The General Board of the Minnesota AFL-CIO on Wednesday recommended increasing the monthly payments that local unions make to the state by 25 cents per member. Officers say they expect many locals eventually will pass that increase onto members' dues.

The increase will go directly to hire full-time field staff in all regions of the state to work on mobilization and education. The field staff will focus initially on this fall's elections, then move onto local union and community issues, said Ray Waldron, president of the state AFL-CIO.

"This is dedicated money," Waldron said. "There's no money coming into this office." He called the increase of $3 per year per member "an investment" in trying to improve the political environment for workers.

"This governor and his party that's running this state has got to go," he said. "They're not concerned about the worker, they're not concerned about the unions that represent them. People have got to start waking up to that fact."

The proposed constitutional change next goes before a special called convention May 19 for final approval. The proposal would raise the monthly per capita payment to the state to 90 cents per member.

No time to waste
The field staff would be assigned to six geographic areas that unions identified as "area labor councils" in the 2003 New Alliance process. The ALCs, as they are known, were expected to be up and running by now, but have been bogged down by a failure to reach consensus on governance issues.

The importance of this fall?s elections means there's no more time to delay the work ALCs were scheduled to do, said Steve Hunter, secretary-treasurer of the state AFL-CIO. A U.S. Senate seat, all eight Congressional seats, the entire Legislature, and all state constitutional officers, including the governor, are up for election in November.

Hunter said he hoped that having staff in place will re-energize the ALC discussions by demonstrating the additional services that would be available and "what can be done when we put resources into these areas."

If the per capita increase is approved, Hunter said, it's likely to become a permanent part of payments that locals make. "At some point, that 25 cents may go directly to an ALC, but it will either be us or an ALC collecting the money.? This is an interim step to get people in the field."

Moving toward full affiliation
The state fed hired its first field worker ? for western Minnesota ? on Monday when it temporarily brought Mark Froemke of the Grain Millers on board. Waldron said the state intends to hire staff in the other five regions as quickly as possible.

The state will front the money to pay for staff until the per capita increase begins taking effect in July, Waldron said.

In combination with the proposed increase in payments, the General Board also approved a resolution "encouraging all affiliates to pay per-capita tax on their full membership to the state and to area labor councils." Only about 85 percent of locals now pay on their full membership at the state level, Hunter said, though that is "a significant improvement from a year ago," when the participation rate was in the low 70s.

Klobuchar, others endorsed
In other action Wednesday at the hall of Sheet Metal Workers Local 10, the board:

? Endorsed 19 additional candidates for election this year, including Amy Klobuchar for U.S. Senate, Congressional incumbents Betty McCollum in the 4th District and James Oberstar in the 8th District, Matt Entenza for Minnesota attorney general, and Rebecca Otto for state auditor. The board put off until May 31 any endorsement for governor and secretary of state.

? Endorsed state legislation for new stadiums for the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Twins and the Minnesota Vikings without requiring local referendums.

? Endorsed state legislation (SF3159 and HF3222) that would require the state to use surplus funds to replace $90 million in human services funding the federal government is cutting as part of its recent budget reconciliation bill. The federal cuts are expected to cost hundreds of public employee jobs at the county and municipal levels.

Michael Kuchta edits the Union Advocate, the official publication of the St. Paul Trades & Labor Assembly. Visit the Assembly's website at www.stpaulunions.org