Hotel leader champions immigrant rights

The leader of a hotel workers union who has championed immigrant rights and a coalition that succeeded in defending St. Paul’s public services are honored by Progressive Minnesota.

Progressive Minnesota is an independent, labor- and community-based political organization that runs grassroots campaigns for local candidates and fights for issues such as living wages and affordable housing. It held its first annual awards dinner Friday night at the UFCW Local 789 hall.

Hotel leader has vision
Jaye Rykunyk, principal officer of Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Local 17, received a Progressive Minnesota award for her leadership of the union in two important struggles – the campaign by undocumented workers at the Holiday Inn Express to get a union and the successful strike this summer at nine hotels in Minneapolis and Bloomington. Many of the strikers also are recent immigrants.

‘The workers won – and we won,’ the Rev. Nancy Anderson said in presenting the award to Rykunyk. Anderson praised her ‘vision and the skill to carry out that vision’ and called Rykunyk ‘a great motivator.’

Rykunyk, who waited tables for many years before becoming a union officer, said she believes all work has dignity. ‘If you scrub toilets for a living, you’re not on anybody’s radar screen – and that needs to change,’ she said.

‘Any of the successes we have done have been as a team and as a coalition,’ Rykunyk added, saying she was proud to have played a role in changing the labor movement’s position on immigrant workers. Earlier this year, the national AFL-CIO announced its support for an amnesty for undocumented workers and said immigration laws must be reformed.

Coalition protects public services
The St. Paul Works! Alliance, a coalition of City of St. Paul workers, unions and community groups, received a Progressive Minnesota award for its successful campaign to stop Mayor Norm Coleman’s privatization initiative, ‘Compete St. Paul.’

Through rallies, forums and meetings with city officials, the St. Paul Works! Alliance communicated its message that public services would suffer if they were contracted out to private companies under Coleman’s plan. The campaign resulted in a city ordinance passed last fall that includes several provisions to safeguard citizens and employees when considering privatization.

‘Progressive Minnesota was there for us’ during this campaign, said St. Paul Works! Alliance Chair Shar Knutson, who also is president of the St. Paul Trades & Labor Assembly, AFL-CIO. ‘The Religion/Labor Network was right there for us. We won because we worked together. Believe me, when you come together, you can do anything!’