The following column by Ken Martin, DFL Party Chair, was released October 27, 2017:
Our neighboring state of Wisconsin was thrust into the national spotlight in 2010 when Gov. Scott Walker staged an all-out assault on labor unions. Despite protestors flooding the Capitol for nearly three weeks, Walker signed a bill to dramatically curtail collective bargaining rights for public employees.With no power to effectively bargain over workplace rules or salaries, union membership in Wisconsin has dropped by a staggering 40 percent.
Workers in Minnesota have watched what’s happening across the border with grave concern. That concern was unfortunately validated earlier this month when a state legislative panel voted to reject a new contract for nearly 30,000 state employees. The workers belong to Minnesota’s two largest public employee unions, AFSCME and Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE). The proposed contract included modest pay increases, improved health coverage, and expanded benefits. Continue reading “Anti-worker Republicans take a page from Wisconsin playbook”