As momentum for $15 builds in St. Paul, so does concern over corporate interference

March 23, 2018 by

Earlier this month Kiara Ivy stepped outside the hardware store in St. Paul where she works as a cashier, and found an organizer waiting for her with a clipboard and a question.

Would she support raising St. Paul’s minimum wage to $15?

Ivy, who earns $9.65 an hour, didn’t hesitate to say yes.

“I had heard a lot of talk about raising the minimum wage, but didn’t know it was happening here,” she said. “I tend not to get my hopes up a lot, but it sounds so nice.”

Ivy was one of 539 low-wage workers who signed up to support a $15 minimum wage during a five-day organizing blitz earlier this month. It’s given the 15 Now campaign a jolt of momentum – and an even deeper well of public support – as the issue moves up the city’s agenda.

Working America’s Alisa Tennessen, who coordinated the blitz, said it also provided a glimpse of who is working for poverty wages in the capital city, as many supporters filled out surveys on what $15 would mean for themselves and their families.

“The answers are heartbreaking,” Tennessen said, noting “an astonishingly high number of people who talked about food – healthier food, more food, more food for their families.”

Ivy, in fact, met with a reporter on her way home from the food shelf. The 18-year-old shares a one-bedroom apartment in St. Paul with her mom and a roommate, chipping in $100 a month for rent and $50 each week for food, despite working only 25 hours per week.

Raising the wage to $15 in St. Paul, she said, would “mean I could finally move out on my own and still be able to help my mom out.”

Local elected officials in St. Paul, including Mayor Melvin Carter, have signaled support for giving workers like Ivy a raise. City Council President Amy Brendmoen said in February the plan is to “have an ordinance in front of us by fall.”

By that time, however, St. Paul may no longer have the authority to pass its own minimum-wage law.

As they did last year, corporate special interests and Republicans in the Legislature are trying to pull the rug out from under Ivy and other workers fighting for $15, pushing a bill that would bar local governments from raising employment standards in their communities – and strip newly won earned sick and safe time benefits from 150,000 working people in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed the local preemption measure last year, but Republican majorities in the House and Senate have quietly brought it back to life this legislative session.

Brad Lehto, chief of staff for the Minnesota AFL-CIO, said one of Republicans’ first moves after the 2018 session began was to send the preemption bill (House File 600) back into conference committee.

“Whenever they see fit, they will convene the committee and pass it back to the House and Senate, where it already passed once,” he said. “Will they do that? I would think so. When? I think late in the session.”

Lehto and other Capitol observers anticipate the GOP will try to use preemption as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the governor.

Earlier this month, as 15 Now activists fanned out across the city during the organizing blitz, union groups like the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation began holding phone banks, connecting union members statewide with Gov. Dayton to urge him to stand firm on protecting local control again this year. [Click here to find a phone bank near you.]

Unions aren’t alone in the fight, either. Lehto said nearly 80 Minnesota cities have passed resolutions supporting local control.

“We’ve told (lawmakers) over and over, if you would pass a higher minimum wage, if you would pass paid family leave, if you would pass earned sick and safe time, then we wouldn’t have to do this on the local level,” he added.

As debate over the minimum wage and local control plays out this spring, Ivy will begin work at a second job as a personal-care attendant, earning about $12 per hour. (Roughly a quarter of St. Paul workers surveyed by 15 Now work two jobs to make ends meet.)

For Ivy, it means more money to help pay the bills, but less time to pursue her long-term goals – a car of her own, a college degree and a life in New York.

“I want to be in New York, and I want to be a psychiatrist,” she said. “I dream about it, but I haven’t started anything yet.” Earning $15, she added, “would help me to save more to get there.”

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Four takeaways from the new report on raising St. Paul’s minimum wage

February 22, 2018 by

Jess Manthe, a longtime retail worker in St. Paul, speaks at a rally outside council chambers, calling poverty wages a barrier to the middle class for too many people in the city.

Low-wage workers listened as the author of a report on raising St. Paul’s minimum wage summarized her findings at yesterday’s City Council meeting. Then they put council members on notice.

