Outside Amazon fulfillment center, workers demand tax fairness

May 6, 2021 by

Tyler Hamilton is in his fourth year working at Amazon’s fulfillment center in Shakopee.

SHAKOPEE – Minnesota workers unfurled a “Tax the Rich” banner outside Amazon’s MSP1 fulfillment center here today. It was a not-so-subtle suggestion to state lawmakers about how they might pay for investments in child care, paid family leave, education, infrastructure and other supports for working families.

Tyler Hamilton, in his fourth year working at MSP1, said he and others inside the facility could use a little support right now.

“Honestly, I’m tired,” the Maplewood resident said during a press conference organized by local unions. “And I’m not just tired from working night shift, even though I’m a night-shift guy.

“I’m tired from working in this building behind me for over a year during the coronavirus pandemic and having to deal with all the stupid stuff Amazon does all the time – and they get away with.”

But the pandemic has been anything but exhausting for corporations like Amazon and the wealthiest Americans. With stock markets posting record gains over the last year, the super-rich have consolidated even more wealth. U.S. billionaires increased their combined wealth by $1.62 trillion, or 55 percent, between March 2020 and April 2021, according to an analysis published last month.

Inequality in the U.S., already sped up by corporate tax cuts in 2017, has shifted into overdrive. “Evidently, those tax cuts don’t go toward their workforce,” Hamilton said. “It’s really frustrating.”

Minnesota lawmakers have an opportunity to restore some fairness to the system before the Legislature’s scheduled adjournment May 17, other speakers at the event outside Amazon said.

Mary Solheim, a child care provider from Maplewood, described a state of “chronic underinvestment in care for the children” of Minnesota’s workforce – a crisis made worse by the pandemic, as frontline workers not eligible for essential care struggled to find care for their children after school buildings shut down.

Solheim was precise about where to pin the blame. “We know there is enough for everyone to thrive in Minnesota,” she said. “But for too long, corporations haven’t paid their fair share.”

Public school educators have seen chronic underinvestment firsthand too, said Kate Schmidt, president of Dakota County United Educators.

Meeting students’ needs, she said, requires smaller class sizes, more access to counselors and other specialists, healthy meals and safe buildings. But instead of fully funding those priorities, school districts across Minnesota are preparing to lay off teachers, a response to uncertain state funding.

“This year let’s demand that our Legislature ensure the wealthiest among us pay their fair share,” Schmidt said. “That’s how we fund the future of our students, by ensuring every child has what they need to focus on all they can become, whether they are black, brown or white.”

Chelsie Glaubitz Gabiou, president of the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, emcees a press conference calling on corporations like Amazon and the super-rich to pay more taxes.

Octavio Chung, a union Laborer from Hugo, said improvements to the state’s transportation system and other infrastructure are urgently needed. Corporate profits rely on getting products to customers, after all.

“Corporations like Amazon need to pay their fair share so we can address decades of delayed essential maintenance and upgrades to provide all Minnesotans with safe roads and bridges, more affordable housing and functional school buildings,” Chung said. “It is long past time.”

Debate over whether to fund these and other priorities is likely to heat up at the Capitol next week, as the deadline to adjourn draws closer.

Gov. Tim Walz has proposed – and Republicans in control of the Senate have opposed – small tax hikes on some corporations and on individual income over $500,000, or over $1 million for married couples filing jointly.

Among the proposed investments Walz and DFLers who control the Minnesota House would make with the extra revenue is paid family leave for all Minnesota workers. That’s a measure Hamilton, who believes he contracted COVID-19 while working at MSP1 last year, said is long overdue.

“I was out of work for a month, the majority of that being unpaid,” Hamilton said. “It’s tiring having to work hard to pay your bills – 10-hour shifts, 12-hour shifts – only to be hit with something like getting sick and falling behind because we don’t have paid family medical leave or paid sick leave like we should.”

Filed Under: Labor Voices, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

‘Minnesotans are the losers’ when divided Legislature plays politics with transportation

November 2, 2016 by

MoveMN-signcapitolRepublicans and Democrats rarely agree, but when the Minnesota Legislature convened in January 2015, leaders of the GOP House and the DFL Senate were sounding an awful lot alike.

It was time to address the state’s transportation needs, they agreed. And the state could not afford to wait.

