After more than 17 hours of debate, the Senate passed legislation this morning to give the state’s home care and child care workers the opportunity to vote on organizing a union. At the conclusion of the debate, Senate Majority Leader Bakk shared his perspective as a lifelong union member and emphasized the impact labor unions have on Minnesotans’ standard of living.
Share this video with your friends and family to show them the importance of unions in Minnesota.
The House will be voting on this proposal later this week and many Representatives are still on the fence. Contact your Representative now so they know that you support the right of care workers to vote on organizing a union.
By Shar Knutson, Jamie Gulley and Eliot Seide
As leaders in our state’s labor movement, we believe in a fair Minnesota, a Minnesota that values love, commitment and responsibility. Every day, hard working Minnesotans strive to build a state that is inclusive and prosperous for all, with no exceptions.
And, the truth is, that Minnesota already exists. It exists in the working families across our state who endeavor to do well by their neighbors and provide for each other. It exists in the hearts and minds of Iron Rangers and in the homes of those who live and work in the plains of southern Minnesota. It exists in the small-business owners and workers in Moorhead and Winona, the neighborhoods of Woodbury and Brainerd and the bustling streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Each and every day, Minnesotans prove that this place exists. Consider the father, already late for work, who stops to help shovel his neighbor out after a heavy snowstorm. Think about the star high-school quarterback who speaks up when one of his classmates is being bullied or of the child who donates her last quarter to charity during the holiday season.
There is something truly special about this great state we all call home. We look out for each other and live out the idea of the Golden Rule in our daily lives. We don’t turn our backs on family, or tell some of our brothers and sisters that they aren’t good enough or as worthy as anyone else.
Unfortunately, our government doesn’t always reflect the values we all so deeply cherish. And our core Minnesota values of fairness, freedom and family aren’t always represented in the bills our legislators discuss at the State Capitol.
This year, however, we have the chance to right a wrong that has been state law for too long. Simply because of who they are, same-sex couples and their families are currently excluded from marriage. As leaders of some of Minnesota’s largest labor organizations, we’re proud to join union members across the state who are standing in solidarity with our LGBT brothers and sisters who ask for nothing more than to be treated the same as anyone else.
These families live and work right here in Minnesota. They are union members, small business owners, and residents of towns small and large. They are our sisters and brothers, our children and family members, and our friends. They raise children, work hard, contribute to our communities, and pay their taxes — and they deserve to be treated fairly and have the same freedoms as any other Minnesotan.
Now is the time. This is the year. As a state, we’ve spent years talking about why marriage matters so much. We’ve shared our own personal stories, and asked our neighbors and friends to share theirs. We’ve cried, we’ve laughed, and we’ve learned. And we’ve affirmed what we already knew to be true: Marriage is about the love, commitment and responsibility that two people share.
Marriage is a unique bond between two people to which nothing else compares. And this year, we have the chance to strengthen thousands of families by extending the freedom to marry to same-sex couples.
As union members, we’re proud to stand with the majority of Minnesotans who are calling on our lawmakers to do the right thing this year by making sure that same-sex couples can finally wed in the state they call home. Extending the freedom to marry to same-sex couples is the fair thing to do. It’s the Minnesotan thing to do and, most importantly, it’s the right thing to do.
For the future of our state and all of the families who live and work here, we urge the members of the Minnesota Legislature to vote yes on S.F. 925 and H.F. 1054 when it comes before them for a vote in the coming weeks.
Marriage is a unique bond between two people to which nothing else compares. And this year, we have the chance to strengthen thousands of families by extending the freedom to marry to same-sex couples.
By Shar Knutson, Jamie Gulley and Eliot Seide
Shar Knutson is president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, Jamie Gulley is president of SEIU Minnesota State Council and Eliot Seide is executive director of AFSCME Council 5.