“Now is the time for the city to take a stand and get us the wages we need,” personal care attendant Daniel Maddox, a member of the low-wage worker center CTUL, said during a brief rally outside council chambers.

Council members at the meeting indicated they plan to move at a more deliberate pace. Council President Amy Brendmoen said the plan is to “have an ordinance in front of us by fall.”

What that ordinance should look like is already the subject of a heated debate, as the report presented yesterday confirmed.

The nonpartisan Citizens League prepared the report to give council members an overview of available data and research on the topic, and to identify which constituencies are likely to be impacted by a higher minimum wage. It’s available on the Citizen League’s website.

Here are four takeaways from the report and Citizen League Executive Director Pahoua Yang Hoffman’s presentation to the Council yesterday.

1. Despite an unemployment rate of 3.1 percent, too many working people and families in St. Paul live in poverty.

The Met Council’s most recent analysis of census data shows 40.8 percent of St. Paul residents live in poverty, a higher rate than any other metro-area community. And areas of concentrated poverty are spreading within the city, a trend Ward 7’s Jane Prince called “disturbing.”

Jess Manthe, a longtime retail worker in St. Paul, called poverty wages a barrier to the middle class.

“I have huge amounts of (student) debt that I’ll carry with me for the next 25 years,” she said. “Our unlivable wages mean my husband and I aren’t going to be able to buy a house, and having kids is completely off the table. I think it’s time for St. Paul to invest in its workers.”

2. People working for poverty wages know their paychecks don’t get bigger by accident or their bosses’ goodwill.

In preparing the Citizens League’s report, Hoffman met with more than 100 “stakeholders.” In her presentation to the Council, she singled out the story of a retail janitor who, after 14 years on the job, has seen her wages increase from $7.25 to $10.75 per hour.

The state minimum wage has increased from $6.15 to $9.65 over the same time frame. “She wanted me to let you know that if not for a mandate, she may never get to $15,” Hoffman said.

3. The janitor working for $10.75 after 14 years on the job is not a statistical outlier. In St. Paul poverty wages affect workers of all ages.

Stereotypes that cast minimum-wage earners as students working around classes or retirees keeping themselves busy are bogus. The Citizens League report cites a 2016 study by the Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice, which considered the impacts of a minimum-wage increase in Minneapolis and in Hennepin and Ramsey counties.

“There is no distinction between ages where there might be in other cities, where low-wage workers might be younger or older,” Hoffman said.

Tipped workers packed council chambers to hear the report on raising St. Paul’s minimum wage.

4. Whether it’s a tip penalty or a training wage, interest groups will attempt to poke holes in St. Paul’s minimum wage.

The Citizens League report reflects a split within the restaurant industry over the tip penalty, which allows employers to pay a sub-minimum wage as long as workers make up the difference in tips. Working people on both sides of the issue showed up in council chambers yesterday.

Servers who support a tip penalty say a lower minimum wage is vital to their employers’ profitability, as well as preservation of a tipping culture. Opponents argue the tip penalty opens the door to wage theft, as some employers fail to make up the difference between workers’ tips and the minimum wage.

Research also shows tip penalties contribute to a culture of sexual harassment in the restaurant industry. A study released earlier this month found female tipped workers in states like Minnesota experience report sexual harassment at half the rate of their counterparts in states with a lower minimum wage for tipped workers.

Catherine Olsen, a tipped worker at a small business in St. Paul, called on city officials to pass an ordinance lifting all workers to $15 per hour, with no tip penalty and no youth wage. “St. Paul has an opportunity to act now and act fast – and to not leave anybody behind,” she said.

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Prominent activist to talk $15, #MeToo with tipped workers in St. Paul

January 16, 2018 by

Saru Jayaraman

A leading voice in the nationwide campaign to improve wages and working conditions for restaurant workers will meet tomorrow with tipped workers fighting for a $15 minimum wage in St. Paul.

In a 7 p.m. presentation at the St. Paul Labor Center, Saru Jayaraman will examine the connection between efforts to raise the minimum wage and the #MeToo movement to stop sexual harassment in the workplace. The event is free and open to the public.