Nearly two years later, Minnesotans are still waiting for a long-term, comprehensive solution to the transportation problem. What happened?

“It’s just partisan politics,” said Russell Hess, political coordinator for the Laborers District Council of Minnesota and North Dakota.

A last-minute compromise bill floundered last session, after Republican leaders balked at funding for light-rail transit. A special session to reconsider the issue – as well as a jobs-creating capital investment bill – never materialized over the summer.

Hess said Republicans believed blocking light rail “would help them get votes in an election year.” Jennifer Munt, public affairs director for AFSCME Council 5, agreed.

“We can blame House Republicans for traffic jams and political gridlock,” Munt said. “It’s impossible to compromise on transportation when Republicans pit roads against transit, and pit Greater Minnesota’s needs against the metro.”

Indeed, traffic congestion now costs the average Minnesota commuter over $800 per year, according to the Minnesota Transportation Alliance, and that doesn’t account for the wear and tear inflicted on vehicles by potholes and aging infrastructure.

More than half of the state’s roads are 50-plus years old, and 40 percent of the state’s bridges are 40-plus years old. The number of roads in poor condition will grow by 74 percent over the next 10 years.

Anyone who takes a serious look at the issue, labor-endorsed Sen. Jim Carlson of Eagan said, realizes the state needs a long-term plan that pairs road-and-bridge funding with transit investments – and has a dedicated source of revenue.

“We have to be honest about it,” Carlson said. “We have a $600 million per year need that is going unmet. We need a dedicated funding system to create that revenue stream to fix our roads. That will not happen if we take money out of the general fund every two years.”

That’s the approach favored by Republicans, who would cut other areas of the state budget to pay for roads and bridges. Republicans don’t favor investments in transit either, and that’s not sitting well with voters in House District 43A, which includes Maplewood, White Bear Lake and other northeast suburbs.

“Mass transit is extremely frustrating not only for people living in my district, but people trying to travel to my district for education – including some really great programs at Century College – or for jobs,” labor-endorsed Rep. Peter Fischer said. “We’ve got to figure out how we connect people with the services they need.”

Labor-endorsed Rep. Barb Yarusso hears the same concerns in her north-metro House District 42A.

“In Arden Hills, there are more jobs than people, Shoreview has had a number of key business expansions and looks to add more, and Mounds View is seeing new development along County Highway 10,” Yarusso said. “Employers have access to a larger pool of employees if public transit is available.”

The cost of gridlock, meanwhile, is steep. The Transportation Alliance estimates project costs will increase by 10 percent each year lawmakers fail to act.

“Minnesotans are the losers, because the costs will only go up while our safety and economic competitiveness decline,” AFSCME’s Munt said.

So how can voters make sure the issue doesn’t remain a political football in St. Paul? It’s simple, according to Munt: “Let’s elect a Legislature that Gov. Dayton can work with to get transportation done right.”

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

Unions praise Dayton’s approach to building a ‘state that works for everyone’

March 10, 2016 by

MNSTOSIn his State of the State Address last night, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton called on legislators to join him in addressing the state’s racial and geographic disparities, and in making needed investments in public education, transportation and infrastructure.

Afterward, union leaders from across the state praised Dayton’s speech.

Education Minnesota President Denise Specht called Dayton the “Education Governor.” Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy said he “demonstrated his commitment to ensuring that Minnesota is a state that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few.”

“Hardworking Minnesotans have always formed the backbone of our economy,” AFSCME Council 5 Director Eliot Seide added. “We applaud Gov. Dayton’s focus on infrastructure, transportation, and expanding economic opportunity for all Minnesotans. Those smart investments will help build a better Minnesota that works for all of us.”

Supporting workers left behind

Early in the address, Dayton reiterated his support for extending aid to Iron Range workers suffering from a slowdown in the mining industry and to minority communities that have yet to reap the benefits of Minnesota’s economic recovery.

Illegally dumped foreign steel has flooded the U.S. market, leading Iron Range mining companies to lay off an estimated 2,000 workers in the last year. The slowdown has impacted an additional 4,700 workers in mining-related jobs.

A relief package would extend unemployment benefits for about 2,750 workers, but Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, insist on pairing the relief package with tax breaks for businesses.

