Walker signs RTW (for less) for WIS. - Labor World · Simpkins (Native American expectations), and Tom Cvar (North East Area Labor Council labor expectations). At 11:30 a.m. there

An Injury to One is an Injury to All!VOL. 121

NO. 17MARCH 11, 2015WEDNESDAY

(ISSN 0023-6667)

See Wisconsin...page 4

See Jim Paine...page 2

Heather Bradford (AFSCME 3558), Jared Katzmark (Laborers 1091), Jim Paine (center,red sign), and Lee Sandok-Baker (AFSCME 235) were among the many folks who ral-lied in Superior Feb. 26 against Wisconsin GOP’s move to make it a right to work (forless) state. Paine got the Superior Federation of Labor endorsement for Superior mayor.

Walker signs RTW (for less) for WIS.

Paine labor-endorsed for Superior mayor

workplace. Jennifer Shaubach, Minne-

sota AFL-CIO LegislativeDirector says “A “right towork” law is a state law thatstops employers and employ-ees from negotiating an agree-ment – also known as a unionsecurity clause – that requiresall workers who receive thebenefits of a collective bargain-ing agreement to pay theirshare of the costs of represent-ing them. Right to Work lawssay that unions must representevery eligible employee,whether he or she pays dues ornot. In other words, Right toWork laws allow workers topay nothing and still get all thebenefits of union membership.

“Right to Work laws aren’tfair to dues-paying members.If a worker who is representedby a union and doesn’t paydues is fired illegally, the unionmust use its time and money todefend him or her, even if thatrequires going through a costly,time-consuming legal process.Since the union representseveryone, everyone benefits, soeveryone should share in thecosts of providing these servic-es. Amazingly, nonmemberswho are represented by a unioncan even sue the union if theythink it has not representedthem well enough!”

If a business were to opt outof paying dues to the Chamberof Commerce, it would notreceive any benefits from theorganization. The same can besaid for virtually all organiza-tions in the U.S. except unions.

A group of 350 Wisconsinunion contractors came togeth-er as the Wisconsin ContractorCoalition to oppose RTW.

“As construction employersin Wisconsin, we are proud ofthe strong labor-managementpartnership we have in thestate. This partnership enablesus to pay our employees fami-ly-supporting wages because inreturn they approach their tradeas professionals, constantlyimproving their skills and pro-viding us with efficiencies that

ies are controlled by Repub-licans.

The whole process tookonly about two weeks asRepublicans called for anextraordinary session on themeasure to help them avoiddebate. The Assembly diddebate the bill for 24 hours.The Senate had cut off debatesaying they had informationthat opponents were preparedto rally inside the chamber.

Walker acted as though hereally didn’t have time to getinto the right to work (for less)debate even though he had stat-ed in the past that he supportedit. But once its passage wasimminent Walker changed histune, telling the WisconsinManufacturers and Commercegroup, “We brought that up,” ashe prepares his 2016 presiden-tial campaign.

“Make no mistake; passingRight to Work is reckless,” saidWisconsin State AFL-CIOPresident Phil Neuenfeldt.“Right to work will drive downwages and benefits, decreasesafety standards and weakenthe middle class. Republicansare clearly more concernedwith advancing the rights ofout-of-state special interestswho write their campaignchecks than protecting therights and protecting the wagesof hard-working Wisconsinites.

“Right to work will not cre-ate jobs and will not help onefamily put food on the table.At a time when wages are stag-nant and good jobs are hard tofind, Right to Work is absolute-ly the last policy lawmakersshould be advancing.”

Protests against RTW weremuch smaller than thoseagainst Walker’s 2011 Act 10,which was a similar attack onpublic employee unions.

Police and fire fighterunions are the only two leftwith real power in Wisconsin.

Right to work (for less) willallow workers to opt out ofpaying union dues but stillallow them to receive the bene-fits secured for them by theunion that represents their

It was over before it evenstarted. Republican GovernorScott Walker signed a lawMonday making Wisconsin the25th right to work (for less)state in the nation.

The state Assembly passedthe bill Friday morning 62 to35 on a straight party line vote.They followed the stateSenate’s 17 to 15 vote to passthe measure Feb. 26. Both bod-

City council, school boardendorsements also made

At their March 4 meeting,delegates to the Superior Fed-eration of Labor endorsed JimPaine in his bid to unseatMayor Bruce Hagen in theTuesday, April 7 election.

Also that evening delegatesendorsed candidates for citycouncil following screenings.Receiving endorsements wereGraham Garfield (District 6),Mike Herrick and Dan O’Neill(both District 8), and EstherDalbec (District 10).

School Board candidateswere screened Feb. 4 and en-dorsements were made March4 for Len Albrecht, Rob More-house, Craig Peterson, and

Mike Raunio. There are fourboard seats open in the April 7election. All school board seatsare at-large.

“The Superior Federation ofLabor thanks all the candidateswho have appeared before thedelegates for questioning,” saidSFL Corresponding SecretaryWarren Bender. “The fivemayoral candidates ran greatcampaigns and it is a true trib-ute to the democratic process.”

The Federation had con-ducted a three and half hourscreening and endorsementmeeting for mayor Jan. 7 withall five candidates in atten-dance. It was the only contestwith a primary election, whichwas held Feb. 17. Delegatesdid not make a mayoralendorsement then, but in thelong discussion about it, Paineseem had a lot of support.