Jayaraman is co-founder of the Restaurant Opportunities Center and director of the University of California-Berkeley’s Food and Labor Research Center. An advocate of one fair wage for hospitality workers, Jayaraman walked the red carpet at the Golden Globes last week with Amy Poehler, one of several actresses who invited #MeToo activists as their guests.

Jayaraman’s visit to St. Paul reflects growing momentum in support of a citywide $15 minimum wage. Minneapolis put a strong $15 ordinance on the books last year, and St. Paul’s newly elected mayor, Melvin Carter, made $15 a rallying cry during his 2017 campaign.

A key question elected officials will face as they craft a minimum-wage ordinance is whether St. Paul, like Minneapolis, should establish one fair wage or carve out a subminimum wage for tipped workers, known as a tip penalty.

Restaurant industry groups fought hard for a tip penalty in Minneapolis, serving up doomsday predictions of layoffs and restaurant closings if servers’ wages increase. The same arguments already are surfacing in St. Paul.

Jayaraman’s work, meanwhile, has exposed the tip penalty’s troubling impact on working conditions in the restaurant industry. Tipped workers in two-tiered minimum wage states experience sexual harassment at nearly double the rate of their counterparts in states like Minnesota with no subminimum wage.

Learn more about the Jan. 17 event, RSVP and invite others to attend on Facebook. The St. Paul Labor Center is located at 353 West 7th Street.

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Council vote gives St. Paul nation’s strongest earned sick time ordinance

September 7, 2016 by
St. Paul business owner Diane Brennan speaks in support of a citywide earned sick time policy at a press conference before a public hearing on the issue.

St. Paul business owner Diane Brennan speaks in support of a citywide earned sick time policy at a press conference before a public hearing on the issue.

Members of the St. Paul City Council today voted 7-0 to pass an ordinance hailed by working people, small business owners, clergy members and other advocates as the strongest earned sick and safe time law on the books nationwide.

Mayor Chris Coleman immediately indicated he would support the ordinance, making St. Paul the 35th U.S. location to pass sick-pay legislation, according to Family Values at Work.

“We are experiencing tremendous momentum as a city,” Coleman said in a statement. “We need to do everything we can to ensure even the most vulnerable among us are experiencing that same momentum. This ordinance brings us one step closer to doing so, and I support it for that reason.”

Set to take effect July 1, 2017, the ordinance will extend ESST benefits to an estimated 72,000 working people in St. Paul.

It requires all employers – regardless of size, unlike the ordinance passed in Minneapolis earlier this year – to provide one hour of sick time for every 30 hours an employee works, with sick-time earnings capped at 48 hours per year. Employees will begin accruing sick time after working 80 hours, and they become eligible to use the benefit after 90 calendar days of employment.

Supporters like Nuurto Mohamed, a janitor for 3M in St. Paul, said the new ordinance will give healthier choices to working families like hers.

“I am so excited that we won paid sick days for families like mine in St. Paul,” Mohamed said. “We work hard, and having more paid sick days will mean we no longer have to choose between our health and our paycheck when someone in our family is sick.”

The ordinance also gives employees the right to sue if they face retaliation for using their paid sick time. Michelle Parker, a member of Neighborhoods Organizing for Change who works at Papa John’s in St. Paul, welcomed the enforcement provision.

Pastor Bradley Schmeling explains his support for a citywide earned-sick-time ordinance during a press conference at St. Paul City Hall.

Pastor Bradley Schmeling explains his support for a citywide earned-sick-time ordinance during a press conference at St. Paul City Hall.

“When I have to call in sick, my employer cuts my hours for the next week,” she said. “My family needs this safeguard.”

The ordinance closely follows the recommendations of a task force established earlier this year by Mayor Coleman and council members to study the issue. It included labor, faith and community leaders, as well as representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and small business owners.

“The benefits to providing sick time outweigh the costs a hundred fold,” said Workhorse Coffee’s Shannon Forney, one of more than 50 business owners citywide to back the ordinance publicly. “If we, a scrappy small business not supported by capital investments, can do it, certainly other businesses can too.”