“To hold $29 million of desperately needed unemployment benefits hostage to $272 million in fund cuts is unnecessary,” Dayton told Republicans. “And it’s cruel.”

Dayton also cited several sobering statistics regarding racial and ethnic disparities in the state. Compared with Minnesota’s white families, he said, U.S.-born African American families’ annual income is 55 percent less, and their poverty rate is more than 4 times greater. Mexican-American, Ojibwe and Somali families also have fallen behind.

“We cannot resolve these disparities in one legislative session, but we must begin now,” Dayton said, pledging a “significant initiative” to increase economic opportunities for Minnesotans of color.

He also called on the state’s businesses to increase its outreach into minority communities and set a goal of doubling the percentage of minorities working in state government by the time he leaves office.

Modest investments, targeted tax cuts

As for how to approach Minnesota’s $900 million budget surplus for the next two years, Dayton said he would support pairing “modest spending increases” with tax cuts targeted for middle-class families, like an increase in the child-care tax credit.

But the governor, who faced a $6 billion budget shortfall when he took office in 2011, emphasized the importance of keeping the state on firm financial footing.

“Some people are proposing permanent tax cuts, which would put our state’s budget, once again, on a fiscal precipice,” he said.

“What we have been doing is working,” Dayton added. “Minnesotans are working. Minnesota is working. How could we stop now, when there is more work left to do?”

Investments in statewide broadband access, clean energy, rural water-treatment facilities, infrastructure, roads and bridges would create jobs and expand economic opportunities statewide, Dayton said. And he renewed his call for greater investment in early education to “prevent achievement gaps before they appear.”

Specht, president of the statewide educators’ union, praised Dayton’s support for learners at all levels.

“Gov. Dayton understands the foundation of our state is a great system of public education that prepares all students for successful lives,” she said. “His commitment to expand access to high-quality preschool and to support public colleges and universities will reduce the opportunity gaps which hold back too many of our students.”

Filed Under: Labor Voices, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

For working families, 2015 session yields mixed results – and uncertainty

May 19, 2015 by
The Move MN Coalition launched a "Duct Tape Tour" of the state from MnDOT headquarters in St. Paul this morning.

The Move MN Coalition launched a “Duct Tape Tour” of the state from MnDOT headquarters in St. Paul this morning.

The frenzied finish at the Capitol yielded mixed – and uncertain – results for Minnesota’s working families.

Although the Legislature approved a record investment in long-term care before adjourning last night, unions said lawmakers squandered an opportunity to use the state’s $1.9 billion budget surplus to restore cuts to public schools, expand access to pre-kindergarten and rebuild the state’s transportation infrastructure.

School employees held out hope for improvement on the Legislature’s $400 million package of funding for K-12 public schools. Gov. Mark Dayton, who made expanded access to pre-kindergarten his top priority this year, today vetoed the bill.

In a letter to Republican House Speaker Kurt Daudt, the DFL governor noted that the Legislature’s proposed increase to the K-12 education budget is smaller than increase lawmakers approved two years ago, when they faced a projected deficit of $627 million.

Dayton called it “incomprehensible that estate tax cuts for millionaires and property tax relief for large corporations are higher priorities for your House Republican Caucus than investing adequately in our students and young children.”

Dayton’s veto will recall legislators into a special session – a prospect welcomed by Education Minnesota, the union of 70,000 educators, and Local 284 of the Service Employees International Union.

“We can do better than a formula increase that only limits layoffs,” Education Minnesota President Denise Specht said. “We can reduce class sizes and start to bring back art, music, world languages, physical education and other courses we’ve lost to cuts over the years. We can also give all families access to high-quality preschool, not just a targeted few. There’s still a huge surplus. If not now, when?”

Carol Nieters, executive director of Local 284, said the Legislature’s bill would leave school districts across the state struggling to keep up with rising inflationary costs.

“The debate may be ongoing, but our members know the importance of funding that keeps up with inflation and allows school districts to maintain their buildings, particularly in Greater Minnesota,” Nieters said. “Anything less for our students is unacceptable.”

Transportation advocates, meanwhile, resigned themselves to continuing to push for a comprehensive, long-term plan to rebuild and repair the states roads, bridges and transit ways.

Members of the union-backed, pro-transportation Move MN Coalition today launched a three-day, 10-city “Duct Tape Tour” from St. Paul, warning that short-term, “lights-on” investments aren’t enough for the state’s aging transportation infrastructure.

