Workday Magazine (https://workdaymagazine.org/category/government/page/28/)
Protest, Washington D.C. Vlad Tchompalov @tchompalov
For Minnesota\’s public service workers, who have endured years of budget cuts and smear campaigns against government employees, the thought of a $700 billion bailout for the architects of their misery is almost too much to bear.
The union representing many City of Duluth employees failed to get a court order to block layoffs, but said it will continue to fight to save critical jobs and services.
AFSCME locals in several Minnesota communities are continue to protest cuts to state-operated facilities.
AFSCME Local 404 members who were laid off last week at the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter held a news conference to share their concern that the cuts put public safety and worker safety at risk.
Union leaders warned management this would happen. If the U.S. Postal Service contracted out mail delivery in places like Beaverton, Ore., there would be accountability problems and breaches of mail security, said National Association of Letter Carriers officers like L.C. Hansen, president of Branch 82 in Portland.
By a 278-146 vote, the Democratic-run House June 20 voted for between four and eight weeks of paid family leave for the nation\’s 2.7 million federal workers. The paid leave bill says the remaining four weeks of annual family leave for those workers would stay unpaid, as all 12 weeks of leave are now.
This summer the Invest in Minnesota Campaign will hold brown-bag lunch discussions to review the state\’s revenue and budget crisis. The lunch discussions will focus on what concerned people can do to promote smart investment in Minnesota and renewed prosperity for Minnesotans.
In the 2008 legislative session, lawmakers made significant progress in addressing problems such as gridlock on the roads, but fell short in fixing others. Governor Tim Pawlenty unraveled some of their work by vetoing legislation to deal with the mortgage foreclosure crisis and raise the minimum wage.
Minnesota legislators and Governor Tim Pawlenty reached a deal to address the state\’s $1 billion budget deficit and lawmakers quickly ratified the measure in rare Sunday sessions. The legislation includes some actions – most notably funding for Central Corridor light rail – sought by organized labor.
Minnesota needs rigorous rules if it expects to effectively crack down on fraudulent misclassification of "independent contractors," union representatives and contractors told a public hearing Monday.