UPDATED: Labor-endorsed candidates sail through DFL endorsing convention

June 4, 2013 by
Incumbent school board member John Brodrick (right), with St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Bobby Kasper, will be among the labor candidates seeking DFL endorsement June 8.

Incumbent school board member John Brodrick (right), with St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Bobby Kasper, will be among the labor candidates seeking DFL endorsement June 8.

Planning on attending the City of St. Paul DFL Endorsing Convention? Three labor-endorsed candidates are counting on union members’ support.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman is seeking re-election with labor endorsement. Two incumbent candidates for St. Paul Board of Education also have labor endorsements: John Brodrick and Jean O’Connell.

The endorsing convention will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 8, at Washington Technology Magnet School, 1495 Rice Street.

For more information on St. Paul Regional Labor Federation endorsements, call 651-222-3787.

UPDATE 6/27/13 – All three candidates emerged from the convention with the party’s endorsement, as did school board candidate Chue Vue, who has since been endorsed by the RLF.

“I was pleased to see delegates to the city convention supported our labor candidates for citywide office,” St. Paul RLF President Bobby Kasper said. “Our federation will work hard to make sure Mayor Coleman and our endorsed candidates for school board see even greater success in November.”

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In contract talks, teachers look to build ‘schools St. Paul children deserve’

April 24, 2013 by
Mary Cathryn Ricker, president of Local 28, urges members to get involved in the upcoming contract campaign.

Mary Cathryn Ricker, president of Local 28, urges members to get involved in the upcoming contract campaign.

Buoyed by broad-based community support, St. Paul teachers kicked off their contract campaign with a public celebration April 20, pledging to use negotiations with the district to build “the schools St. Paul children deserve.”

Negotiators for the St. Paul Public Schools and the St. Paul Federation of Teachers Local 28 will open talks this spring on a new contract that will extend through 2015.

At the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center, St. Paul teachers Kathy Bravel (left) and Laurel Kuhner Berker sign forms pledging to volunteer in support of SPFT’s contract campaign.

At the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center, St. Paul teachers Kathy Bravel (left) and Laurel Kuhner Berker sign forms pledging to volunteer in support of SPFT’s contract campaign.

At the Saturday-morning campaign kickoff, teachers unveiled a 30-page document – assembled with input from teachers, parents and community members – laying out the goals, priorities and values that will guide their negotiating team.

Mary Cathryn Ricker, president of Local 28, said the union began holding listening sessions with the public last fall. The union used feedback garnered during those meetings, along with the results of a survey sent to members over the winter, to draft the guiding document.

Priorities St. Paul teachers will bring to the negotiating table include several aimed at improving education outcomes – like greater access to preschool, culturally relevant coursework and smaller class sizes.

Other priorities address professional development and teacher evaluation that emphasizes “teaching, not testing.”

The April 20 kickoff event drew support from Gov. Mark Dayton, progressive groups like Take Action Minnesota and leaders in the labor movement, including St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Bobby Kasper.

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St. Paul unions donate 127 winter coats to students in need

January 23, 2013 by
St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Bobby Kasper (third from right) delivers more than 100 coats to staff at Project REACH, St. Paul Schools’ homeless-outreach initiative.

St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Bobby Kasper (third from right) delivers more than 100 coats to staff at Project REACH, St. Paul Schools’ homeless-outreach initiative.

The Jean Jones Coats Initiative, an annual winter-clothing drive sponsored by the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation’s Labor Studies & Resource Center, had a record-breaking year, donating 127 new or gently used coats to homeless students in the St. Paul Public Schools.

St. Paul unions and union members contributed $3,683 to the initiative this year, more than 10 times the level of contributions made last year.

The Jean Jones Initiative, named for a now-retired St. Paul teacher and RLF delegate, is entering its second decade.

“We are extremely happy about this year’s participation and would like to thank the participants who made financial contributions,” St. Paul RLF President Bobby Kasper said. Contributors included:

Boilermakers Local 647, Bricklayers Local 1, Cement Masons Local 633,  Laborers Local 132, Heat and Frost Insulators Local 34, Iron Workers Local 512, IBEW Local 110, Elevator Constructors Local 9, Operating Engineers Local 49, Millwrights Local 548, North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, Pipefitters Local 455, St. Paul Building and Construction Trades Council, and Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 10.

Individual donors included Bernadine Engeldorf, Karen Riebel and Mary Sansom, as well as delegates to the St. Paul RLF who participated in a collection taken at the annual holiday party.

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Labor 2012 Endorsed: Small business owner DeGree sees through GOP rhetoric

November 2, 2012 by

Tom DeGree is the labor-endorsed candidate for House District 39B.

Tom DeGree, the labor-endorsed candidate for House District 39B (map), is a small business owner, and his first campaign for public office has a distinctly entrepreneurial feel.

DeGree knows the numbers, from his campaign budget to the number of successful voter contacts volunteers have made during phone banks and door-knocks. The campaign has a dynamic website, and DeGree is reaching out to voters via social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

But most importantly, DeGree knows what consumers – the voters of District 39B – want, and it isn’t more of the same.

“People in this district are independent minded,” Degree said. “They don’t really see clearly down one part path, liberal or conservative. They are just sick of the gridlock, especially what happened with the state shutdown.”

DeGree brings a unique perspective to his campaign, as both a union member and a small business owner. So he knows firsthand that the policies pushed by Republicans in the Legislature the last two years – including his opponent, Kathy Lohmer – aren’t serving either side well.

As a teacher in the St. Paul Public Schools, DeGree has seen the effects of stagnant state funding for education – and the $2.4 billion school shift that forced districts to borrow money to meet their costs.

“The fiscally responsible Republicans charged up credit card debt with school loans,” DeGree said.

As a co-owner of Wilde Roast Café in Minneapolis, with a staff of 70 employees, DeGree also knows Republicans in the Legislature, by cutting state support for local governments, are effectively raising property taxes on small businesses.

“Property taxes are going up, I know this,” DeGree said. “The things they have done are not lowering taxes and creating jobs, even though Republicans claim they are.”

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