Giving elected officials the power to make sure private contractors don't exploit their employees will be the subject of a seminar June 24.

Called 'Achieving Labor Peace to Protect Government's Proprietary Interest,' the seminar will be held Monday, June 24, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Four Points Sheraton, 1330 Industrial Blvd., Minneapolis.

'When local governments contract out public services to private vendors, it does not mean they surrender oversight of that vendor's performance,' said Shar Knutson, president of the Saint Paul Trades and Labor Assembly.

Performance goes beyond delivery of services and financial accountability, Knutson said. 'It includes how a vendor treats its employees - the wages and benefits it provides, the working conditions it maintains, whether it obeys the law when workers try to exercise their legal rights to organize and bargain collectively.'

Several city councils and school boards in the Twin Cities, for instance, have policies on the books requiring payment of living wages or employer neutrality in union organizing drives. But, as campaigns to organize school bus drivers have shown, actually enforcing those policies has been more difficult, Knutson said.

The seminar - co-sponsored by the Trades and Labor Assembly and the Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council - will discuss how to use such tactics as bid specifications and labor-peace ordinances to give elected officials legally enforceable tools against vendors who violate public policy in treatment of workers.

'Elected officials have a proprietary interest - not only in holding vendors accountable for how they spend taxpayers' money, but also in guaranteeing that public services are not disrupted,' Knutson said. The seminar, she said, will show officials how they 'can both enforce standards of fairness and maintain smooth, efficient delivery of services.'

For registration or other information, call 651-222-3787.

This article was written for the June 20, 2002, issue of The Union Advocate newspaper. Used by permission. The Union Advocate is the official publication of the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@mtn.org