the stage for approximately 2,500 faculty members to vote in a union election.

Professor Jerry Cohen said faculty rejected the idea of separating tenure-track and contract faculty because they saw a common need for a greater voice at the U. “While we have different roles at the university, we are all responsible for teaching our students and making the U a great place to learn,” Cohen said.

As part of its appeal, the university will request a stay of pre-election hearings to determine who is eligible to vote in the union election. If granted, it could delay a vote by up to a year.

Resorting to time-consuming, costly delay tactics is a move straight out of the corporate anti-union playbook, and faculty members, students and lawmakers were not shy in expressing their disappointment.

“We are dismayed by the University’s decision to spend months of administrative time and untold sums of taxpayer and tuition dollars on costly outside counsel to fight us, their own faculty, rather than just letting us choose for ourselves whether or not we want a union,” said Meredith Gill, a senior lecturer in cultural studies and comparative literature.

Alex Peeper, an undergraduate studying history and political science, blasted university administrators for “spending their time and our tuition dollars fighting our faculty instead of fighting for us.”

Sen. Patricia Torres-Ray, a DFLer from Minneapolis, warned: “The university can’t afford to waste its limited resources fighting against their own faculty.”

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Union volunteers provide Clinton, Sanders with boots on the ground in Minnesota

March 1, 2016 by
Left: Laborers President Terry O'Sullivan rallies a crowd of Hillary Clinton volunteers. Right: Bernie Sanders thanks members of the Minnesota Nurses Association for their support.

Left: Laborers President Terry O’Sullivan rallies a crowd of Hillary Clinton volunteers in Little Canada. Right: Bernie Sanders thanks members of the Minnesota Nurses Association for their support.

 

Energized by the prospect of keeping a pro-labor president in the White House, union volunteers in Minnesota are hitting the streets, working the phones and planning a major presence at tonight’s precinct caucuses, one of 14 Super Tuesday nominating contests nationwide.

[Click here to learn how to participate in the caucus process. Click here to learn where you caucus.]

While their enthusiasm may be shared, not all union activists agree when it comes to the best candidate for the job.

Members of AFSCME, the Carpenters, LIUNA, the Painters, the Pipe Trades, the Service Employees and other unions rallied in support of Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton in Little Canada on Saturday, with nearly 100 volunteers fanning out to knock on doors across the metro area.

 

Carpenters cheer a speech by U.S. Rep. Tim Walz at the Clinton rally.
Union members rally in support of Hillary Clinton at the IUPAT hall in Little Canada.
Members of IUPAT get a primer in door-knocking.
LIUNA General President Terry O’Sullivan
SEIU volunteers map out a door-knocking route.
AFSCME Council 5 volunteers hit the streets for Hillary Clinton.

 

Although Clinton has drawn an overwhelming majority of union endorsements, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has garnered support from National Nurses United and the Communication Workers of America, and both unions have mobilized their own network of volunteers in advance of tonight’s caucuses.

CWA members have been holding phone banks for weeks, and members of the Minnesota Nurses Association spent the days running up to tonight’s caucuses riding the “Bernie Bus” across the state, urging people to caucus for Sanders.

Differences in style and substance

Clinton’s union supporters point to their candidate’s extensive resume as a public servant, as well as her results-oriented approach. Sanders’ backers tout the senator’s independence and his fiery, populist message.

SEIU President Mary Kay Henry (R) knocks doors in support of Hillary Clinton with Local 284 member Nate Mathias and SEIU Healthcare MN member Robin Pikala (L).

SEIU President Mary Kay Henry (R) knocks doors in support of Hillary Clinton with Local 284 member Nate Mathias and SEIU Healthcare MN member Robin Pikala (L).

Nate Mathias, a pre-kindergarten teacher from Plymouth and member of SEIU Local 284, said he initially gravitated toward Sanders. But on Saturday, he knocked doors on St. Paul’s east side with SEIU President Mary Kay Henry, rounding up support for Clinton.

“I love a lot of the things Bernie is saying, but Hillary Clinton is a bit more of a pragmatist,” Mathias said. “I just think she has more of the experience and political savvy we need in a candidate.”

Henry, the SEIU’s highest-ranking elected officer, said Clinton met with rank-and-file members in seeking the union’s endorsement last year. “Members said, ‘She gets us, she’s tough and she fights,’” Henry said. “She understands the agenda we think matters most to working people.”

Policy differences, too, have steered unions into the Clinton or Sanders camp.