A member of the DouglasCounty Board, Paine is a for-mer Marine, a UW-Superiorhistory graduate, and has adegree from UMD’s Masters ofAdvocacy and PoliticalLeadership program that is nolonger on that campus.

On Jan. 7 Paine proudlyproclaimed himself a Demo-crat and a progressive, eventhough the mayoral race is non-

partisan. He said northwestWisconsin has a strong pro-gressive tradition but said localleaders tend to be too conserva-tive. He said he wants to see amore progressive spirit broughtto Superior so he ran for mayor.

“Community service is thereason for public life,” Painetold delegates Jan. 7 and he isinvolved in many efforts.

Paine said organized laboris workers coming together tobargain with a collective voicewith their employers. Almosttwo months before Republicanlegislators made their push forright to work in Wisconsin,Paine told delegates Jan. 7 thatit’s really right to work for less.

“Right to work is bad for theeconomy and for the communi-ty we’ve built,” Paine said. “Ittells employees they don’t mat-ter and it would lead to fewerjobs and they’ll pay less.”

Residing next to the UWScampus, Paine said he triedunsuccessfully to get Chancel-lor Renee Wachter to not priva-tize the jobs of two dozen cus-todial and grounds workers.

“That wasn’t right for theeconomy or morally,” he said.“I advocate for quality jobs.”

Paine said home ownership

MN 8CD DFL retreat March 28 in HinckleyMinnesota’s 8th Congres-

sional District Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party has sched-uled their 2015 Retreat atHinckley’s Grand Casino forSaturday, March 28 from 9:30a.m. to 4 p.m.

Union members make up a

Jim Paine endorsed...from page 1is at a 20-year low in the U.S. at 65%, but it’s even worse in

Superior at only 55%. A home makes a person feel more secureabout their future so things are trending poorly and housingneeds a lot of work.

As a volunteer at St. Vincent de Paul, Paine said he has beenin some of the worst homes in Superior and “some are downrightdangerous” he said. They beg for a strong rental code in the cityhe said.

Paine said he’d like to see a drug and poverty task force inplace to address things that are holding the community back.That task force is more important than just increasing the policeforce to combat problems he said.

He said community development serves the working classand the city should be a leader in providing good jobs. Paine saidproject labor agreements are a good way to guarantee good jobsin development. He’d like encourage new businesses to have agood labor policy that includes input from their employees.

“If elected I wouldn’t be mayor forever so employees need tobe their own best advocates to make policy that lasts,” he said.

Building Trades will sponsor Huskies home opener 5/27It’s official, the Duluth Building & Construction Trades

Council will sponsor the Duluth Huskies home opener at theunion-remodeled, and even more beautiful, Wade Stadium. Thegame is Wednesday, May 27 with “Play Ball!” at 7:00 p.m.

“We’ve had a great relationship with the City of Duluth’sParks and Recreation Department and the Huskies with ProjectLabor Agreements for all the remodeling that’s gone on at WadeStadium, and there’s more work coming up this summer” saidCraig Olson, DBCTC President. “We figured this was a goodway to show our appreciation and pay something back.” He saidwhile its a little early to think spring he’d like labor union mem-bers to reserve the May 27 date. “We’ve got a lot of the detailsthat still need to be worked out, but we expect to have tickets togive to unions and their members for a fun night out.”

Wade Stadium was originally built as a Works ProgressAdministration (WPA) project to give jobs to people hit hard bythe Great Depression. Workers removed bricks from GrandAvenue and 381,000 of them were used to build the stadium,which opened in 1941. Those bricks are probably 100 years oldand some of the walls have started to crumble. Other improve-ments have been made including artificial turf, drainage, light-ing, entry plaza, seats, concession areas, and concourse.

large share of the membershipin the 8CD DFL and it’s hopedthey’ll turn out again to keepthe labor and the party strong inthe huge district that stretchesfrom just north of the TwinCities to the Canadian borderin NE Minnesota.

Cost of the event is $50 perperson (does not include ahotel room).

RSVPs are required byFriday, March 13 to SteveBarrows at: 218.820.8199 [email protected]

Motel rooms are availablefor a separate cost of $99 bycontacting Ashley at320.384.4792.

DFL activists are asked tocome prepared to listen to theexpectations of morning speak-ers, and then to participatein the afternoon’s “Action/Expectation/Message develop-ment session.

Speakers starting at 10 a.m.include: Justin Perpich (Nolancampaign expectations), R e p .Mike Sundin (Legislator/can-didate expectations), MikeSimpkins (Native Americanexpectations), and Tom Cvar(North East Area LaborCouncil labor expectations).

At 11:30 a.m. there will be alunch with Congressman RickNolan.

At 1:00 p.m. there will bebreakout sessions for commit-tees.

At 2:15 p.m. delegates willreconvene for the plan devel-opment for directors, officers,and the message to 8CD voters.

Adjournment is at 4:00 p.m.with attendees committed tobuilding a stronger 8CD DFLcampaign in 2015 and 2016.The best part about that effortis that Congressman Nolan willrun for re-election.

