Workday Magazine (https://workdaymagazine.org/category/government/page/19/)
Protest, Washington D.C. Vlad Tchompalov @tchompalov
The fight resumed in the hottest front of the national war on workers late in the afternoon of June 14, as the Wisconsin State Supreme Court reinstated GOP Gov. Scott Walker’s law destroying collective bargaining rights for 200,000 state and local workers.
The timing of a potential state government shutdown couldn’t be worse for Mark Fischer, an employee in the DNR’s Division of Fish and Wildlife. Fischer’s wife, who works for the St. Paul Public Schools, recently learned her position would not be renewed for the 2011-12 school year.
As Minnesota faces a state government shutdown and thousands of public employees face layoff notices, a new coalition has launched a statewide advertising campaign on “We Want to Work for Minnesota.”
“That’s not the Minnesota I grew up in,” said Jean Diederich, a child support worker who joined hundreds of other Minnesotans in a vigil as lawmakers adjourned their 2011 session without a budget deal.
A legislative session that began with promises of job creation ended at midnight Monday with no state budget deal and the threat of a government shutdown that would put thousands out of work.
Faced with devastating cuts to education and health care in the final days of the legislative session, Minnesotans filled the Capitol rotunda Saturday to call for a responsible budget that preserves vital services and creates jobs.
Hundreds of public workers will fill the State Capitol Monday night for an end-of-session vigil to tell legislators “Don’t go home without a fair budget. We want to work for Minnesota.”
Unions are urging Governor Mark Dayton to veto legislation that would undermine Minnesota’s current voting system and make it more difficult for people to exercise their rights at the ballot box.
As the 2011 legislative session draws to a close, the Minnesota AFL-CIO is organizing union members and other workers to keep an eye on lawmakers.
Unions are urging members to attend town hall meetings that state lawmakers are holding with constituents.