Labor & Employment Law

?We Want Paychecks, Not Unemployment Checks?

By admin

Workday Minnesota editor Barb Kucera reports on the Minnesota AFL-CIO’s job action yesterday.

Cement mason Jessica Keeley had a message for lawmakers Wednesday at the state Capitol:

We want to collect paychecks?not unemployment checks!

Keeley was among hundreds of workers and union leaders who rallied to urge the Minnesota Legislature and Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) to take action to save and create jobs. They said the government cannot cut its way to prosperity and must use fair taxes to fund important public services. As Keeley put it:

The bottom line is we can’t grow private sector jobs without fair public sector investment.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler and Democratic Reps. Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum were among the speakers who echoed that message.

Nationally, about one in every 10 workers is unemployed. And that doesn’t include those who have stopped looking and are no longer counted.

“This jobs crisis is a disaster,” Shuler told the crowd. “We need to take action to create jobs….We need to take it now.”

Ellison said the rally signified “a movement for working-class prosperity. We have a vision of everybody who wants a job has one?and it pays good.

The vision, he said, also includes health care, education and retirement security for all.

We are together demanding prosperity for working people.

McCollum said that while the economy started to show some employment growth last month,

the jobless numbers are just plain unacceptable. We have more work to do.

While the Legislature acted last month to pass a jobs creation bill, union leaders worry that lawmakers’ response to the state budget crisis will undercut any gains made. Already, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor majority in the Legislature has approved $222 million in program cuts and Pawlenty has signed the legislation.

Mike Buesing, president of AFSCME Council 5, the largest state workers’ union, said:

If the Legislature balances the budget with cuts alone, essential services will be gutted and at least 3,400 public service jobs will be lost.

The solution, Buesing said, is “We need to grow good jobs. And we need to tax the rich.”

Several speakers said wage earners pay a far larger share of their income in taxes than do the rich. They urged a change in state tax policy to generate the money needed for public services.

“It is time for a balanced approach,” said Linda Hamilton, president of the Minnesota Nurses Association-National Nurses United, who warned the cuts are jeopardizing the health of the state.

Shar Knutson, president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, which organized the rally, said:

That’s why we’re here today?to stand up for a Minnesota where we invest in our people….Everyone pays their fair share to improve everyone’s quality of life.

After the rally, participants fanned out to meet with lawmakers and reinforce that message.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on April 08, 2010 (boomark / email).