Something I've noticed about the great messaging coming from the Minnesota Nurses' Association leading up to and during yesterday's one-day strike: they've kept the focus on patient care and safety. This is a great move, and the nurses have executed it well.
But dig a little deeper, and what do you find? While the standard grumbling about unions and strikes from the other side is "they just want more money for less work, grumble grumble," what the nurses are saying here is "look, we need to lower the patient-to-nurse ratio. Either hire more nurses, or make us work more shifts."
Interesting, no? I thought so.
Anyway, gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton put a pithy note on Facebook about the strike:
I proudly walked with dedicated Nurses on picket lines in front of United Hospital in St. Paul and Abbott-Northwestern in Minneapolis. Allina painted a thick yellow line marking off their hospital, not on their property but on our city streets. Instead of spending money on paint and hiring Tom Horner's PR firm to "spin" for them-- they should have been settling with the Nurses and avoiding this stalemate.
The Minnesota Nurses Association is taking a vote today to decide on a one-day walkout.
Nurses will either approve the pension and contract proposals made by six different Twin Cities Hospital systems representing 13 different hospitals, or vote to authorize the largest nursing strike in U.S. history.
If approved, a walk-out will cause considerable pain to hospital owners and administrators, as temporary replacement workers will have to be hired, likely on one-week contracts.
This is a big deal, folks, for those of us in the progressive activist community and in the citizenry at large. Nurses work their tails off at the forefront of medical care, and are overworked and underappreciated far too frequently.
Their issues are our issues: fair pay and benefits, effective collective bargaining, and they're doing a pretty good job at mass communicatin' (have you seen the "We care. For you." lawn signs around town? GREAT messaging).
When you have a moment, look at the activity from the nurses on their Facebook page. It's unbelievable. They're really using the platform as a great organizing tool.
We'll have more updates as news from the vote becomes public. This is a very big deal though, and the MNA needs to know their allies are standing together at this critical time.
Update: from a reader:
Re-read the website and fb page. They're not just voting on a one-day walkout. A one day walkout wouldn't have the hospitals offering up to 5k for scab work for out of state RNs. They want to take this all the way. Today's vote could take them out of the hospitals until they get what they rightfully deserve.
If you read this soon enough, please show up at Christ Lutheran Church, Fellowship Hall, 105 University Avenue, St. Paul at 10:30 am on Wednesday, May 5, to learn about the day of action. From 10:30 am until 11:30 am, Invest in Minnesota will provide you with the tools and talking points on raising revenues and practice role-playing conversations with legislators.
The Day of Action will start at 12:00 pm and last until about 1:30 pm at the State Capitol Rotunda, 75 Reverend Martin Luther King Junior Blvd in St. Paul. Action will include gathering briefly in the rotunda and forming groups by geographic area to talk with legislators.
Please spread the word to other organizations and individuals that support raising revenue fairly. Visitwww.investinmn.orgfor additional information.
(Mark the big players in the labor movement down as saying "no thanks" to Tom Emmer. - promoted by Joe Bodell)
St. Paul --- With the Minnesota Republican Party's endorsement of State Representative Tom Emmer, Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson called Emmer the wrong choice for middle class families.
"Minnesotans deserve a Governor who reflects middle class values," Knutson said. "Unfortunately, Tom Emmer's legislative record is consistently against creating family-sustaining jobs, making health care affordable, investing in our schools, and rebuilding our infrastructure."
First union to endorse in Third District race says Meffert will stand up for workers
EDINA, MN - Today the Teamsters Local 120 announced their support of Jim Meffert for Congress in Minnesota's Third District, the seat currently held by first-term Republican Representative Erik Paulsen.
Meffert said, "One of the most important things we can do to help struggling Minnesota families is make sure every parent can count on a good job at a fair wage. The Teamsters are leaders in the fight to improve working conditions, create good local jobs and strengthen our economy. I am proud to have earned their endorsement, and I look forward to working with them as we prepare to win the Third District seat for working families."
"In Congress, I will fight for a real jobs bill that puts Minnesotans back to work," Meffert added. "We have billions of dollars of repairs that need be made on our roads and bridges. We can invest in new infrastructure like broadband lines and a 'smart' electrical grid. We know that we'll create 18,000 jobs for every $1 billion we spend on public infrastructure. I'll fight to make these investments, restart our economy and build a foundation for long-term growth."
