The three bills passed by the committee\'s Labor and Consumer Protection Division included: House File 219, a bill expanding the use of sick leave to allow workers to care for ill family members; House File 643, the Packinghouse Workers Bill of Rights; and House File 554, a resolution asking Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

The Labor and Consumer Protection Division, chaired by Rep. Jim Davnie, DFL-Minneapolis, is a new House subcommittee created by House leadership when the November 2006 election gave the DFL Party a majority in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

House File 219: Expanding Use of Sick Leave
Authored by Rep. Neva Walker, DFL-Minneapolis, House File 219 amends state law to expand employee use of sick leave. Current state law allows for the use of employee sick leave due to illness or injury of the employee\'s child. House File 219 would allow an employee to also use sick leave to care for a spouse, sibling, parent, grandparent or stepparent.

House File 219 passed the Labor and Consumer Protection Division with the addition of an amendment by Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis, to include an employee\'s "domestic partner" on the list of people whose care may be eligible for use of employee sick leave.

House File 643: Packinghouse Workers Bill of Rights
Legislators heard dramatic testimony from union officials, a human rights advocate and a worker urging support for House File 643, the Packinghouse Workers Bill of Rights.

Many packinghouse workers, legislators learned, aren\'t even allowed bathroom breaks and must wear "adult diapers" if necessary. The bill would mandate that employers provide time for restroom breaks as well as adequate restroom facilities and break rooms. In addition, the bill would create a "meatpacking industry workers rights ombudsman" to inspect and review conditions in the state\'s meatpacking industry.

"I\'m here to tell you some of the horrible things that are going on in the industry," said Rafael Espinosa, a business representative for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 789. "Ask anyone on the line to take off their gloves so they can show you their hands," hands scarred or disfigured by injuries.

"Meat-packing is one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States," said Stephanie Bates, representing the Midwest Coalition for Human Rights. She said challenges for workers include increasing production line speeds, using very sharp tools, and stress from repetitive motions.

Most of the 16,000 meatpacking workers in Minnesota\'s 320 plants are immigrants, Bates said. "These workers are usually afraid to complain or report injuries."

The meeting room grew quiet to hear testimony from Fardo Haji, an East African immigrant wearing her traditional headscarf, as she described the challenging working conditions she faces as a worker at a turkey processing plant in Faribault. "I don\'t know what rights I have," she said, and she feared she would be fired if she supported organizing a union at the plant.

A representative from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce testified against the bill, saying the Chamber opposed the bill because it duplicated current state and federal law and because the bill lacked specifics in defining what constituted "adequate" safety conditions.

House File 643 passed the subcommittee with only one member voting no.

Authored by Rep. Rich Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, the bill is modeled on legislation enacted in Nebraska after a newspaper expose of conditions in that state\'s meatpacking industry.

House File 554: Resolution Supporting Employee Free Choice Act
"Collective bargaining and unions are still the best way for people to move from poverty to the middle class," said Rep. Mike Nelson, DFL-Brooklyn Park, author of House File 554, a resolution that urges the U.S. Congress to adopt the Employee Free Choice Act.

The Employee Free Choice Act has been proposed in Congress to remedy a breakdown in the nation\'s current labor laws: the right of workers to organize unions and bargain collectively has been eroding. Employers routinely intimidate workers during union organizing campaigns, and, if workers do vote for union representation, employers may delay and delay negotiating a first contract.

These aren\'t problems from somewhere else, legislators learned, they\'re happening right here in Minnesota.

Mark Gustafson, a truck driver for a Twin Cities food company, said it took eight separate organizing attempts over 30 years for workers at his company to successfully win union representation. "When we would talk union, our employer would attempt to intimidate us," he said. The employer retaliated by cutting hours, denying or deferring wage increases, assigning union advocates poor routes or trucks needing repair and generally creating "a hostile work environment."

"If the Employee Free Choice Act had been in place, we would have had union representation 30 years ago," Gustafson said. "Justice delayed is justice denied."

"I struggled for three decades to become a Teamster. Please don\'t wait another day to pass this resolution," said Gustafson, now a member of Teamsters Local 120.

The Employee Free Choice Act would simplify the union organizing process by recognizing unions when a majority of workers at a worksite sign union authorization cards.

Phil Raines, representing the Minnesota Associated Builders and Contractors, spoke in opposition to the resolution. Raines also said he was representing the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, an industry group.

The Labor and Consumer Protection Division passed House File 554 on a voice vote with no member voting no.

Steve Share edits the MInneapolis Labor Review, the official publication of the Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council. Visit the CLUC website, www.minneapolisunions.org