Posted: 05/07/2013 12:01:00 AM CDT
http://www.twincities.com/opinion/ci_23193484/knutson-gulley-seide-marriage-extend-freedom-same-sex
Washington, DC – On April 26th, Congressman Walz released the below statement following his vote on legislation to exempt the FAA from sequestration:
“While I firmly stand with air traffic controllers and those FAA employees who make our travel safe and efficient and with Minnesotans who depend on them for business and travel, I also stand with teachers, soldiers, seniors and children who are also being negatively impacted by sequestration. I could not in good conscience support one fix that only addresses some of the problem and ignores the needs of so many other Minnesotans. We need a balanced, long-term plan to fix sequestration and tackle our debt and I remain committed to working with anyone, in either party, to get it done.”
Minnesota is facing a looming workforce crisis when it comes to long-term home health care.
Baby Boomers are aging, and the projected need for personal care assistants in the next decade far exceeds the number of people entering the field.
Health care advocates say it’s difficult to attract and retain quality workers due to low wages and a lack of benefits.
There are several temporary office positions available for the children of SEIU Healthcare Members during summer 2013. The temporary positions are from June 1st through August 31st. Job duties include filing, file uploads, and miscellaneous office work. Positions will be filled through a lottery drawing. Applicants must be at least 16.
If interested please email resume to Debbie Lamotte at debbie.lamotte@seiuhealthcaremn.org. Contact Debbie with any questions.
Welcome to Small Steps to Be Well 2013! This GHI/SEIU Wellness Committee sponsored program will give you the tools you need to make small health and well-being changes in your life. We’ll send you just what you need every month to help lead you on a path to improved health in 2013.
We are committed to helping you improve your health and well-being. You will also find this information as well as the goals and activities for each month on myPartner (Be Well column via the Life & Career tab).
February Health topic of the month: Nutrition/yumPower
According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Nutrition is essential to keep our bodies running at their best. A well-balanced diet filled with whole grains, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, low-fat dairy and lean protein is important for health and wellness.
February weekly activities
Feb. 1–8: Educate yourself by sizing it up
Compare your portion sizes with the recommended portion size. Measure portions of foods like pasta, bread, meats and cheese. The more fruits and vegetables you consume, the better. These should fill half of your plate while the other half should be filled with whole grains and lean proteins. You can begin to identify changes to more closely align your food choices with the recommended serving sizes.
Here are some recommended portion sizes for common foods:
Feb. 9–15: Kick the can
This week, challenge yourself to cut out soda (if you not a soda drinker, pick one other beverage to cut back on this week). Regular and diet sodas have been linked to several health concerns such as obesity, kidney damage and osteoporosis, to name a few. Both regular and diet sodas also present a risk to tooth enamel and may increase the acid load and have a negative effect on the skeleton, creating a lower bone mass density in women.
By cutting out soda, you will not only save yourself from empty calories but also make an impact on your budget. If you eliminate a $1 soda every weekday, you will save $260 in one year.
Feb. 16–22: 5-a-day challenge
Including five servings of fruits and vegetables per day is associated with lower health risk and healthier weight. This week, challenge yourself to eat five servings of fruits or vegetables every day. Studies show that frequency of eating fruits and vegetables is more important than worrying about portion size. Track your progress using our 5-a-day tracker. 5-a-day challenge tracker
Feb. 23-28: Meatless Monday
End this month’s challenges by continuing your push for more fruits and vegetables. Plan for your meatless Monday meal the weekend before and then follow through on Monday, Feb 25. Visit the yumPower website for great ideas for meatless meals.
Tips to avoid weight gain
The term “creeping obesity” refers to a condition that impacts many people as they age, a gradual adding of body fat.
The addition of body fat is usually not that dramatic, but if you add two to three pounds in a course of a year, that translates to a 10-pound gain in just three or four years.
Here are some tips to help avoid creeping obesity:
Tools: yumPower
One excellent resource on your path to Be Well is yumPower. It’s all about finding tasty, good-for-you foods that power your body and help you live the best life possible.
To learn more about better-for-you options when dining out or preparing food, visit yumPower’s iPhone application or website (http://www.healthpartners.com/yumpower) and, learn more about smart snacking made simple. yumPower Smart Snacking Made Simple
For questions regarding monthly Small Steps to Be Well content, please contact Tony Mrnak, SEIU Employee Wellness Program Coordinator, Anthony.G.Mrnak@HealthPartners.com.