Sanders greets nurses in St. Paul.

Sanders greets nurses in St. Paul.

At a private reception with Sanders in St. Paul Feb. 12, many nurses said Sanders won them over with his support for expanding Medicare to cover everyone – and taxing Wall Street to pay for it.

“From the beginning, Bernie made total sense to me,” said United Hospital nurse Jennifer Michelson, who traveled to Iowa to volunteer for the Sanders campaign earlier this winter. “I like that he’s challenging the power structure of Wall Street, and I like that he wants to get profit out of health care.”

Energy policy, meanwhile, marks a substantive difference for many Building Trades unions, who draw work from pipelines and other energy-infrastructure projects.

Speaking at the rally in Little Canada, LIUNA President Terry O’Sullivan praised Clinton’s commitment to an “all-of-the-above energy strategy that works for us and works for our economy.”

High stakes

Despite their differences, union members on both sides agreed the stakes are high in 2016, and they hoped early enthusiasm among volunteers would carry over into the fall.

“Regardless of who our candidate is, if we don’t win we’re going to see a rollback of help for working families,” Mathias said. “We’re going to go back to policies that foster inequality and don’t do enough to help working people. We can’t afford that.”

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In Minnesota, public-sector workers building power from the inside out

February 19, 2016 by
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MAPE Local 801 member Victoria Hopwood speaks at a forum at the East Side Freedom Library about threats to public-sector unions.

They may no longer be on the brink of a Supreme Court-imposed Right-to-Work rule, but Minnesota’s public-sector union members aren’t celebrating. They’re organizing.

“What we got was a reprieve, not clemency – and surely not a pardon,” Education Minnesota attorney Meg Luger-Nikolai warned a standing-room-only audience of activists last night at the East Side Freedom Library, site of a forum on Friedrichs v. CTA .

In oral arguments last month, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared in agreement on the case. Most observers predicted a 5-4 decision to overturn the 40-year precedent allowing public-sector unions to collect fair-share fees from workers who benefit from a contract but choose not to join the union.

While Justice Antonin Scalia’s death Feb. 13 may have changed Friedrichs’ short-term fate, the legal attacks on working people – bankrolled by big-moneyed, right-wing special interests – will only keep coming.

Bill Barry is author of “Closing Up the Open Shop: A Guide to Internal Organizing.”

Bill Barry is author of “Closing Up the Open Shop: A Guide to Internal Organizing.”

“Some people are breathing a sigh of relief, thinking we’re all set,” Maryland-based labor educator Bill Barry said. “We’re not all set.”

That message already seemed to have registered with the public-sector union members who spilled out from the library’s stacks last night.

The forum, planned before Scalia’s death, was billed as an opportunity to share strategies for maintaining strong unions if fair-share fees become illegal – a likelihood public-sector unions here have been anticipating since Scott Walker’s assault on collective bargaining in Wisconsin six years ago.

As members discussed how their unions might adapt to survive, there was no talk of letting up just because the Supreme Court’s makeup is in flux. Some even appeared to welcome the challenge.

“I think we can survive and thrive with a new membership-driven union,” said Carol Nieters, whose union, SEIU Local 284, represents 9,000 school support workers. “I think we can turn on its head what others think they can pull apart.”

Barry, who taught at the Community College of Baltimore County, preaches a similarly proactive approach in his latest book, “Closing Up the Open Shop: A Guide to Internal Organizing.” It offers up case studies from around the country in how workers have overcome Right-to-Work laws to build powerful unions.

“We’ve got to revive ourselves,” he said. “It’s no good talking about a problem without talking about solutions. We’ve got to go forward, and if we do it now, it’s going to make a stronger, better, more aggressive union.”

Barry advocated training and empowering stewards to do work often handled by union staff, engaging new members on Day 1 of employment and moving more of the union’s processes – like grievance filings and contract negotiations – into the open.

Panelists included (L to R) John Westmoreland of AFSCME Council 5, Brian Aldes of Teamsters Local 320, Carol Nieters of SEIU Local 284 and Ellen Olsen of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers.

Panelists included (L to R) John Westmoreland of AFSCME Council 5, Brian Aldes of Teamsters Local 320, Carol Nieters of SEIU Local 284 and Ellen Olsen of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers.

After Barry’s presentation, a panel of activists offered glimpses into their own unions’ internal organizing efforts.

