Labor & Employment Law

South Minnesota Labor Council Leader Honored as ?Rising Star?

By James Parks

Laura Askelin

Laura Askelin, president of the Southeast Minnesota Area Labor Council in Rochester, is being honored as one of the state’s future leaders within the union movement and the political arena. Recently, Askelin received the 2010 DFL Rising Star award from the Women’s Summit Committee of Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.  

The committee called Askelin a “force to be reckoned with now and in the future.” Askelin entered politics as a volunteer in Howard Dean’s presidential campaign in 2008. She later signed on as the campaign manager for the winning candidate in an election for  state representative.

She now works as a political organizer for AFSCME Council 5 as well as serving as president of the labor council and holds several local and state party positions. She tirelessly campaigned for health care reform over the last year.

Lynn Wilson, DFL chairwoman in Olmsted County, Askelin’s home county, says:

Laura has the “it” factor in politics equivalent to what Simon Cowell looks for on “American Idol.” She views the world with astute political perception and then embarks on making it a reality. She personifies what [late Minnesota Democrat] Senator Paul Wellstone was talking about.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on June 03, 2010 (boomark / email).