Supporters celebrated the council vote as the culmination of a yearlong campaign that included congregational meetings, forums, door-knocks, phone banks, strikes, rallies and meetings with elected officials.

“This vote is a big step toward improving the quality of life for all working people in Saint Paul,” said Bobby Kasper, president of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation and a member of the ESST task force. “We’re grateful to the elected officials who showed courage on Earned Sick and Safe Time, and proud to be part of a coalition of community groups that, by working together, made history today.”

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Small business owners voice support for sick-time ordinance in St. Paul

August 8, 2016 by
Ward 6 co-owner Eric Foster speaks at a press conference arranged by a coalition of businesses supporting St. Paul's proposed sick-time ordinance.

Ward 6 co-owner Eric Foster speaks at a press conference arranged by a coalition of businesses supporting St. Paul’s proposed sick-time ordinance.

 

At a press conference today, small business owners in St. Paul said passing a citywide sick-time ordinance is the right thing to do – not only for the health of their workers, but also the health of their bottom lines.

Providing employees with earned sick and safe time makes them less likely to jump ship for more stable benefits, according to members of the Main Street Alliance. The small-business coalition has signed up more than 40 St. Paul businesses that support the proposed ordinance, and several used the press conference at Workhorse Coffee to counter Chamber of Commerce claims that it would drive employers out of town.

Matt Zanetti, co-owner of Lake Monster Brewing Company, said he could understand why some businesses owners would “look at the bottom line and say, how are we going to make this work?” But after taking a closer look, most discover that “paid sick time is an easy way to make sure you’re retaining people.”

Lake Monster Brewing co-owner Matt Zanetti explains his support of a citywide sick-time ordinance while holding his son, Leo.

Lake Monster Brewing co-owner Matt Zanetti explains his support of a citywide sick-time ordinance while holding his son, Leo.

“When we have to hire new people, we have to spend money and time to train them,” Bob Parker of Ward 6 restaurant added.

Parker’s co-owner, Eric Foster, served on a task force appointed by the City Council to study the issue of earned sick and safe time. He took direct aim at the Chamber’s narrative.

“Sometimes some groups have a tendency to say the sky is going to fall if we do this, and it never does,” Foster said. Raising  minimum standards when it comes to workers’ health and safety, he added, would end the “race to the bottom” among employers competing to cut costs.

The City Council is on track to take action on the issue Aug. 24.

Both the task force and the city’s human rights commission have voted to recommend an ordinance requiring all employers to provide workers with one hour of sick time for every 30 hours they work, with sick-time earnings capped at 48 hours per year. If adopted, the proposed ordinance would extend benefits to an estimated 70,000 workers – and put St. Paul among about 25 cities nationwide with a sick-time rule on the books.

Council President Russ Stark, who attended the press conference in his ward, said council members’ “ears are still open,” but reiterated his commitment to passing “a strong ordinance.”

Stark also reflected on his experience as a working parent of young children, being notified while at work that one had fallen ill.

“Anyone who’s had kids in day care has gotten that call. It’s not a choice. You just have to go,” Stark said. “But some people face consequences for leaving work at that time.”

In addition to expressing support for the sick-time ordinance, Main Street Alliance also rolled out a “Shop Your Values” campaign for consumers looking to support St. Paul businesses that back earned sick and safe time. Find details, a map of participating locations and information about joining the alliance at www.tinyurl.com/SYV-STP.

“We know many small businesses both here in St. Paul and statewide care about their employees and their communities,” alliance director Corinne Horowitz said. “We encourage Minnesotans to shop their values, and patronize businesses that support their employees, the community, and working families.”

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Allina nurses’ strike lines swelling with solidarity

June 22, 2016 by
Striking nurses on the picket line outside United Hospital paused for a photo with members of the St. Paul City Council.

Striking nurses on the picket line outside United Hospital paused for a photo with members of the St. Paul City Council.