“To say we are disappointed would be a huge understatement,” said Todd Pufahl, president and business manager for the Laborers District Council of Minnesota and North Dakota. “This issue isn’t going to go away. And future improvements will only cost Minnesotans more.”

On the tour members of the coalition, which includes unions, business groups and non-profit organizations, will visit potential transportation-construction sites across the state left to languish without state funding, and they will hear from local residents about the consequences of inaction for their local communities.

“As Minnesotans, we know duct tape is pretty amazing stuff, but there are things it can’t fix,” said Pufahl. “You can’t use duct tape to fill in a pot hole. You can’t use it to shore up a crumbling bridge. You can’t use it to mark a bike lane. And most importantly, you can’t use it to fix the gaping hole in transportation funding.”

Legislators also failed to agree on a new safety regulation requiring two-person crews on most freight trains passing through the state, a measure backed by the United Transportation Union. The bill advanced to the Senate floor, but failed to gain traction in the House.

“Our minimum crew requirement remains controversial to the Republican House leadership … despite our best efforts and one-on-one conversations with Republican members,” UTU Minnesota Legislative Director Phil Qualy said.

While much of the public focus was on the rift over education funding, lawmakers quietly passed the most significant increase in long-term care support in 30 years.

The measure, included in the nearly $13 billion health and human services budget, does not require a particular percentage of the payment increase to go to wages, but pay for long-term care workers is expected to go up.

“For long-term care workers, especially in Greater Minnesota, the advocacy of front line staff and other supporters over the last few years paid off with record funding for this important work,” said Jamie Gulley, president of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, one of several unions that represent long-term care workers. “Investing in the health and safety of Minnesotans is always a good investment, and we are proud that SEIU Healthcare Minnesota members fought so hard to make this a reality in the long-term care field.”

The Minnesota Nurses Association also praised the Legislature for taking steps to prevent violence against workers in health care facilities, following a dramatic attack on staff at St. John’s Hospital in Maplewood last November. Under the new law, hospitals will be required to create and implement violence prevention plans.

“We saw a horrific event at St. John’s,” MNA President Linda Hamilton said. “The truth is nurses are assaulted in hospitals and nursing homes every day. They’re pinched, hit, and kicked by patients and their families. We’re glad to see efforts that will protect nurses and other healthcare workers from violence.”

– This report includes material from Workday Minnesota.

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

Unions back Move MN rally for comprehensive, long-term transportation fix

April 17, 2015 by

MoveMN-signcapitolMarcus Smith would like more reliable bus service from south Minneapolis to his job in St. Paul. Jessica Treat wants dedicated lanes that make bicycling to work safer. James Boney hopes rebuilding and repairing the state’s roads and bridges will mean jobs for workers who need them.

From bicyclists to Building Trades members, public employees to people of faith, more than 300 people brought their concerns and priorities to the Capitol April 16, but they stood shoulder-to-shoulder behind the Move MN coalition’s push for a comprehensive, long-term transportation plan.

Minnesota AFl-CIO President Shar Knutson addresses the Move MN rally.

Minnesota AFl-CIO President Shar Knutson addresses the Move MN rally.

Unions took a leading role in the rally. Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson acknowledged the transit workers, road maintenance workers and highway construction workers in the crowd.

“Ask them, and I bet they’ll tell you our transportation system is falling apart,” she said.

More than half of Minnesota’s roads are 50-plus years old, and 40 percent of the state’s bridges are 40-plus years old. The number of roads in poor condition will grow by 74 percent over the next 10 years, as freight traffic statewide is expected to increase by 30 percent.

Gov. Mark Dayton has offered an $11 billion plan to repair state highways, fund local transportation investments and support public transit across Minnesota.

Supporters at the rally said the plan would ease congestion, allow for economic and population growth, and create new jobs – 119,000 of them, according to the governor’s estimates.

Boney, an instructor at Summit Academy OIC, attended the rally with about two dozen participants in the North Minneapolis-based career training program. Wearing safety-yellow vests and hard hats, the trainees, Boney said, will graduate from the program this weekend – and enter the workforce next week.

Summit Academy OIC trainees attended the rally the day before their graduation ceremony.

Summit Academy OIC trainees attended the rally the day before their graduation ceremony.