John Westmoreland, a former prison guard who’s now assistant director of AFSCME Council 5, acknowledged that fair-share fees “made us lazy” in the past, but he said Friedrichs has sparked a new campaign to sign up 94 percent of the workers Council 5 represents.

“We’re engaging them where they work, everybody coming in the door,” Westmoreland said. “Once we complete this campaign, I won’t have to worry about the Supreme Court justices anymore.”

It’s a lofty goal, but one public-sector union members – and, likely, all union members at some point – will need to meet to keep a strong voice on the job.

“We should make a commitment,” East Side Freedom Library director Peter Rachleff said at the close of the forum. “We’re all going to come back here in six months and see how it’s going.”

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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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Students, teachers, unions urge lawmakers to invest state budget surplus

December 3, 2015 by
U of M grad student Courtney Gildersleeve speaks at a town hall meeting on how to use the state's $1.2 billion budget surplus.

U of M grad student Courtney Gildersleeve speaks at a town hall meeting on how to use the state’s $1.2 billion budget surplus.

 

The projected $1.2 billion state budget surplus, announced by state officials today, creates an opportunity for lawmakers to strengthen communities and continue growing Minnesota’s middle class in the 2016 legislative session, union members and allies said.

And the first place lawmakers should look to invest is education.

That’s the message three Metro-area legislators heard from students, teachers, academics and religious leaders during a town hall meeting in Dinkytown today, as stakeholders from across the education spectrum offered a united front in support of investing surplus funds in education “from cradle to career.”

Sen. Greg Clausen talks with participants in a town hall forum on the state budget surplus in Dinkytown.

Sen. Greg Clausen talks with participants in a town hall forum on the state budget surplus in Dinkytown.

“The Legislature is listening,” Sen. Greg Clausen (DFL-Apple Valley) assured participants in the meeting at University Baptist Church. “We need to invest in education. There’s no question about it.”

Rep. Carlos Mariani, a DFLer from St. Paul, said the healthy surplus is a positive indicator for Minnesota’s economy. “It means our state is working,” he said. “It means our tax structure makes sense.

But lawmakers and labor leaders, including Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy, warned against the inevitable calls to squander the surplus on election-year tax cuts.

“Instead of giveaways to corporate CEOs and employers who choose to pay low wages, lawmakers should embrace policies and investments that support working people,” McCarthy said. “We can ensure all Minnesotans are paid fairly for the work they do and have time for family. We can invest in schools so that every child can attend pre-K. We can improve our state’s infrastructure, boost our job creation tools, and strengthen the public services that vulnerable Minnesotans depend on.”

Eliot Seide, director of AFSCME Council 5, added: “The Legislature shouldn’t raid workers’ wallets to give unneeded tax breaks to billionaires and big businesses.  Those tax giveaways create income inequality, budget deficits and government shutdowns.”

At the town hall meeting, educators urged investments in pre-kindergarten and per-pupil funding for public school districts, as well as targeted investments to address the achievement gap between white students and students of color.

“A lot of people are losing hope because they don’t have a decent education, because they don’t have a decent job,” said Chase Elliott, a parent and a member of the Minneapolis-based community group Neighborhoods Organizing for Change.

The need for investment extends into suburban communities, too. Farmington fourth-grade teacher Jennifer York, a member of Education Minnesota, said cutbacks in recent years have forced her school district and others to lay off support staff, like school counselors, nurses and family-support workers.

Farmington teacher Jennifer York urges lawmakers to invest "every dollar" of the surplus in education.

Farmington teacher Jennifer York urges lawmakers to invest “every dollar” of the surplus in education.

Pre-kindergarten teacher Amanda Reineck, meanwhile, said professionals in her field remain among the lowest-paid in the country. “Many excellent teachers have left the profession because the pay was not enough for them to support their families,” she said.

Local 284 of the Service Employees International Union organized the town hall meeting with its affiliate group MN Academics United, which represents faculty at the U of M’s Twin Cities campus who are working to form a union.

Academics and graduate students supportive of the organizing drive called for investments in higher education that would lower tuition, provide relief from student debt and guarantee living wages for faculty, teaching assistants and frontline workers at the U.

“The working conditions of instructors are the learning conditions of students,” physics grad student Jarrett Brown said.

Speakers acknowledged their priorities are likely to be pit against each other at the Capitol next year, but remained hopeful that listening to each other was a first step toward winning together in 2016.

“I hope we’ll be holding these town hall meetings in other parts of the state,” said Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL-Minneapolis).

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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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