 

Allina nurses are walking the picket lines outside five Twin Cities health care facilities this week, but they aren’t walking alone.

Patients, doctors and other health care workers have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with members of the Minnesota Nurses Association over the last four days. So have members of other unions – teachers, musicians, construction workers and others – and elected officials, including members of the St. Paul City Council who walked the picket line with United Hospital nurses today.

“We know that you don’t do this lightly,” Ward 3’s Chris Tolbert told nurses. “There’s something seriously wrong with the negotiations if you guys are willing to go on strike and walk out of that hospital.”

Tolbert marched to the picket line from City Hall after today’s council meeting with Council President Russ Stark (W-4) and council members Dai Thao (W-1), Amy Brendmoen (W-5), Dan Bostrom (W-6) and Jane Prince (W-7). Thao, whose daughter has been convalescing for over a month at nearby Children’s Hospital, said nurses deserve better treatment than they are getting from Allina, which wants to take away their quality, affordable health insurance options.

St. Paul City Council member Dai Thao talked to nurses on the United picket line.

St. Paul City Council member Dai Thao talked to nurses on the United picket line.

“As a person of color and as a parent, it’s already difficult to navigate the system,” Thao said. “But when we got (to Children’s), the nurses – your colleagues – treated our daughter like their own. That means a lot, and I just want folks to know that nurses need to be taken care of too.”

Nurses’ co-workers at Allina facilities feel the same way. Outside Unity Hospital in Fridley, members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota – in their own fight for a first contract with Allina – rallied with MNA nurses. And at United Hospital in St. Paul, licensed practical nurse Vivian Straumann walked off the job after an eight-hour shift and onto the picket line.

Members of MNA supported Straumann’s union during its contract talks last year, she said, and members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota are more than happy to return the favor now.

“I want to see them keep their health care insurance and get back to work,” Straumann said, adding that it’s been difficult working alongside replacement nurses “who you don’t know and who are taking your friends’ jobs.”

Hundreds of unions members like Straumann have volunteered to walk a shift in solidarity with Allina nurses over the last four days. Local unions also have shown solidarity by donating food, cold drinks and other supplies to MNA strikers.

“It might be cliche, but for me it goes back to the old adage, ‘An injury to one is an injury to all,'” said Minneapolis teacher Brionna Harder, a member Education Minnesota who lives in St. Paul. “Nobody wants to go on strike, but when it’s necessary to draw a line,  we have to stand arm in arm with our brothers and sisters.”

Earlier in the day, Allina’s lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter to Education Minnesota demanding members like Harder stop picketing outside its facilities. In a written response, Education Minnesota President Denise Specht dismissed the attorney’s threats, adding that they will likely make educators even more eager to support striking nurses.

“Education Minnesota cares deeply about this issue,” Specht wrote in a response to Allina’s letter. “This is more than just solidarity with our colleagues in organized labor. Our 86,000 members work with students during the flu season. They get sick. When they do, we want them treated by healthy nurses with easy access to quality health care themselves. The outcome of this dispute affects us all.

“You can follow the participation of educators of Minnesota on our social media sites. We are sure you know where to find us.”

Council Member Jane Prince of Ward 7
Council Member Chris Tolbert of Ward 3
Council Member Amy Brendmoen of Ward 5.

MNA is updating its Facebook page regularly with videos of elected officials and other supporters visiting the Allina picket lines. Sign up for a shift on the strike line at allinastrike.com.

Nurses are also asking supporters to sign onto a petition asking to Allina to drop its efforts to shift $10 million in health care costs onto nurses and their families. The petition is online at nursesneedcare2.com.

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St. Paul clergy: Citywide earned sick time ordinance makes ‘common sense’

March 15, 2016 by
Pastor Bradley Schmeling explains his support for a citywide earned-sick-time ordinance during a press conference at St. Paul City Hall.

Pastor Bradley Schmeling explains his support for a citywide earned-sick-time ordinance during a press conference at St. Paul City Hall.

 

Faith leaders from St. Paul today gathered in City Hall to support a citywide ordinance guaranteeing workers access to earned sick and safe time.