“This transportation bill could provide more work for students when they graduate, when they go out into the world,” Boney said.

“The best social program in the world is a job,” Summit Academy President Louis J. King II added.

Not only do transportation investments create jobs, but they help people get to and from their jobs, whether by car, bus, bicycle or on foot.

Smith, an AFSCME member who commutes to his job near the Capitol, is among those people. He said the buses he relies on to get to work too often run late.

“We need more buses because they’re congested,” Smith said. “The more crowded the buses are, the slower the process is. Sometimes they’re running 20 or 25 minutes late because it’s so congested.”

Treat, executive director of Women on Bikes, said research shows women are less likely to commute by bicycle – but not for lack of interest.

MoveMN-bicycles“They tell us we want to ride our bikes more, but we don’t feel safe,” she said. Treat urged investments in dedicated bike lanes and paths, noting $1.3 billion worth of bicycle plans in need of funding statewide.

Lawmakers at the rally, including Dayton, House Minority Leader Paul Thissen and Sen. Scott Dibble, warned against attempts to pit greater Minnesota against the Twin Cities, transit needs against road and bridge maintenance or transportation against other budget items.

The only acceptable approach, they said, is a comprehensive, long-term approach.

Thissen said any transportation bill passed by the Legislature should be “the real deal,” and he railed against a House Republican plan to take “money from education and health care to pay for transportation.”

“This is all about our kids and it’s about our grandkids, and it’s about doing what’s best for Minnesota,” Dayton said. “For 25 years we’ve avoided this, and look where we are now. Look at the congestion, look at the deterioration, look at how far behind our public transportation system is.”

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

AFSCME members defend public service during Council 5’s Day on Hill rally

March 25, 2015 by
David Ruth, a mental health worker in Cambridge, calls for safe staffing levels at the state's hospitals and group homes during AFSCME Council 5's Day on the Hill rally.

David Ruth, a mental health worker in Cambridge, calls for safe staffing levels at the state’s hospitals and group homes during AFSCME Council 5’s Day on the Hill rally.

 

“Everyone in this room is an expert in public service,” AFSCME Council 5 Executive Director Eliot Seide told nearly 1,000 members of the union during its Day on the Hill rally yesterday. “You’ve forgotten more than (politicians) will ever know.”

After the rally, held at a downtown St. Paul hotel, union members bused to the Capitol, where they met with their legislators to pitch the union’s priorities this session, including:

• New revenue for a long-term, comprehensive investment in the state’s roads, bridges and transit options.

AFSCME members, MnDOT worker John Gaither said, see the disrepair of the state’s infrastructure every day. “We’re here to tell you the need is urgent,” Gaither said.

• Staffing up for safety at state-run prisons and mental health facilities.

David Ruth, who works at a state facility in Cambridge, listed the injuries AFSCME members have suffered on the job, from sexual assault to being stabbed in the eye with a pen. “We as staff expect some level of danger at our jobs, but we are not willing to risk our lives,” Gaither said.

AFSCME members get fired up during Council 5's Day on the Hill rally.

AFSCME members get fired up during Council 5’s Day on the Hill rally.

Other priorities include reinvesting in public services to support Minnesota’s quality of life, protecting retirement security and defined-benefit pensions and passing the Working Parents Act.

The rally’s theme – “Minnesota Rising!” – played to the difference between Minnesota, where Gov. Mark Dayton and DFL legislators have expanded collective bargaining rights and raised taxes on the wealthiest to protect public services, and other Midwestern states. Any mention of Wisconsin, where Republican presidential hopeful Scott Walker recently signed Right to Work into law, drew jeers from the crowd.

AFSCME Local 8 President Angela Marlow, a child support agent, told members she used to work in Wisconsin; now she works for Ramsey County.

“Remember that bumper sticker that read ‘Escape to Wisconsin?'” Marlow asked. “Well I escaped from Wisconsin to work in Minnesota.”

Filed Under: Politics, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Unions: Surplus more proof Minnesota is on right track

February 27, 2015 by

mnaflcioMinnesota’s projected $1.9 billion state budget surplus, announced today by Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Myron Frans, is proof that progressive policies pushed by DFL lawmakers over the last two years have helped foster economic growth, the state’s unions said.

