“I will go anywhere in this state or this nation or this world where there is a job to be gained or there is a job to be saved for Minnesota,” Dayton said.
Delegates officially endorsed Dayton by a unanimous floor vote just seconds before he took the podium. Hungry to gain a partner in the governor’s office for the first time in 20 years, union activists greeted their candidate with thunderous applause and a standing ovation.
![\"union](\"https://www.workdayminnesota.org/upload/editor/Image/2010/September/0927cheering.jpg\") |
| Delegates to the Minnesota AFL-CIO convention cheered their endorsed candidate for governor, Mark Dayton. |
Dayton responded with a speech that acknowledged the economic hardships many union members are facing – and offered hope for a brighter future.
“I guarantee we will roll up our sleeves and we will work every day and every night on behalf of you and the people you represent in the state of Minnesota,” Dayton told delegates.
Dayton also spoke directly to several constituencies in the state’s largest labor federation.
To firefighters, teachers and other public employees “who provide the essential services that the people of Minnesota depend on,” Dayton pledged to protect their jobs from the chopping block despite a looming budget deficit.
“There’s no easy way to balance a $6 billion budget deficit,” he said. “But I’m going to respect those workers. We’re going to work with you.”
Dayton also repeated his campaign promise to raise the revenue necessary to protect public services by making the wealthiest Minnesotans pay their fair share in taxes. Referencing his days as a teacher in New York’s public schools, Dayton remembered crowded classrooms filled with students speaking several different languages – and teachers not given the support they needed to do their jobs.
![\"Mark](\"https://www.workdayminnesota.org/upload/editor/Image/2010/September/0927Dayton.jpg\") |
| DFL candidate Mark Dayton pledged to be the "jobs governor." |
To manufacturing and private-sector workers, Dayton touted plans for “public-private partnerships” that will make Minnesota a leader in the emerging green economy.
And to building and construction trades workers, Dayton pledged to “build a people’s stadium, not a Vikings stadium,” and said he is the only candidate for governor who will pass a robust, $1 billion bonding bill, funding public construction and infrastructure projects across the state, his first year in office.
“That’s 28,000 jobs for people who could be working – and will be working if I’m governor of this state,” Dayton said.
The Minnesota AFL-CIO, with more than 1,000 affiliate unions representing 300,000 members statewide, is engaged in an aggressive campaign to educate union members about the governor’s race – and to get workers to the polls.
Kris Fredson, coordinator of the Labor 2010 political campaign, said union members have the potential to put Dayton over the top, but only if enough members volunteer at member-to-member door knocks and phone banks, and talk with their co-workers about the issues that matter.
“In order to win in November, we need to make sure our members understand that Mark Dayton is the only candidate who cares about Minnesota’s working families,” Fredson told delegates. “Tom Emmer and Tom Horner are not on their side.”
“This election about whether we want to go four more years carried to a further extreme, or whether we’re going to make this state fair and just again,” Dayton added.
Michael Moore edits The Union Advocate, the official publication of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation. Learn more at www.stpaulunions.org
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“I will go anywhere in this state or this nation or this world where there is a job to be gained or there is a job to be saved for Minnesota,” Dayton said.
Delegates officially endorsed Dayton by a unanimous floor vote just seconds before he took the podium. Hungry to gain a partner in the governor’s office for the first time in 20 years, union activists greeted their candidate with thunderous applause and a standing ovation.
|
| Delegates to the Minnesota AFL-CIO convention cheered their endorsed candidate for governor, Mark Dayton. |
Dayton responded with a speech that acknowledged the economic hardships many union members are facing – and offered hope for a brighter future.
“I guarantee we will roll up our sleeves and we will work every day and every night on behalf of you and the people you represent in the state of Minnesota,” Dayton told delegates.
Dayton also spoke directly to several constituencies in the state’s largest labor federation.
To firefighters, teachers and other public employees “who provide the essential services that the people of Minnesota depend on,” Dayton pledged to protect their jobs from the chopping block despite a looming budget deficit.
“There’s no easy way to balance a $6 billion budget deficit,” he said. “But I’m going to respect those workers. We’re going to work with you.”
Dayton also repeated his campaign promise to raise the revenue necessary to protect public services by making the wealthiest Minnesotans pay their fair share in taxes. Referencing his days as a teacher in New York’s public schools, Dayton remembered crowded classrooms filled with students speaking several different languages – and teachers not given the support they needed to do their jobs.
|
| DFL candidate Mark Dayton pledged to be the "jobs governor." |
“I thought to myself, thank goodness we don’t have this problem back in Minnesota,” Dayton said. “But times have changed… That’s why as governor I will restore the commitment of the state of Minnesota to public education.”
To manufacturing and private-sector workers, Dayton touted plans for “public-private partnerships” that will make Minnesota a leader in the emerging green economy.
And to building and construction trades workers, Dayton pledged to “build a people’s stadium, not a Vikings stadium,” and said he is the only candidate for governor who will pass a robust, $1 billion bonding bill, funding public construction and infrastructure projects across the state, his first year in office.
“That’s 28,000 jobs for people who could be working – and will be working if I’m governor of this state,” Dayton said.
The Minnesota AFL-CIO, with more than 1,000 affiliate unions representing 300,000 members statewide, is engaged in an aggressive campaign to educate union members about the governor’s race – and to get workers to the polls.
Kris Fredson, coordinator of the Labor 2010 political campaign, said union members have the potential to put Dayton over the top, but only if enough members volunteer at member-to-member door knocks and phone banks, and talk with their co-workers about the issues that matter.
“In order to win in November, we need to make sure our members understand that Mark Dayton is the only candidate who cares about Minnesota’s working families,” Fredson told delegates. “Tom Emmer and Tom Horner are not on their side.”
“This election about whether we want to go four more years carried to a further extreme, or whether we’re going to make this state fair and just again,” Dayton added.
Michael Moore edits The Union Advocate, the official publication of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation. Learn more at www.stpaulunions.org