“The scripture says we are one body, and when one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers,” Pastor Ralph Baumgartner said. “And when 42 percent of workers in our community can’t care for themselves or their family members when they are sick, our community is broken.”

About 20 clergy members, members of the ISAIAH network, staged a brief press conference before delivering hand-written notes to their city council members. The organization, which works for social justice in the Twin Cities, is “launching a faith-led effort” to garner support for a sick-time ordinance.

Already, clergy members have met with more than 40 business owners to discuss the parameters of a potential ordinance, and plans are in the works to engage over 1,000 people in 40 congregations on the issue. Pastor Grant Stevensen, a leader of ISAIAH, said no one should be forced to choose between working while sick and not being able to pay their rent or utilities.

Rev. Charles Gill of Pilgrim Baptist said extending earned sick time to all St. Paul workers would help "people who have a great desire to take care of their families, who are responsible adults."

Rev. Charles Gill of Pilgrim Baptist said extending earned sick time to all St. Paul workers would help “people who have a great desire to take care of their families, who are responsible adults.”

“We know too many workers in our congregations who are forced to make that choice,” Stevensen said.

The issue has public-health implications as well. A 2014 study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that only 24 percent of food preparation and service workers have access to earned sick and safe time. In Minnesota, at least 208 outbreaks of foodborne illness were linked to employees working while sick between 2004 and 2013.

“This is not controversial. This is common sense,” Baumgartner said. “If you can’t rest when you’re sick, you don’t get better.”

Bradley Schmeling, pastor at Gloria Dei Lutheran, remembered waiting tables in a restaurant while he was in graduate school, when rent and other obligations left him no choice but to work whether healthy or sick.

“But increasingly, many workers aren’t in low paying jobs with no sick time because they’re working their way through school or working their way up the ladder,” Schmeling said. “They are working those jobs permanently.”

Clergy members also said guaranteeing access to earned sick time would help address the region’s glaring racial disparities. Baumgartner, pastor at Hope Lutheran Church, pointed to statistics showing black workers are 25 percent less likely than white workers to have the benefit, and Latino workers about 30 percent less likely.

“If we believe that black lives matter, then we must build systems and structures that make the playing field equal and fair and just,” he said.

Mayor Chris Coleman and council members are waiting on the recommendations of a task force considering the issue. It’s estimated that more than 70,000 workers in St. Paul do not have access to earned sick and safe time benefits.

“My prayer is that the city of St. Paul will be a leader,” Baumgartner said.

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Six for St. Paul City Council win Labor endorsement

November 2, 2015 by

The St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, with more than 100 affiliate unions representing 50,000 union members in the East Metro, has endorsed six candidates for St. Paul City Council on the Nov. 3 ballot. Read more about Ward 2 candidate Darren Tobolt here, and read profiles of the Labor-endorsed candidates for St. Paul school board here. To view a full list of the RLF’s endorsed candidates in 2015, click here.

Saint Paul Union AdvocateWard 1: Dai Thao

• Union background: Former union member, when he was on staff at MEA, now Education Minnesota.

• Toughest job he’s ever worked: Huckleberry picking in Western Montana and Idaho. “You work before sunrise past sunset,” Thao said. “Each berry has to be hand-picked in rugged terrain. You’re exposed to harsh elements and wild animals – grizzly bears, cougars – and your meal is a fist-sized bag of rice with jerk. I learned to put things into perspective and to work hard.”

• On what it means to be labor endorsed: “Labor endorsement means that I have a partner in creating a more equitable St. Paul. I have people I can rely on to implement progressive policies that benefit working families.”

Ward 2: Darren Tobolt

• Union background: Former member, Local 110 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in St. Paul.

• Toughest job he’s ever worked: Army Basic Training, prior to service in the National Guard. “It was pretty tough, giving up autonomy at 18 years old,” Tobolt said. “The biggest lesson that I learned was that life is like weather – you don’t control it, you can only control how you react to it.”

