Workday Magazine (https://workdaymagazine.org/category/government/page/26/)
Protest, Washington D.C. Vlad Tchompalov @tchompalov
Unions and other progressive organizations will rally Monday at the state Capitol to urge lawmakers to "Invest in Minnesota" as they decide the future funding for education, health care and other public services.
President Barack Obama has nominated two people, including a veteran union attorney, to vacant seats on the National Labor Relations Board, leaving just one slot to be filled on the five-member panel that oversees almost all of the nation’s labor-management relations.
Caregivers and supporters of long-term care services for older adults will rally Tuesday at the Capitol to urge lawmakers to make funding for these services a priority in the state budget.
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.