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PAGE 2 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2015

NOMINATIONS NOTICE –United Steelworkers District 11 Local 9460

Nominations for the offices of President, Vice President,Financial Secretary, Treasurer, Recording Secretary,Guide, Guard (Inner), Guard (Outer), three trustees,Unit President, Unit Secretary and Stewards will be accepted from the floor during each of the followingmembership meetings at the seven locations listedbelow. No quorum will be necessary at these meetings.Nominations will not require a second and self-nominations will be permitted. The term of office willrun for three years beginning May 19, 2015.As provided in the USW Elections Manual, any memberwho has paid their initiation and is in good standing atthe time of nominations is eligible to nominate candidates. To be eligible for office, a member musthave been in continuous good standing for a period oftwenty-four months immediately preceding the month inwhich the election is held (April 2015). Any membernominated but not present at the nomination meetingwill be contacted as soon as possible. Any membernominated must accept or decline the nomination inperson at the nomination meeting or at such time ascontacted by the Local. The election will be conductedon April 9, 2015. Additional information regarding theelection will be provided in a separate notice which willbe mailed to all Local 9460 members at a later date.

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“Majority rules” is a basictenet of democracy and wehave to live with it. (That’sexcept in the U.S. Senate werethose 100 bright folks figurethat 60% is how you calculate amajority so you can shut up theminority.) Thankfully we deter-mine who our legislativemajorities will be by free andfair elections. Well as best wecan anyway considering howwe allow money to controlelection campaigns. You can goahead and be offended by that.A majority of us are, but we letmoney call the shots in the U.S.

As the last 4 or 5 years haveshown in Wisconsin’s electionsthe minority of voters overthere are in big trouble for per-haps many elections to come.A large part of that minority arepeople like you and me votingagainst people like you and me.How did they lose contact?Doesn’t seem like they’re evenclose to making their case inWisconsin which isn’t full of amajority of rich folks. They’rejust their Joe the Plumber,maybe Arnie the Operating

Engineer, thinking and votinglike rich folks as Phil Andersonstates in his letter to the right.

Too many people like youand me are buying into a bogus“freedom” type message thatsays you shouldn’t have to payunion dues to achieve unionbenefits. You’re free to freeride on benefits everyone elsepays for. Tell us where else thatoccurs, please. It’s exactlywhat Republicans rail againston everything they erroneouslylabel as “entitlements.” Try thatat the Chamber of Commerce,at the American Legion, atAAA. Usually in America youhave to pay to play but notwhen it comes to unions inright to work and free ride.

The next state that approvesright to work (for less) willmean a majority of statesbelieve in it. One bad presiden-tial election and RTW could bethe law of the land. Minnesotamay not be L'Étoile du Nord(The Star of the North) any-more after that. Right nowwe’re an island, an oasis ofsorts in a desert for unions.

Give Mary Burke credit fortrying to tell Badger voters inher run to unseat Walker thatall they needed to do was com-pare their state to Minnesotaand decide what direction theywanted to go and how theyneeded to vote. To people likeyou and me they chose poorly,and unfortunately, they’ve beenconsistent about it for a while.

How’s that messaging goingnow? Do we have a message?Can we even get people likeyou and me from giving up soeasily? In MN we’d better keepfighting for every inch ofground. We need a messagethat we’re in it for the commongood and that it’s working.

Let’s not get proud of our-selves as we see others fail orfall. Let’s not feel like there aredifferences between public andprivate unions. Let’s not thinkthat the middle class has manylevels. Let’s continue to try to

help the working poor achievemiddle class. Let’s work witheveryone who believes in thedignity of all human beings, inthe dignity of work. Let’sunderstand what the AmericanDream means. Let’s say it outloud. Let’s shout it from the topof the hill. Let’s show up andlive solidarity to make us allstronger. Let’s remember thatas organized labor we don’twin hardly any fights if wehaven’t connected with thecommunity and electorate.

Let’s remember how closewe came to not electing Gov.Dayton in 2010. He won byless than 8,800 votes, 0.4% ofthe total. Tom Emmer could bein his second term as governorand we could be fighting RTW.Let’s not forget that after thegreat 2013/2014 legislativesessions, Republicans won amajority in the MN House lastfall. Say “Chip Cravaack.”

Our good times in MN,even our $1.87 billion surplus,are living on a razor thin mar-gin. It can be gone in a 2016election that we didn’t seecoming. Do not fall asleep.Don’t rest on laurels. Don’tthink you’re living in the goodtimes and grow conservative.Don’t get proud. Don’t thinkit’s all about you and you’rebetter than anyone else. Stayhealthy, stay strong, stay com-mitted. This fight never ends.

LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2015 PAGE 3

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MN now an island in RTWEditor: Well, it’s official, Minnesota is now an island surrounded by

right to work (for less) states. With Gov. Walker beaming andsurrounded by his Republican friends giddy and clapping, hesigned the law which goes into effect today, March 11, 2015.

The sign in front of his desk read “FREEDOM TO WORK.”Right to work is a phony Republican statement itself (I wouldthink that by now everyone knows that it is no right to a job), butto claim it is freedom to work is more dishonest than RTW itself.If anyone wanted freedom to work outside of a union contract,all they need do is quit. Just quit. Slavery was abolished 150years ago.

Today the political contributions of some Wisconsin unionsto Walker's campaign deserve recognition, deserving specialrecognition is Operating Engineers Local 139, which gave themaximum $43,128 to his campaign. Also deserving recognitionare the Wisconsin Pipe Trades $19,000; Wisconsin State Councilof Carpenters $12,500; Milwaukee Police Assn. $4000; andMilwaukee Fire Fighters Local 215 $2000. I hope the member-ship of those local unions remember their leadership when theyare up for re-election. They sold their unions, and all Wisconsinunion members down the tube.

