Workday Magazine (https://workdaymagazine.org/category/government/page/27/)
Protest, Washington D.C. Vlad Tchompalov @tchompalov
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.
By taking a slash-and-burn approach, Governor Tim Pawlenty\’s proposed state budget will put more Minnesotans in the unemployment line and swell the ranks of the uninsured and homeless, union leaders and other advocates said.
To the delight of unions, among others, President Barack Obama used his first moments in the nation\’s highest office to make sure predecessor George W. Bush\’s "midnight rules" turned into pumpkins.
Governor Tim Pawlenty\’s proposals to provide more tax breaks for business and freeze workers\’ wages will prolong the current economic recession, Minnesota union leaders said. They called on lawmakers to enact fair taxes and institute other measures to stimulate the economy and maintain good public services.
Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., President-elect Obama\’s nominee as Secretary of Labor, sailed through her Senate Labor Committee confirmation hearing on Jan. 9, while putting the Employee Free Choice Act\’s passage behind other Labor Department priorities.
With the new Democratic-run 111th Congress convening Tuesday, and with larger pro-worker majorities, labor has assembled a legislative agenda that starts with the Employee Free Choice Act and a massive stimulus bill, but doesn’t stop there.
Union leaders welcomed the choice of pro-worker Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., as Labor Secretary in the incoming Democratic Obama administration. If confirmed by the Senate, Solis would replace Bush Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney Thursday praised President-elect Obama\’s reported plan to appoint Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., as secretary of labor.