Tax hikes typically don\'t play well in the suburbs and exurbs Hegberg represents, places like Forest Lake, Mahtomedi and Hugo. Hegberg, a fiscal conservative, knew that in voting for the transit tax – and in supporting a wheelage tax devoted to roads two years ago – he was sticking out his political neck.

What Hegberg didn\'t anticipate was the level of support his votes would generate from organized labor.

Unions have lined up to defend Hegberg, who faces a stiff re-election challenge Nov. 4. His opponent, whose views Hegberg describes as "far right," sought and received the Republican Party\'s endorsement, and he has made Hegberg\'s support for transit funding the rallying cry of his campaign.

"I\'m pretty independent. Sometimes I get the labor endorsement, and sometimes I don\'t," Hegberg said. "But unions have come forward on this issue and in my reelection more than I realized they could come forward."

Labor\'s work in support of Hegberg is just the kind of local, grassroots campaign union leaders hoped to trigger when they undertook an historic realignment of labor alliances across the state more than five years ago.

Locally, that realignment united three central labor councils – the former St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly and smaller bodies in St. Croix Valley and Southern Dakota County – into the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation. The transition became permanent earlier this year, with the creation not only of the RLF, but also of "labor assemblies" in place of the old central labor councils.

In the new alignment, assemblies are charged with screening candidates like Hegberg for possible labor endorsement and passing along a recommendation to the RLF. Screening at the assembly level, St. Paul RLF President Shar Knutson said, creates opportunities for union members to get actively involved in the endorsement process, while strengthening the connections between members, local issues and elected officials. (Unlike the RLF, which is a delegate body, assemblies are open to rank-and-file members of RLF-affiliated unions.)

Knutson added that labor\'s new alignment in the East Metro has infused suburban areas like Washington County with financial resources and professional staff.

"Our staff doesn\'t work out there full time, but they\'ve already been able to take over some of the financial work that takes up people\'s time," Knutson said. "The folks that are out there volunteering and working with the labor assembly now have more time to do planning and direct action, whether it\'s political or around an issue."

Labor assemblies focus on local issues like school levies, living-wage ordinances and support for project-labor agreements. They may not garner much attention in a presidential election year, but those issues are critically important to labor\'s agenda, according to Harry Melander, head of the St. Paul Building and Construction Trades.

"All our philosophical beliefs and positions, whether it\'s prevailing wages or project-labor agreements, they all start at home," Melander said. "It\'s no different from what the national candidates are talking about. They\'re talking about Main Street; we\'re talking about things that happen in our neighborhood."

Melander said the building trades council is looking to grow its relationship with suburban city councils and school boards through this election, and it\'s using Inver Grove Heights as a model.

The building trades have pitched their concerns and ideas to local officials there, and as a result, "they\'re building things at a minimum that have prevailing wages on them," Melander said. "In Inver Grove Heights, the majority of the work is done by union contractors that have good wages, health care and benefits."

Two candidates for Inver Grove Heights City Council, Bill Klein and Tom Ebert, and one for mayor, George Tourville, have gained labor endorsements this year, as have candidates for local offices in Newport, North St. Paul, Hastings, Stillwater, West St. Paul and Lake St. Croix Beach.

Hegberg, meanwhile, is one of 10 county commissioner candidates in Ramsey, Washington, Dakota and Chisago counties who gained RLF endorsement. He and others are hoping their stance in favor of responsible investment won\'t cost them a chance to serve the public, and this year more than ever, they are looking to labor for help.

"I don\'t like taxes any more than anybody else, but we need to take care of our infrastructure in a cost-effective manner," Hegberg said.

Michael Moore edits The Union Advocate, the official publication of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation. Visit the RLF\'s website, http://mnaflcio.org/stpaulunions