And Walker will now get a boost from the Republicans for hispresidential bid, with thanks to the leadership of those unionslisted above. Remember PATCO’s support of Ronald Reagan?

George Sundstrom, Retired Sheet Metal Workers Local 10

Divide and conquer works in Wisconsin for Walker

Editor:This week Wisconsin became a right to work state. This was

a “given” when reactionary Republicans took control of stategovernment.

Legislation to eliminate prevailing wages is next. These lawsrequire public contractors compete by having better manage-ment or efficiency, not just lower wages. This is another attackon unions and the public good.

Ironically, this week the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, acampaign finance reform advocacy group, released figures onunion contributions to Governor Walker. Unions representingengineers, police, firefighters, plumbers, carpenters and othertrades contributed $83,000 to Republican Governor ScottWalker’s re-election campaign despite his anti-union record.

What were these unions thinking? Why do people voteagainst their own best interests?

Apparently divide and conquer works! Get the public to thinkteachers and public employees are lazy and over paid. Separatethe workers with good benefits from those with no, or poor, ben-efits. Create phony conflicts between creating jobs and protect-ing the environment. Divide the taxpayers from the “takers” onwelfare. Throw in some hysteria about the deer count, gun con-trol, high taxes or other “wedge” issues and 40% of union repre-sented workers vote Republican.

Republicans have always opposed what was good for work-ers and the public. Unions, equal rights, workplace safety, SocialSecurity, Medicare, unemployment, and workers compensationare only a few examples. When will we ever learn?

An injury to one is an injury to all. Everyone does better whenEVERYONE does better! In politics you support your friends notyour enemies!

Philip Anderson, AFT-WI Retiree Chapter

So what about the WIS 1%?~from Center on Wisconsin Strategies, cows.orgWisconsin’s growth and prosperity are not being widely

shared. In 2012, Wisconsin reached a milestone, with a recordshare of income going to the top 1%. The widening chasmbetween the very highest earners and everyone else poses hard-ships for Wisconsin’s families, businesses, and communities.Families can’t thrive when income growth is nearly non-existentfor everyone except those at the top, and businesses need astrong middle class bolstered by broad-based income growth to

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~NOTICE~Labor World 2015 issues:March 25; April 15;May 6, 20, June 17;July 1, 22; Aug. 5, 26;

See Wisconsin inequality growing...page 7

Wisconsin becomes the 25th right to work (as free riders) state...from page 1make us highly competitive.”

Union contracts have raisedthe wage and benefit packagesof all workers in the areaswhere unions are strong. That’sprecisely why conservativeinterests have pushed right towork (for less) laws: to bustunions and drive down thewages and benefits of all work-

ers. Study after study on right to

work for less have shown that itdoesn’t create jobs, and actual-ly lowers the quality of life inthe 24, now 25, states that havepassed the legislation.

On the Economic PolicyInstitute’s website, epi.org,there is nine page report “Right

To Work Is Wrong forWisconsin” by Gordon Laferthat was written Jan. 23, 2015.It is a downloadable PDF.

Lafer says wages are 3.2%less in RTW states; employer-sponsored health insurance is2.6% less; pensions are 4.8%less. RTW is sold as a job cre-ator but that hasn’t worked.

Lafer says “Oklahoma is theonly state to adopt RTW sinceNAFTA and where enoughtime has passed to measure itsimpact. Oklahoma lawmakerswere told that if they passed aRTW law, there would be aneight- to 10-fold increase in thenumber of new companiescoming into the state—espe-cially in manufacturing. In-stead, manufacturing employ-ment in the 10 years after RTWfell by one-third, as did thetotal number of new jobs creat-ed by companies coming intothe state.

“In fact, employers them-selves say RTW is not impor-tant. Area Development maga-zine conducts an annual surveyasking small manufacturers tolist the most important factorsin their location decisions.RTW has never ranked in thetop 10.

“In 2013, it ranked 12th; thetop two factors were availabili-ty of skilled labor, and accessto a major highway.”

No one seems to be payingattention to the facts as RTW isbeing pushed nationwide.RTW is being introduced bysome county boards. Citiesmay be next in the anti-unionendeavor as supporters are ableto sell it as freedom for workersas they ignore the facts.

“Strong unions build ahealthy middle class and pro-vide a necessary check on cor-porate power and greed,” saidNeuenfeldt. “Unions allowworkers to join together, sticktogether, and have each other’sbacks in order to have a mean-ingful voice in the workplace.”

Time will tell how it worksout for Wisconsin. Across itsborder to the west Minnesotahas been prospering underDemocrats and progressivelaws that help many residents.It has a $1.9 billion surplus.Even its Republicans like Rep.Pat Garofalo of Farmington,are inviting Wisconsin employ-ers to come to Minnesota, andhe’s no friend of organizedlabor.

In spite of all its problemsunder Walker Lafer saysWisconsin has been outper-forming right to work states onincome and other quality of lifemeasures. It can’t matchMinnesota, however. That was

a point made on many levels,many times by Mary Burke,who tried to unseat Walker inthe last election. Seems no onewanted to be bothered by sta-tistics then either.

