Workday Magazine (https://workdaymagazine.org/category/government/page/26/)
Protest, Washington D.C. Vlad Tchompalov @tchompalov
Today Minnesota’s two largest public employee unions reached a tentative contract agreement with the state based on a mediator’s proposal. The proposal would preserve public services, save jobs and includes no wage cuts.
The bottom line is this: Local Government Aid makes it possible for cities to afford libraries, recreation programs, police and fire protection. But more than anything, according to speakers at a Capitol rally March 26, LGA saves lives.
As I walked past the portrait of Floyd B. Olson in the Capitol Friday, I could swear I saw the state’s first Farmer-Labor governor cover his face with his hands.
Union members and others will rally Thursday, March 26, at noon to protest planned cuts in aid to local governments.
Members of Minnesota’s largest public employee union – Council 5 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees – will meet with legislators Wednesday to help shape the state budget for the next two years.
Pledging tougher enforcement of the nation’s labor laws and more emphasis on training workers for “jobs that will stay here,” new Labor Secretary Hilda Solis set those principles as her immediate top priorities in the Obama administration.
It’s as Minnesotan as tater-tot hotdish. That’s what leaders of labor, faith and progressive organizations said about the recipe for economic security they personally delivered to Gov. Tim Pawlenty over the lunch hour Wednesday.
Legislators got an earful from an AFSCME snowplow driver. From city and county administrators. From hospital executives. Parents. A librarian. Nursing home managers. Public defenders. Business owners. Retirees. Educators. Plain old citizens who said they didn’t represent anybody.
Health care, good jobs, thriving neighborhoods . . . What are your priorities as the Minnesota Legislature goes into session during these difficult economic times?
When the state gets into budget trouble, public employees are often the first to feel the pain. But because these workers are on the front lines of providing public services, they also are in a unique position to offer solutions.