Thank you to Beth Macias, Registered Dietitian, Licensed Dietitian, HealthPartners Health Promotion Department, for contributing to the content of this month’s Small Steps to Be Well communication.
Please note: To qualify for your $25 Target gift card, please complete your health assessment along with self-report completion of your two months via the Health & Well-being page on HealthPartners.com. Your two months of Small Steps to Be Well activities does not need to be consecutive.
Meinecke with late Senator Paul Wellstone
I have been politically engaged since I was a college student, voting for Jimmy Carter in my first election. Four years later I was caucusing in Iowa for McGovern’s short-lived campaign. I also dabbled in other social justice issues, especially women’s equality.
Paul Wellstone was the first major candidate I phone banked for. But it wasn’t until I moved to a very conservative district (northwest metro in the 90’s) that I became a full-fledged activist when the Democratic candidate running for the state House asked if I would put up her yard sign, next thing I know I am making calls for her.
My passion for the progressive cause accelerated during the Bush years as I got into party politics by running for Democratic party positions, marching in parades and finally mustering up the courage to door knock for John Kerry in Rogers, a highly conservative precinct.
Throughout the years I continued to do the front line work of political activism, but also got involved in fundraising events. It was in 2007 that I became a union activist and not just a party activist. I was steamed about SEIU’s endorsement of a congressional candidate in my district that I didn’t believe was on the side of working families. I was directed to contact our Political Director Rick Varco about my concern, and he asked me to get involved to keep the candidate accountable.
I have been “helping” ever since and in 2011, expanded my volunteerism to Minnesotans for a Fair Economy (MFE), a coalition working to build a Minnesota where there is opportunity for everyone to work hard and get ahead. As the daughter of a pork plant worker (United Packinghouse Food and Allied Workers) and a school lunch cook who later became a nursing assistant at the State Hospital (ASFCME), I believe in the work MFE is doing. I believe I am where I am today because my parents had good union jobs.
This past year I worked for a variety of campaigns from state offices, including SEIU endorsed Joe Radinovich and Yvonne Selzer, to President Obama. As positive as I am about our endorsed candidates winning, I am most proud of how progressives, for which our union was a huge player, shot down the two mean-spirited amendments: the marriage and voter restriction amendments.
I helped organize a fundraisers for both amendments; my local DFLers and I put on a “party for all” to raise money for our districts who pledged to work against the marriage amendment, and the “Get your no vote on” fundraiser, to contribute to Our Vote our Future, the vote no on voter restriction campaign. I am so grateful for the support I got from our union.
“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!” How often have we heard that expression? I guess you could say that I took that message to heart as far as my work with the Occupy Homes Minnesota group.
My family went through foreclosure and a successful modification in 2010. It truly was one of the most stressful and difficult times I have ever gone through. Back then, I would never have thought that I would now find myself talking with and fighting the banks for others, but in fact, it is now a very important part of my life.
Last October, a co-worker at another job was very close to losing her home. I had told her what we had done in our successful battle with our bank, but the strategies that had worked for us had no positive effect for her situation.
With her belongings packed, she had come to reluctantly accept the fact that her family was about to be homeless. I couldn’t think of any new ideas that hadn’t already been tried. In a last chance I told her to go down to the “People’s Plaza” at the Hennepin County Government Center and talk to the people about this dilemma and its relation to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Little did I know, a seed would be planted that has changed many lives for the better.
As she told her story at a general assembly, the members of Occupy Minneapolis made a decision to move some of the camp to my co-workers home. In doing so, we would set up a human shield to stop any attempted eviction of this family from their home.
So on a cold early November evening, myself and about 70 new friends and community allies transformed this home in North Minneapolis into a symbol of what would be a new face of the Occupy movement.
As I addressed the crowd, I had a myriad of emotions running through me. Fear, anger, depression, joy and so many other feelings. It was as if I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this moment. But the one thing I did know is that we were not going to allow another vacant home to appear in our neighborhood in North Minneapolis.