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Painters & Allied Trades106’s Barry Ives is anotherunion member who has spent hours volunteering tohelp remodel the GaryRecreation Center so kidswill have a nicer play-ground. Besides taping,mudding, and painting, Ivessaid epoxying the floorcomes next. Those conduitruns behind him are thanksto IBEW 242 volunteers.

Minnesota’s budget surplus hits $1.87 billion but caution still urgedWhen the Minnesota Legislature convened in

early January legislators told everyone to be cautiousabout what they wanted to do with the $1 billion sur-plus. The standard joke was “a billion dollars justdoesn’t go as far as it used to.”

Now the question is “how far will almost two bil-lion dollars go?”

On Feb. 28 Minnesota Management and Budget(MMB) released the February Economic Forecast,which showed a $1.87 billion budget surplus for thestate. Many DFL leaders say the surplus is a directresult of investing in opportunities for all whichstrengthens the entire economy. Take that Wisconsin.

Rep. Jennifer Schultz (DFL – Duluth), one of onlyfive new DFLers elected to 21 new Republicans lastfall said, “It shows us that by investing in hardwork-ing Minnesotans and in opportunity for everyone,you strengthen the economy. The forecast points toreasonable expectations that our economy will con-tinue to improve if we build on this momentum andwork to expand economic security for all Minne-sotans, not just special interests and corporate execu-tives.” Schultz is an economist and instructor at theUniversity of Minnesota Duluth.

Minnesota’s unemployment rate is 3.6%, the 5thlowest in the country and lowest in Minnesota in 14years. MMB also shows a slight increase in wages.The economy improved significantly when the DFLlegislature passed a balanced budget that invested ineducation and middle-class tax relief while asking thevery wealthiest to pay their fair share.

“Minnesota is truly a success story,” said MMBCommissioner Myron Frans. “With more than182,000 new jobs added since 2011, the 5th-lowestunemployment rate in the nation, rising high schoolgraduation rates, and a nearly $1.9 billion state budg-et surplus, it’s hard to argue otherwise.”

Governor Mark Dayton is making education andtransportation his top priorities this year, which fitnicely with his “opportunities for all” success. Hestarted with a $6.2 billion budget deficit when he firsttook office in January 2011.

Last month Dayton laid out a budget proposal thatamong other things would fix 330 bridges and 2,000miles of roadways, send 31,000 more children to pre-school, and provide child care tax credits for an130,000 working families. Among the things hewants to happen are:

• Universal Pre-K funding to cover the entire costto help prepare 31,000 young learners for success inschool, narrow the achievement gap, and saveMinnesota families thousands of dollars in child carecosts.

• Tuition Freezes – Two years ago tuition wasfrozen at all University of Minnesota and MnSCUcampuses. Dayton wants to do that again.

• Student Grants – In 2013, the Governor andLegislature made a major investment by providingmore financial aid to make higher education moreaffordable. He proposes building on that investment.

• Protecting Children – Last fall, Dayton conveneda task force charged with providing recommendationsto protect children from the threat of abuse and neg-lect. He’s proposing the state set aside $50 million toimplement the expected recommendations.

Some folks are saying “not so fast” however.A Senate DFL Majority press release stated, “A

2014 law requires that 33% of the November forecastis deposited into the state’s rainy day fund, meaningthat $183 million was deposited this year; if our statefaces a crisis in the years to come, we will be betterpositioned to weather it.”

AFSCME Council 5 says don’t blow the surplusin tax breaks for business and the wealthy. “A strong

surplus is good news for working families,” said EliotSeide, director of Minnesota’s largest public employ-ee union. “It comes from more Minnesotans workingthan ever before and from more of them earning high-er incomes...It proves that fair taxes, decent wages,and wise investments in jobs and education havehelped Minnesota create the 5th fastest growingeconomy in the nation...To keep the economy grow-ing, Minnesota needs to fix our transportation sys-tem...a 10-year plan with new revenue to repair ourcrumbling roads and bridges and improve our transitsystem.”

Minnesota AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer SteveHunter said, “...our economy is leading the nation...there is still much that can and should be done toimprove the lives of all Minnesotans. Wages didn’tgrow as fast as overall economic growth and ourtransportation infrastructure is terribly underfunded.

“Governor Dayton and legislators have an oppor-tunity to pass a budget this year that builds on oursuccesses and continues to invest in the future. Theycan ensure that we continue to take care of the mostvulnerable Minnesotans. They can create jobs andgrow our economy by passing a long-term, compre-hensive transportation bill and empower all workingpeople by passing the Working Parents Act.”

The Minnesota Budget Project stated “higherincome tax collections due to expected risingincomes, and lower projected Medical Assistance andeducation spending” helped lead the way. “...continueinvestments targeted to the many Minnesotans whostruggle for greater economic security. We are callingfor increased funding for Basic Sliding Fee thatallows families to afford child care that meets theirneeds. We also argue that any tax cuts policymakersmay pass should be sustainable, well-targeted andhave tax fairness as a primary goal.”

LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2015 PAGE 5

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In the complaining about taxes, realize Minnesota’s are fairer than mostA new study by the Institute

on Taxation and EconomicPolicy (ITEP) reveals that statetax systems are indirectly con-tributing to growing incomeinequality by taxing low- andmiddle-income households atsignificantly higher rates thanwealthy taxpayers.