• On what it means to be labor endorsed: “Growing up in a union household, I have always valued the labor movement. I am honored to have earned the trust of my brothers and sisters in organized labor. As a council member I will make sure that public employees are respected and that all the money the city spends reflects our community values about working conditions and fair wages.”

Ward 3: Chris Tolbert

• Union background: Member of AFSCME Local 2938.

• Toughest job he’s ever worked: Cook at Kentucky Fried Chicken. “I learned that I wanted a different job,” Tolbert said. “It was tough because I was in high school and the working conditions were horrible, but when it’s just you versus a boss, you don’t have much power to stand up for yourself. It would have been nice to have had some union support.”

• On what it means to be labor endorsed: “It was an honor to earn the endorsement of my sisters and brothers in labor when I first ran for office in 2011; it’s humbling to have their endorsement as I run for re-election, because it means I’ve stuck to my values while in office and continue to have their trust and confidence.”

Ward 4: Russ Stark

• Union background: “I haven’t had the pleasure,” Stark said. “My mom is a retired AFSCME member.”

• Toughest job he’s ever worked: “City Council member is both the toughest and best job I’ve ever worked. I’ve learned that every little thing you do in your job and in life counts and will be remembered by someone. I’ve learned that change is hard and balancing the desires of constituents with your own idea of what’s right is very similar to the balancing act we all do in our families and workplaces.”

• On what it means to be labor endorsed: “I’m proud to be supported by the working people of St. Paul who have taught my kids in school, cared for family members in the hospital, fixed my streets and sewers, pick up my recycling, and built some of the great new venues in our great city. It means that they’ve noticed when I have stood up for their best interests and for what’s right for our city. Every policy and budget decision we make in City Hall effects not just the residents and businesses in our community but also the lives and families of the people who do all of the work to make it all possible.”

Ward 6: Dan Bostrom

• Union background: Former member of the St. Paul Police Federation and the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE).

• Toughest job he’s ever worked: Police officer in St. Paul. “While I laid brick for a short while as a young man – one of the main reasons I still admire the craft and push for brick buildings today – the toughest job I’ve ever worked was as a St. Paul police officer,” Bostrom said. “In order to be assured of going home at the end of each shift, I had to completely trust and rely on my brothers and sisters in blue. I knew they had my back and I always had theirs.”

• On what it means to be labor endorsed: “I have been honored to have a group of advisors from a variety of unions over the years, and I am proud to call them my personal friends. They have given me advice, insights and perspective that has been invaluable as the Council has made decisions on contracts, projects and more.”

Ward 7: Jane Prince

• Union background: Former member of the Professional Employees Association.

• Toughest job she’s ever worked: Frozen-food factory. “The work was physically demanding, being on my feet all day, working in a cold environment and not being able to take restroom breaks without asking permission and getting replaced on the assembly line,” Prince said. “Despite how uncomfortable and repetitious the job was, my coworkers were friendly, cheerful and proud of their work.

“These workers came to work each day wearing their 10-, 20- and 30-year pins. I learned that respect and recognition by employers pay dividends of worker loyalty and commitment.”

• On what it means to be labor endorsed: “Good union jobs at Whirlpool, 3M and the Hamm’s Brewery were responsible for building a strong middle class on the East Side; losing those employers hit the East Side hard. I will work with organized labor to bring good jobs back. At City Hall I will work with public employees to deliver high-quality city services, hold the line on taxes and make St. Paul a great place to live and work.”

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Labor endorsed in Ward 2, Tobolt ready to stand up for working families ‘on day one’

October 22, 2015 by
Volunteers with the Minnesota Nurses Association door knock for Darren Tobolt (R) in St. Paul’s Ward 2

Volunteers with the Minnesota Nurses Association door knock for Darren Tobolt (R) in St. Paul’s Ward 2

When a non-union electrical contractor was undermining area wages and benefits on a project funded by Ramsey County several years back, IBEW Local 110’s Brian Winkelaar didn’t think twice about what to do.

He called Darren Tobolt, County Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt’s longtime assistant.

“I called him up and said, ‘Darren, how come they’re on this project?’” Winkelaar remembered. “He called me back five minutes later, and they were off the site.”