The Teamster Local 120 is the largest Teamsters Local union in Minnesota and the fifth largest in North America. Their endorsement adds substantial volunteer and organizing capacity for Meffert, who is steadily gaining support in the race to win the DFL endorsement on April 10th.
Jim Meffert is running for Congress to help get Washington working for Minnesota families again. As a nonprofit leader, Meffert has fought to expand health care access and lower costs. As president of the Minnesota Parent Teacher Association, Meffert has stood up for students and teachers and fought to improve Minnesota's public schools. Meffert is seeking the DFL endorsement and has strong support among Third District party leaders and legislators.
A letter from Teamsters president Brad Slawson, Jr. said, "Teamsters Local 120 is proud to endorse Jim Meffert to represent Minnesota's Third Congressional District. From his support of pension protection to his endorsement of the Employee Free Choice Act, he has committed to working on behalf of the American middle class. The issues he has championed as a candidate prove that Local 120 members would strongly benefit from his representation in Washington, D.C."
Tom Rukavina received the Communication Workers of America Endorsement yesterday, expanding his pro-labor appeal from the Mesabi Range to urban MN as well. In a letter to the campaign, CWA President Tim Lovaasen noted,
Tom is the candidate that has always been the champion of working families' and labor's issues at the Minnesota State Capitol. Because of his efforts on our behalf, and on behalf of all working families in Minnesota, the CWA Minnesota State Council knows he will make a great governor for all the people of Minnesota.
United Steel Workers locals across the northern MN Iron Range have endorsed Rukavina since early in the campaign, noting Rukavina's record on issues important to the average MN worker,
Tom has fought hard for the values we hold dear. He has long been a champion for organized labor. He understands the importance of fostering and preserving good paying jobs and impact they have on communities here in northeastern Minnesota and throughout the state. Furthermore, he passionately cares about issues that impact all workers like healthcare and workplace safety (USW Local 6860 President John Motley
Rukavina's populist and progressive vision on key issues for all Minnesotans, including working class families and the disadvantaged, can be seen in his 22-year State House voting record. In his most recent term in the House, he has been a vocal supporter of healthcare reform and the Omnibus Health and Human Services bill, higher education appropriations for veterans, indigenous people and immigrants, minimum wage increases, anti-bullying policies for schools and internet, legalizing medical marijuana, improving and expanding state education policies and protecting clean water. He has voted against further impedements to legal voter registration. Addressing the individual issues on their merits makes his policy approach a study in informed decision-making and constituent representation, rather than just a broadly-defined and bland message of party politics. Rukavina's votes advocate protections for workers, seniors, veterans, children, and economically and socially marginalized groups in MN.
The state's biggest union and a huge player in the DFL endorsement race has endorsed a candidate who isn't expected to compete especially hard for the party's backing: former U.S. Senator Mark Dayton.
Dayton has run statewide several times and even won a couple of times. But he's used to running without the DFL's endorsement, most recently having won a four-way primary in the 2000 Senate race.
So what does the AFSCME endorsement mean for the DFL race? It's unclear. AFSCME regularly pushes through a big number of delegates to the state convention, and they tend to stick with their union's endorsee. But if Dayton is going to a primary no matter what (something that seems clear based on his public statements and positioning) and is not competing especially hard for delegates in the caucus/convention process (something that's marginally less clear), then the move could throw a wrench in the plans of other campaigns trying to figure out how to get to 60% in April.
The primary, of course, is a factor as well -- if it turns out Dayton does win significant support at caucuses statewide -- a decent possibility given his name recognition and general likeability among the DFL faithful who are likely to show up in an non-presidential election cycle -- the AFSCME endorsement may provide a strong pull on other delegates to unite before a primary fight ensues.
Sen. Tarryl Clark (DFL-St. Cloud) nabbed another endorsement in her effort to win the DFL endorsement in the MN-06 race. Clark is facing Maureen Reed for the DFL endorsement. The winner will face off against Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) in the general election in November 2010.
It is beginning to look like Clark is gaining some serious advantages over Reed. As the Reed campaign doesn't appear to be gaining any traction, the question is starting to become will Reed run in the primary as her chances at the MN-06 DFL convention appear to be slipping swiftly away with each endorsement for Clark.
The Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council announced today they have endorsed Tarryl Clark in her campaign for Minnesota's 6th Congressional District seat.
"In the Senate, Tarryl Clark has been a strong voice for Minnesota's working families," said Harry Melander, President of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council. "From fair wages to job creation, Tarryl has stood with us. We've worked together on legislation including bills which would create 'vertical' construction jobs, bringing Labor together with other community partners to stimulate job creation. We know she'll continue to stand up for hard-working Minnesotans in Congress, and we're proud to endorse her."
(Clark email press release)
The Building and Construction Trades union joins Laborers District Council of Minnesota and North Dakota (LIUNA), Carpenters, AFSCME Council 5 & 65, Teamsters Joint Council 32, Teamsters Local 120 and the St. Cloud College Dems in endorsing Clark.
All of us know that Michele Bachmann consistently lies about her positions. But now it's about her "anti-union" status.
Ignoring Her Own Anti-Union Record, Bachmann Claims 'I Am Not Anti-Union'
Yesterday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) appeared on Fox Business with former Ambassador Alan Wolff and author Philip Dine to discuss the punitive duties that the United States recently levied on tire imports from China, which China has brought up with the World Trade Organization. During the conversation, Dine, who wrote a book on unions, implied that the effort may have been the administration trying to "throw something labor's way" because "they don't have very much to show" for their support of Obama in 2008.
Later in the segment, Bachmann took "a contrary view," claiming that "the administration has done a lot for the unions," citing the stimulus bill. "And I am not anti-union, but I think its clear the unions has a very large say in Washington, DC," said Bachmann.
(Think Progress)
There is much more to the story along with the news clip.
This Labor Day, Wake Up Walmart, along with a large coalition of labor, environmental and community groups, are challenging Walmart to live up to their PR promises and join us in supporting the American Values Agenda for Change at Walmart.
To help with the effort, Wake Up Wal-Mart is airing two TV ads in major cities. Check out the first here and the second below the fold:
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) made signing on as a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act one of his one of his first official acts as MN's junior senator. The EFCA will penalize employers who harass and intimidate union organizing and allow employees to choose the manner by which they vote to unionize.
Hours after he was seated, Sen. Al Franken, D-MN, let it be known that he would be sign on as a co-sponsor to the Employee Free Choice Act, the labor-backed provision that would allow unions to more easily organize, as his first legislative activity.
"I just became a cosponsor of my first bill in the Senate, the Employee Free Choice Act," the Minnesota Democrat declared at a gathering at the AFL-CIO on Tuesday evening.
Despite taking a backseat in terms of media attention, EFCA remains very much a hotly-debated measure within the halls of Congress. And while Franken's vote will likely boost Democratic efforts on health care and judicial nominations (he is poised to sit on the HELP and Judiciary Committees) it could be on labor matters where his voice is most felt. Certainly the union community, which is pushing for a vote on EFCA sometime this year, feels relieved that it is one senator closer to preventing a Republican filibuster on the measure.
Franken, who was officially sworn into office on Tuesday after an eight-month recount, told the AFL-CIO crowd that he shared common interests with them. According to Eddie Vale, a spokesman for the union group, Franken described the long tradition that exist in Minnesota of "having two Senators who are very pro workers and working families." "He said it was an honor to be sworn in today and walk through the aisles with Mondale and to be sworn in on Paul Wellstone's Bible," Vale recounted. "He stressed that both men were champions of the labor movement."
(Huffington Post)
One of the most consistent defenses of Walmart is that it has succeeded because it simply delivered what customers wanted and that if you don't like it, just don't shop there. But Firedoglake has a great piece up this week that explains how even the non-Walmart shoppers are not only affected by Walmart, but are actually paying in many ways to subsidize it:
Walmart's hometown newspaper, the Northwest Arkansas Morning News, has an interesting article up today about Walmart executives meeting with 200 of their cronies at a conference and outlining their plans for 2009. It could be a watershed year for progressives, but the Bentonville behemoth has some plans of its own and they ain't pretty.
So I thought I'd go through each one of Walmart's plans and translate some of their PR spin - or wipe the lipstick off the pig, if you will. All stats and figures are compliments of WakeUpWalmart.com, with whom I do some work.