The 5th edition of ITEP’s“Who Pays” finds that middle-and low-income people in all50 states pay substantiallymore of their income in stateand local taxes than wealthyindividuals and families. Thedisparity is most stark betweenthe lowest-income householdsand the top 1 percent of house-holds. On average, the poorest20 percent of taxpayers nation-wide pay more than double theeffective tax rate paid by therichest 1 percent of households(10.9 per cent v. 5.4 percent).

ITEP’s analysis factors inall major state and local taxes,including personal and corpo-rate income taxes, propertytaxes, sales and other excisetaxes.

“In recent years, multiplestudies have revealed the grow-ing chasm between the wealthyand everyone else,” said MattGardner, executive director ofITEP. “Upside down state taxsystems didn’t cause the grow-ing income divide, but theycertainly exacerbate the prob-lem. State policymakersshouldn’t wring their hands orignore the problem. They

Minnesota fairer than mostBy Michael Moore, Editor, St. Paul Union AdvocateMinnesota’s tax structure is among the fairest in the country,

according to the results of an annual analysis of state and localtax systems released by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation andEconomic Policy. The report, Who Pays, looks at how statesgenerate tax revenue – and how much it costs taxpayers at dif-ferent income levels.

In Minnesota the wealthiest 1 percent of earners, with morethan $498,000 in annual household income, pay 7.5 percent oftheir income, on average, in state and local taxes. That’s a lowerrate than any other income bracket in the report, including:

• The rest of the top 20 percent of Minnesota earners, withhousehold incomes between $102,000 and $498,000. On aver-age, they pay about 8.5 percent of their income in state and localtaxes.

• The lowest 20 percent, with less than $24,000 in annualincome, who pay an average tax rate of 8.8 percent.

• The middle 60 percent, with earnings between $24,000 and$102,000, who pay an average tax rate of about 9.7 percent.

Although middle- and low-income people in Minnesota paymore of their income in state and local taxes than the state’shighest earners, the same is true everywhere in the U.S. Thegood news for Minnesota is the gap between what middle- andlow-income people pay and what wealthy people pay is smallerthan the gap in 44 other states.

In some states, the report found, the poorest 20 percent of tax-payers pay more than double the effective tax rate paid by therichest 1 percent of taxpayers. Washington is the country’s mostregressive state, taxing the poorest residents at 16.8 percent andthe top 1 percent at just 2.4 percent.

Why does it matter if state and local taxes ding lower-incomefamilies more than upper-income ones? In addition to being amatter of basic fairness, regressive tax structures contribute togrowing income inequality in the U.S., which has reached a levelnot seen since before the Great Depression.

“In recent years, multiple studies have revealed the growingchasm between the wealthy and everyone else,” ITEP ExecutiveDirector Matt Gardner said in a press release accompanying thereport. “Upside down state tax systems didn’t cause the growingincome divide, but they certainly exacerbate the problem.”

Why are state and local tax systems unfair across the board?According to the ITEP report, it’s mostly because these govern-ments tend to rely more heavily on sales taxes to raise revenuethan income taxes.

Minnesota’s tax structure is less regressive than most otherstates, according to Who Pays, in part because of its graduatedtax structure, which assesses higher rates to higher income lev-els. Gov. Mark Dayton and DFL majorities in the Legislatureraised taxes on the wealthiest Minnesotans to address a budgetshortfall two years ago.

The report also praised Minnesota’s sales tax exclusion forgroceries and its Working Family Credit, increased by Daytonand DFL majorities last year.

The state’s comparatively high sales tax rate – on tobacco, inparticular – hits lower- and middle-income earners harder thanthe wealthy, the report found.

To view a 50-state ranking of state tax systemsbased on ITEP’s inequality index, go to:

http://www.itep.org/whopays/inequality_index.php

should thoroughly explore andenact tax reform policies thatwill make their tax systemsfairer.”

State and local tax systemsare unfair, or regressive,because the lower one’sincome, the higher one’s taxrate. This is due in part becausestates tend to more heavily onsales taxes to raise revenue andnot as much on personalincome taxes, which tend to bemore progressive (meaning thehigher one’s income, the higherone’s effective personalincome tax rate).

The Terrible 10While all states have room

to improve their state taxcodes, some stand out becausethe disparity between tax ratesfor low- and upper-incomehouseholds is worse thanabysmal national averages.

Washington state has, byfar, the U.S.’s most regressivestate tax system, taxing thepoorest residents at 16.8 per-cent while taxing the top 1 per-cent at only 2.4 percent.

Florida, Texas, SouthDakota, Illinois, Pennsylvania,Tennessee, Arizona, Kansasand Indiana are also includedin Who Pays’ Terrible 10.

Four of these states do notassess any personal income taxand six derive the lion’s shareof their revenue (two-thirds v.the one-third national average)from the sales tax.

States that have the least

regressive tax structuresinclude California, Delaware,the District of Columbia,Minnesota, Montana, Oregonand Vermont. These stateseither have more graduatedpersonal income taxes, rely lesson sales taxes for revenue orhave generous, refundableEarned Income Tax Credits. Itshould be noted, though, thateach of these states fails tomeet a minimal level of fair-ness because some low- ormiddle-income groups still payhigher taxes than the wealthy.