Now, Local 110 is supporting Tobolt in his campaign for St. Paul City Council, and the Electrical Workers are not alone. Nurses, Firefighters, Steelworkers, the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation and others have endorsed Tobolt, making him the only labor candidate in a tight race to succeed Dave Thune in Ward 2.

“He asked for our endorsement, and I didn’t waver for one minute,” Winkelaar said. “He truly believes in our movement, in our cause and in what we do – Project Labor Agreements, prevailing wages, family-supporting careers. He gets it. I don’t need to educate him on our issues.”

Tobolt said his vision for the city is to “keep building on what we’ve been accomplishing, but making sure that we’re bringing everyone along.” That means making sure all workers have access to earned sick and safe time, fighting wage theft and raising wages, he said.

“My experience working with everyone across St. Paul for such a long time means I’m ready to do the job on day one,” Tobolt said. “I’ve spent 20 years engaging and making sure people have a voice in politics. People understand that and remember that.”

Union roots

Tobolt grew up in a middle-class, union family. His father worked began his career as a telephone man with Northwest Bell and retired from Qwest, a member of the Communications Workers of America throughout his career. His mother sold Tupperware, and watching her work gave Darren a healthy appreciation for organizing and networking.

Those are skills he’s put to use in several roles since graduating from the University of Minnesota – as a community organizer for ACORN, working on Paul Wellstone’s first Senate campaign, running get-out-the-vote efforts statewide for John Kerry’s presidential campaign, as chair of the St. Paul DFL and, for the last 17 years, as the top aide to Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt.

A longtime ally of organized labor, Reinhardt describes Tobolt as “a caring, compassionate, listening, dedicated person with a keen eye toward what is fair, what is right.”

Community connections

Tobolt and his wife, Wendy Underwood, live in the West 7th neighborhood, where they’ve established deep roots. She serves on the St. Paul Planning Commission, and he has served on his district council, the Fort Road Federation, as well the board of Transit for Livable Communities, a transportation-based nonprofit.

As proof of his readiness to deliver results for Ward 2, Tobolt points to his service on the City of St. Paul’s task force on public facilities. Tobolt served as chair of the task for last year, when it secured funding for needed improvements to Ward 2’s Palace Rec Center.

Tobolt also has been an advocate for his neighborhood in planning sessions for potential enhancement of the West 7th Street corridor, connecting downtown St. Paul with Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

“Whenever we’re doing work on our streets, I want to make sure we’re making them complete streets, building safe crossings and making them safe for all users,” he said. “If there’s a train, we need to make sure it isn’t a train that goes through our neighborhood, but that it actually serves our neighborhood.”

Labor endorsed

When he walked into screenings with St. Paul unions and labor federations early in the Ward 2 campaign, Tobolt’s was a familiar face to union activists and labor leaders like Linda Hamilton, president of the Minnesota Nurses Association.

“Darren has been a leader in his community, organizing around the issues that matter to working families,” Hamilton said. “He has dedicated his life to public service and has worked hard bringing people together to get things done for this community.

“Nurses support Darren Tolbot because we share the value that ‘we all do better, when we all do better.’”

As her assistant, Reinhardt said, Tobolt developed “a strong background in labor issues, working with union folks on prevailing wage, ordinances regarding contracting and PLA’s.”

Tobolt worked on Ramsey County’s push for a stronger prevailing wage ordinance, which prevent contractors on publicly funded projects from bringing in low-paid workers and undercutting the area standard of living. As a result, the Ramsey County Attorney’s office created a position dedicated entirely to prevailing-wage enforcement.

It’s something Tobolt hopes to replicate in St. Paul.

“We need to work across boundaries,” he said. “If you’re an irresponsible bidder for Ramsey County, you’re going to be an irresponsible bidder for St. Paul, for school boards and other, smaller municipalities. It works better if we all work together.

“The money the city spends is the public’s money, so it should reflect our public values. And our values include making sure workers are adequately compensated and fairly treated.”

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

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.”

Filed Under: Organizing, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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