The Minnesota AFL-CIO, the state’s largest labor federation, representing more than 300,000 union members, said the surplus is the result of reforms made by DFLers in 2013 and 2014.

“Nearly two years ago, Gov. Mark Dayton and DFL legislators passed a budget that erased a long-term deficit while investing in jobs and education by asking the richest Minnesotans to pay their fair share in taxes,” Secretary-Treasurer Steve Hunter said. “Today, Minnesota’s state budget has a nearly $2 billion surplus and our economy is leading the nation.”

AFSCMECouncil5Eliot Seide, director of AFSCME Council 5, the state’s largest union of public employees, said the surplus “comes from more Minnesotans working than ever before and from more of them earning higher incomes than ever before.”

“It proves that fair taxes, decent wages, and wise investments in jobs and education have helped Minnesota create the 5th fastest growing economy in the nation,” he added.

But labor leaders warned against calls from some lawmakers to “blow the surplus on tax breaks for billionaires and big businesses,” Seide said.

Instead, lawmakers should pass a budget bill that makes needed investments in transportation, Seide said.

“We need a 10-year plan with new revenue to repair our crumbling roads and bridges and improve our transit system,” he said. “Using the budget surplus and other short-term solutions is a band-aid on a problem that gets more expensive with each year of delay.”

Dayton will present his budget proposal to the Legislature on March 9.

The budget forecast issued today increased the projected state surplus by $832 million. Dayton said he would propose dedicating about half of those funds – $444 million – on universal pre-kindergarten and a higher-education tuition freeze.

“I propose that we invest our collective good fortune in our collective better future, in education and transportation,” he said. “For ourselves, for our children, and for our grandchildren. And for the generations that will follow. Since we may not have the same opportunities in the years ahead, it’s even more important that we do it now.”

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

Shar Knutson: 2015 legislative session presents challenges, opportunities

January 30, 2015 by
web.MNAFLCIO-Conv-knutson

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson

The 2015 legislative session is nearly one month old, and Minnesotans are presented with a very different situation than we were in 2013 and 2014. While Gov. Dayton was reelected and a DFL majority remains in the Senate, Republicans now control the Minnesota House.

With a DFL-controlled state government, Minnesota’s labor movement successfully advocated for a minimum wage increase, fair taxes, education investments and expanding collective bargaining rights. While the Republican House majority might not be interested in helping empower working people, that’s no reason for labor to sit on the sidelines.

The Minnesota AFL-CIO is going to continue being a strong advocate for working people this year. We are advocating for a Shared Prosperity and Job Creation agenda. These are issues that matter to all workers, regardless of whether or not they have a union card.

Ending wage theft. A shocking number of workers are denied the wages they are owed for the work they perform. Unscrupulous employers often pay less than what was agreed, force workers to perform duties off the clock, cheat state and local governments out of legally required taxes and insurance contributions and sometimes withhold pay altogether.

Workers deserve the wages they earn. The Legislature can fight wage theft by passing legislation that:

  • Establishes formal procedures to enable victims of wage theft to recover unpaid wages and damages.
  • Increases the penalties for those responsible for committing wage theft.
  • Provides greater protection for workers who stand up for their rights – protecting them from employer retaliation.
  • Makes it easier for wage-theft victims to get legal representation.

Paid family leave and earned sick days. We all get sick. But not all of us can stay home when we are contagious. In cities and states without earned sick days standards, two of every five workers don’t earn a single day of earned sick leave. Many of them work on the front lines of public health and food safety – in restaurants, retail and even health care.

We support the passage of two types of leave this session:

  • Earned sick and safe leave, usable by employees with little or no advance notice, to recuperate from illness, seek medical care, care for family members or deal with the consequences of domestic violence.
  • Longer-term leave such as paid family leave.

Fair scheduling. The retail, service and health care sectors are now the fastest growing industries in our state. The increase in the minimum wage has and continues to be a great boost for these workers, but it’s just one step in developing secure, family-wage jobs. Full-time positions with stable schedules are also vitally important. Minnesota workers need scheduling standards that support families and help make their lives predictable.

Reforms should include requiring employers to provide adequate notice of schedule changes, maintain consistent and agreed-upon hours and offer full-time opportunities.