How states tax their resi-dents matters for myriad rea-sons. In recent years, anti-taxadvocates have pushed for taxpolicies that would reduce taxrates for the wealthy and busi-nesses. There are clear prob-lems with this agenda.

Foremost, many anti-taxproposals would make regres-sive tax structures even worsein part because they often relyon hiking taxes that fall moreheavily on poor and middle-income families to pay for taxcuts at the top.

Second, as the Kansas expe-rience shows, aggressive taxcuts can result in states havingdifficulty adequately fundingbasic public obligations such aseducation.

There’s also a more practi-cal reason for states to be con-cerned about regressive taxstructures. If the nation fails toaddress its growing income

inequality problem, states willhave difficulty raising the rev-enue they need over time. Themore income that goes to thewealthy (and the lower a state’stax rate on the wealthy), theslower a state’s revenue growsover time.

“Americans generally havea visceral reaction to taxes, butthe truth is we need them tomake state governments workfor all citizens. The problem

with our state tax systems isthat we are asking far more ofthose who can afford the least,”said Meg Wiehe, ITEP statepolicy director.

The report concludes thatstates considering reformshould look at more progres-sive personal income tax struc-tures and ask the wealthy topay tax rates more commensu-rate with their incomes.

PAGE 6 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2015

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Mediation between USW 11-63, SMI confidential as strike continues

Wisconsin inequality growing fast...from page 3

United Steelworkers Local11-63 and Speciality MineralsInc. had a mediation session onMarch 4 but the talks arecloaked in a confidentialityagreement the parties agreedon in order to get talks started.

“There was progress made,however we have a ways togo,” said USW 11-63 PresidentBrady Nelson.

There are five members ofUSW 11-63 that are employedby SMI, which provides calci-um carbonate for Sappi’s papermaking production in Cloquet.SMI’s facility is on Sappi’sgrounds. About 400 moreUSW 11-63 members work atSappi but do not have sympa-thy language in their contractthat would allow them to honorthe picket lines.

“The IRON 5 are holdingup very well,” said Nelson.“Solidarity is rock solid.Donations have slowed some.We will renewing efforts to get

Former judge affirms USWon oil safety as strike causeGALVESTON — The United Steelworkers say a newspaper

column by former Texas District Judge Susan Criss strengthensthe arguments the union has made throughout its one-monthUnfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike in the oil industry.

“Why would a company refuse to guarantee workers the rightto a safe workplace? Because the lives and safety of their work-ers do not matter enough to cut into profits,” Criss wrote in arecent column for Galveston County Daily News. “Because thepeople that do the work generating those profits do not matter.”

The argument that oil companies are prioritizing profits overthe safety of workers has been the central focus of the USW’sstrike that began at 9 facilities Feb. 1 and now includes nearly7,000 workers at 15 locations. Royal Dutch Shell is leadingnegotiations for the companies.

“Why are the union members not backing down? Overtimedollars pay a lot of bills and then some. Striking means bills gounpaid,” Criss wrote. “Why not take the money and take theirchances? Because they cannot forget the cost of working in dan-gerous conditions.”

As a judge, Criss presided over 4,016 legal claims arisingfrom a March 2005 explosion at the BP refinery in Texas City,Texas, that killed 15 workers and injured 180. Investigations intothat disaster “revealed a culture of complacency toward workersafety at that refinery contributed to the disaster,” Criss wrote.“Worker fatigue resulting from excessive overtime hours wasanother problem cited.” Criss now works in private practice afterserving 15 years on the bench.

donations picking up again.” The five workers have all

worked at SMI or its predeces-sor since 1988. Nelson saidthose workers have an amazingsafety record spanning over5700 days without an accident.

When the workers went ontheir unfair labor practice strikewhen the clock ticked over to2015 on New Year’s Eve, SMIreplaced them with scabs fromsouthern U.S. Only one unionmember worked each shift atSMI. As many as nine scabswere on site when theyreplaced the union member.

“The scabs have had at leastthree accidents that we know ofsince the strike began,” saidNelson.

Sappi has not gotteninvolved in the negotiationsand acts as if the strike is notaffecting them but their work-ers know better says Nelson.

The strike is in its 70th dayas of this issue. Strikers on their

picket line from 5:30 a.m. to 6p.m. every day of the week asthe bitter winter takes a turntoward spring this week.

“Striker’s families are doingwell,” Nelson said. “Commun-ity support has been very goodalso. They still need donations

and appreciate very much theBrothers & Sisters along withcommunity members that stopby. These are a very coura-geous group of Brothers that Iam proud and humbled to be apart of and represent.”

The pickets are located at

the main entrance to Sappi onAvenue B. Donations to helpthe workers and their familiescan be sent to USW Local 11-63, 1403 Avenue C, Cloquet,MN 55720.

generate customers. Wisconsin communi-ties pay the price if too many families andbusinesses fail to prosper.

In Wisconsin, the top 1% had income of$320,000 or higher in 2012. The top .01% inWisconsin – the top 1 out of 10,000 – hadincomes of at least $7.1 million in 2012. Thetop 1% in Wisconsin makes, on average, morethan 22 times the average annual income of$44,000 that the remaining 99% of residentsmake. Wisconsin ranked 28th among U.S.states in the ratio of the top 1% of income tothe remaining 99% of income. The averageincome of the top .01% in Wisconsin is nearly500 times the average income of the bottom99% of residents. The share of income takenhome by the top 1% is nearly 1 of every 5 dol-lars.