Many people ask me; “Why do you want to stay in North Minneapolis? Aren’t you afraid of the violence?” Well, I always tell them that this is my home, and no one is going to run me out until I am ready to go. I love my neighborhood and my neighbors, and the real violent people seem to be the ones in the big office buildings dressed in the nice clothes, who call themselves bankers. These are the people who have done more to destroy the fabric of not only North Minneapolis, but also in countless other communities around the nation.
As time went on, we had community meetings and Bar-B-Q’s to get her neighbors aware of what this rag-tag group of people were trying to accomplish. Not everyone was supportive of the signs and tents, but they did understand that another vacant property was not acceptable either.
At some of these meetings, others would come up and ask us for help in their situation. We were a last ditch effort in fighting off these foreclosures, and they saw an opportunity to make a statement to society that we as people will not go away quietly as you try to steal our homes.
Word spread about the crazy happenings in Minneapolis, and how we were actually in communication with the banks. It is amazing how much power a few people yelling and chanting outside of a bank president’s home can have.
It was not all fun and games though. Besides being an agitator and supporter of our homeowners, I am also an intake interviewer. I go out to the homes of people who have contacted us, and ask the tough questions about what caused them to enter into foreclosure. Some of the questions are uncomfortable to ask, and often times tears and anger find their way into the conversation. Often times I end up crying right along with the homeowners. Even though my family survived our battle, the emotional toll is still fresh and hurts just as much now as it did then.
My co-worker went through many highs and lows during the process. On more than a few occasions, we saw victory seem very close, only to have some other hurdle being placed in front of us. It also became frustrating that some other homeowners were winning modifications, while her situation seemed to be going nowhere. With tears in her eyes, she was ready to give up. “I can’t do this anymore. “I’ve done everything that they have asked. I’ve filled out all their damn forms. I’ve been respectful to the banks in the interviews, and they won’t move! I’m just gonna give them the keys. I can’t handle this!”
I gave her a hug and assured her; “You can’t quit! You’ve come this far, and I think a decision has to be soon. They know you’re frustrated. We are going to win your house for you.” I said all this knowing how I had felt the same way when they almost took my family’s home.
Within a week, she received a call from the bank with an offer of modification. We had won another home, but more important another family would stay in their home, and a neighborhood would not lose the property taxes from another vacant home.
Every foreclosure has a detrimental effect on a community. Not only is the homeowner affected mentally and physically, but families can be torn apart by the stress it causes. Neighborhoods are also hurt because often the properties sit vacant for a prolonged period, which can attract crime and the home can fall into serious disrepair. More importantly the reduction in property taxes can affect the entire community by reducing money available for schools, police and fire, roads, and even hospitals. This can lead to reductions in workers and wages.
Knowing first hand the hurt and fear that a foreclosure can cause is why I continue to fight and volunteer for Occupy Homes Minnesota. Another reason is we 
must work together to bring about a positive change. I wake up each day and say; “If not me, who? And if not now, when?” Our union; SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, has honored my endeavor by awarding me with the Social and Economic Justice Award. It is an honor that I will cherish forever, and I will continue to work towards improving our communities to the best of my ability.
If you or anyone you know is going through this nightmare of home foreclosure, Occupy Homes can help. We ask only that you fight for your home and help us help others. Please call us at 612-460-STAY (7829)
Stay strong brothers and sisters, and keeping fighting to improve all of our lives and our communities. We as a Union have that power!
And, as always:
Solidarity Today! Solidarity Tomorrow! And Solidarity Always…
In ALL Ways!!!
Mark Freeman
Methodist Hospital
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The state attorney general’s investigation of a hospital debt collector is affecting union contract negotiations at two Twin Cities hospital systems, union leaders said Thursday. About 1,500 Service Employees International Union members work at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale and Fairview Health Services in the Twin Cities. Both hospital systems had hired Chicago-based Accretive Health to collect payments from patients and perform other tasks related to registration and billing.
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