Comprehensive, long-term multi-modal transportation funding. Minnesota cannot grow and attract good jobs when our infrastructure is wearing out and transit options are woefully inadequate. Too many of our roads and bridges have exceeded their lifespans and are in desperate need of repair.

Workers need safer roads and better public transportation to get to jobs. Our seniors and people with disabilities need options to live independently.

We are also working with our affiliates and allies on:

  • Investing in quality learning environments, engaging students and improving educational outcomes.
  • Keeping Minnesota on strong fiscal footing by protecting progressive revenue sources.
  • Funding Child Care Assistance Programs (CCAP).
  • Ensuring retirement security.
  • Strengthening long-term care funding.

In addition to this Shared Prosperity and Job Creation agenda, the Minnesota AFL-CIO will support a range of issues that address income inequality, economic opportunity and tax fairness, as well as legislation championed by our affiliated unions.

– Shar Knutson is president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, the state’s largest federation of labor unions.

Filed Under: Labor Voices Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Move MN pitches 10-year plan to fund needed transportation improvements

January 8, 2015 by

MoveMNUnions joined businesses, non-profits and local governments today in unveiling a 10-year plan to finance improvements to the state’s highways, bridges and transit systems.

Gov. Mark Dayton and legislative leaders have said transportation will be a top priority during the 2015 session. Move MN, a broad-based, transportation-focused coalition of more than 200 groups, jumped right into the fray, pitching its proposal at a Capitol press conference on the session’s third day.

Move MN’s “10-Year Transportation Commitment Proposal” would generate an estimated $856 million annually with “modest increases” in fees and taxes that currently fund the state’s transportation system.

The average Minnesota driver, according to Move MN, would pay about $1.60 more per week as a result of the increases, with Twin Cities residents paying an extra $1.30 per week as a result of a Metro-county sales tax hike, dedicated mostly to expanding public transit. Businesses would pay roughly $900 more per semi-truck annually under the plan.

To justify the cost, transportation advocates pointed to Minnesota Department of Transportation statistics showing more than 65 percent of the state’s roads and 40 percent of its bridges will be more than 50 years old by 2025. Over the same time frame, freight semi-truck traffic is projected to increase by 30 percent, and the state will have 430,000 additional residents.

State officials’ own estimates indicate Minnesota faces a transportation-funding gap of well over $1.5 billion annually.

“Everyone agrees that an efficient, reliable transportation system is essential to Minnesota’s economic competitiveness,” Move MN co-chair Margaret Donahoe said in a press release. “But by 2025, Minnesota’s entire transportation system will be on life support as congestion, reliability and safety concerns put our state’s long-term economic health at risk.”

Details of the proposal are available in Move MN’s full press release.

Unions and labor federations supporting the Move MN coalition include the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, the St. Paul Building and Construction Trades Council, the Minnesota AFL-CIO, AFSCME Council 5, the SEIU Minnesota State Council, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1189 and others.

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

Forum to consider East Metro’s transportation issues

November 19, 2014 by
Abby Tomasek wore a cardboard light-rail costume to the ribbon cutting. She and other activists used the event as an opportunity to sign transit-users up for MoveMN, an advocacy group pushing broad investments in the state's transportation infrastructure.

MoveMN, an advocacy group pushing broad investments in the state’s transportation infrastructure, engaged riders on the opening day of Green Line light-rail service. The group’s field director, Bethany Winkels, will participate in a forum on East Metro transportation issues Dec. 7.

What can East Metro residents do to increase their access to effective transportation, and what should lawmakers do about the issue when the Legislature convenes in next year? That’s the topic of a free, public program in Oakdale next month.

  • What: “Getting There from Here: Transportation Challenges in the East Metro
  • When: 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9
  • Where: Guardian Angels Church, Peter O’Neill Hall, 8260 4th St. N., Oakdale (off I-94 and Radio Drive)

Dr. David Schultz, professor of political science at Hamline University, will moderate a panel discussion with Jan Lucke, Washington County’s transportation planning manager; Harry Melander, president of the Minnesota Building & Construction Trades Council and Metropolitan Council member; and Bethany Winkels, field director of Move MN, a transportation advocacy group.

The program also will include time for the audience to ask panelists questions, offer ideas and take action to ensure legislative progress in 2015.

The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

For more information, visit www.RiverValleyAction.org.

Filed Under: Community, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
Next Page»