In the late 1920s and into the 1930s,income inequality was stark, with the highestearners taking home a large share. After thecrash in the late 1920s, and since the policiesof the New Deal—collective bargaining,retirement and unemployment security, finan-cial regulation, progressive taxation—wereentrenched, the income share claimed by topearners fell. But as those policies came underattack beginning in the 1970s, inequality roseagain and has exceeded pre-Depression highs.

The share of income in Wisconsin going to

the top 1% reached its highest level ever in2012, exceeding even levels reached prior tothe Great Depression. In 2012, the top 1% inWisconsin captured 18.2% of the income in2012, or nearly 1 out of every 5 dollars ofincome in the state. This share of income hasmore than doubled since 1974, when the top1% in Wisconsin took home a low of 7.0% ofall income in Wisconsin, or just 1 out of every14 dollars of income.

The same pattern of outsize gains at the topholds true for other top income groups in addi-tion to the top 1%. For example, the share ofincome captured by the top .01% in Wisconsinincreased nearly ten-fold between its low pointin the 1970s and its current level, and the shareof income captured by the top 0.1% increasedmore than five-fold over this same period.

At the same time that the share of incomegoing to the top 1% in Wisconsin has steadilyclimbed, income for the remainingWisconsinites has remained stagnant. Between1979 and 2012, average incomes for the top 1%in Wisconsin more than doubled, after beingadjusted for inflation. In contrast, the remain-ing 99% saw less than 2% growth in theirincomes. Put another way, $91 out of every$100 of income growth that occurred between1979 and 2012 in Wisconsin wound up in thepockets of the top 1%.

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LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2015 PAGE 7

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INJURED AT WORK?

AFL-CIO leaders take no action on Keystone XL as Obama veto standsATLANTA (PAI)—Some-

times failure to take actionmeans more than action, andthat was the case at the AFL-CIO Executive Council herewhen it came to the controver-sial Keystone XL oil pipeline.

On Feb. 24 PresidentObama vetoed the legislation,which had passed with large

majorities in the Republicancontrolled Senate and House,that ordered him to approveconstruction of the pipeline’snorthern segment, from theAlberta-Montana border toNebraska and Oklahoma.

The Senate voted 62 to 37 tooverride the veto March 4 but ittakes a two-thirds majority in

both the House and Senate tooverride a veto. That’s a bignumber and it rarely happens.

Building trades unions, whosigned a project labor agree-ment six years ago to build allof Keystone, are still pushingthe pipeline. After theNovember 2014 GOP electionsweep, so did AFL-CIO

President Richard Trumka. Butthe council ducked the issue,and the building trades will tryagain to enact Keystone – later.

Had someone brought it upat the final session Feb. 25,“There would have been a floorfight” in the room, one pro-Keystone union leader toldPAI. He added the unions will

seek other legislation for insert-ing a Keystone okay, but wouldnot specify when or what.

“President Obama justmade a disastrous decision forthousands of American work-ers,” said Sean McGarvey,president of North America'sBuilding Trades Unions. “Itsaddens our unions that a pres-ident who has sworn to fightfor America’s workers hasfailed them.”

The floor fight would havepitted the Building Trades --whose PLA also coveredKeystone’s now-operatingsouthern segment, fromGuthrie, Okla., to refineries onthe Gulf Coast -- againstNational Nurses United andseveral other unions.

While the Building Tradesemphasize the up to 40,000construction jobs that Keystonewould create, its union foes sayit would add to the gases caus-ing global warming by trans-porting 830,000 barrels of“dirty oil” daily from Alberta’star sands.

“With this veto the presi-dent has made an importantstatement on a project thatposes a significant threat topublic health and the climatecrisis,” NNU Co-PresidentKaren Higgins said in a state-ment. “That’s the leadership weneed from the administration.Now we urge the president totake the next step and furtherannounce the U.S. will formal-ly reject approval of thepipeline itself.”

Obama wants to let the StateDepartment’s oversight and agovernment-wide reviewprocess for the pipeline run itscourse.

“The miniscule number ofjobs it (Keystone) would cre-ate” – around 50 operating jobsafter it is completed – “are faroutweighed by the enormousdamage this project creates toour health and in acceleratingthe climate crisis,” saidHiggins.

Her union and its anti-Keystone allies add pipelineexplosions and totality of dam-age from mining, refining, andtransport of tar sands – alongwith health impacts from min-ing pollutants – are reasons toreject Keystone. They add thatfar more construction workerscould be toiling on repairingand replacing current U.S.infrastructure, includingpipelines.

John Wojcik of the People’sWorld contributed material forthis story.

PAGE 8 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2015

In December of 2013, the MinnesotaSupreme Court decided a case calledDYKOFF vs. EXCEL ENERGY. Sincethen employers and insurancecompanies have interpreted the rulingvery broadly and used it to deny injuredworkers the benefits they deserve.

We do not believe that eliminating abroad range of comp claims was theintent of this decision. We do believe

that most of the workers, who havebeen rejected, will get fair benefits inthe end.

If you have received a "benefitsdenied" letter using some of thereasons shown in red above, give us acall. It costs you nothing to meet withus. We can help you understand whereyour comp claim stands in light of theDykoff Decision.