An Injury to One is an Injury to All!VOL. 123

NO. 2JULY 6, 2016WEDNESDAY

(ISSN 0023-6667)

See USW organizing...page 7See Women win..page 7

These are happy, new members of USW Local 9460 afterachieving a first contract at the Lake Superior CommunityHealth Center. Back left to right Jessica Gerard (NP),Aaron Pust (BHC), Dr. Matt Penning, and Adam Wenner-sten (PA-C). Front Dr. Emily Onello, Gayle Held (BHC)and Louise Curnow (PA-C). Other members are Dr. Barb-ara Hemenway, and RNs Lane O’Connell, Kaitlin Thomp-son, and Penny Jo Waldum. (Photo by Cathy Drummond)

USW 9460 has historic win at LakeSuperior Community Health Center

Working women win twice in SCOTUS

assistants, receptionists, healthinformation service clerks,billing specialists, coders/billers, licensed practical nurs-es and lab technicians. Theyapproved a separate contractwith the clinic on Feb. 5, 2015.

“We’ve always had goodrelations with them,” saidCurnow, “those are the peoplewho are in the trenches.”

But for the professional unitthings were bad with manage-ment.

“We had people beingharassed and people that werechased out or they couldn’ttake it anymore and left,”Curnow said. “So it did changeyet we were able to sticktogether. Obviously, newerpeople coming in didn’t knowthe history, or all of it. We hadsome education to do, quietly.You try to be diplomatic.”

Turnover had been high inthe professional group whenthey had their first organizingmeeting in April 2013. Theelection took place that June 28and the National Labor Rela-tions Board certified the resultson July 5, 2013. Things wentfrom bad to worse for the pro-fessional employees. They hadto file 42 unfair labor practicecharges with the NLRB againstLSCHC, many for violatingtheir federally protected rightto engage in union activity.

LSCHC was required by theNLRB to post a four pagenotice saying “WE WILLNOT...” to 22 illegal actionsthey had taken against employ-ees. Those actions covered thegamut from violating federallaw protecting workers’ right toorganize, to throwing outdoughnuts brought for co-workers because the box wasmarked as being “for Unionbrothers and sisters.”

Another 8 employer viola-tions fell under “WE WILL...”corrections to illegal actionsthey had taken. They includedremoving items in files on indi-vidual employees and bargain-ing in good faith with theUnion.

Curnow was named in anumber of items after beingsent home on more than oneoccasion for engaging in unionactivity, and she was also sus-pended.

Almost three years laterwith a first contract, it wasn’tfun to live through but it hasbeen worth the effort saidCurnow.

“Things have settled downespecially after they were

What the workers were get-ting was a top down manage-ment approach that Dr. Onellosaid was “disengaging and dis-respectful.” They found theirvoice in what she called anunconventional path to becom-ing a union.

“Louise is the real hero inthis story,” Dr. Onello said.

Louise is Louise Curnow, aCertified Physician Assistantnearing her 6-year anniversaryat LSCHC. She has seen a lotin her time there and it hasn’tbeen good. That probably runscounter to what an outsiderwould think working in whathas long been known as “thefree clinic” is all about.

“Things that went on wereterrible on how people weretreated,” Curnow said Friday.She said one co-worker toldher, “I’ve been in health carefor 35 years as an A+ employ-ee and now I’m being disci-plined for bogus reasons.”

An Iron Range native,Curnow has family memberswho are Steelworkers and inother unions. Her husband is amember of IBEW Local 242, aconstruction inside wireman.She knew how a union canimprove a worker’s life and shemade the call to USW 9460, aDuluth Labor Temple-basedamalgamated local that repre-sents about 2,400 health careworkers in 14 bargaining unitsfrom environmental specialiststo surgical technologists.

A new LSCHC CEO, in arevolving door of management,made detrimental changes tobenefits and working condi-tions without notice or discus-sion with employees. Fearfulof discipline and possible ter-mination, Curnow and her co-workers were motivated toseek a voice at work by con-cerns about being at-willemployees and protection fromunilateral changes to workrules, policies and benefits.

The professional employeeshad asked the LSCHC Boardof Directors for a meeting todiscuss the toxic work environ-ment.

“We met with their execu-tive board and had a tremen-dous turnout,” Curnow said.“People poured out their souls.The board said they’d have aresponse but they never did.”

CEOs came and went. Thelatest one started May 31.

Support staff workers atLSCHC had already voted inUSW 9460 and had a contractthat protected them. Those 17members work as medical

First Unionized Doctors in Minnesota

and First MDs in USW In an historic organizing

victory medical professionalsat Lake Superior CommunityHealth Center (LSCHC) inDuluth and Superior have rati-fied their first contract and arenow members of USW Local9460. The 11-member unitincludes physicians, physicianassistants, nurse practitioners,registered nurses and behav-ioral health therapists.

They signed a contract May3 that runs through 2018 afteralmost three years of con-tentious negotiations.

They are the first bargainingunit in the United Steelwork-ers, and the first in Minnesota,to include physicians and mid-level health care providers asunion members. In the endtheir desire to have a seat at thetable and a voice in the work-place is no different than that ofany other group of workerssaid Dr. Emily Onello, one ofthree medical doctors in thegroup.

“For doctors and health careprofessionals a healthy workenvironment is the best way totake care of patients,” Dr.Onello said Friday. “We needto feel that our opinion mattersand we need to be able to haveconversation to adapt to thechange we see, especially in acommunity health center.”

(PAI)—Working womenwon big twice at the U.S.Supreme Court June 27 as jus-tices handed down their lastrulings until October. And addtheir June 30 ruling on Fried-richs v. CTA again to the wins(page 5).

The headline win was thecourt voting 5-3 in WholeWomen’s Health v Hellerstadtto throw out Texas’ massiverestrictions on freedom ofchoice in reproductive rights,by invalidating its law that – as

a practical matter – closeddown more than half of thealready too few abortion clinicsin the nation’s second most-populous state. The rulingmakes it clear that similar lawselsewhere would run afoul ofthe law.

Had the justices ruled forTexas, other groups of workers– including union workers –would have seen rights cur-tailed as lower courts interpret-ed that decision in other fields.

The second big win upheldthe Labor Department rulesgiving hundreds of thousandsof home health care workersthe right to earn the minimumwage and overtime pay. A mas-sive majority of such workersare women, minority or both.

DOL and the workers wonin lower courts against thehome health care industry, whotook Home Care Association vWeil to the High Court. Itargued the justices should takethe case in their next term,starting in October. Without

comment, the justices declined.That “no” leaves DOL’s rules– and the prospect of betterwages – intact.

“We are very pleased” thatthe DOL’s rules stand, saidAFSCME President LeeSaunders, whose union repre-sents tens of thousands ofhome health care workers.”That decision upholds theDepartment of Labor’s ruleapplying Fair Labor StandardsAct protections to the morethan 2 million home care work-ers throughout the nation.

“These home care workersoffer essential services to theelderly and disabled, and nowthey can finally receive thewages and overtime pay theydeserve. This will enable themto focus on providing qualityservices so those who are inneed of care can remain athome and live with dignity.”

Labor Secretary ThomasPerez, whose agency pushedthrough the new rules, said that

Letter Carriers Food Drive sets newGuinness Record with 80M pounds in 1-day

The National Association ofLetter Carriers announced June20 that their 24th annual StampOut Hunger® Food Drive, heldSaturday, May 14, collectedmore than 80 million pounds offood, well above the previousrecord of 77 million pounds.That old record from 2011 hadbeen certified by GuinnessWorld Records as the largest

Eleanor Roosevelt in SuperiorThe Douglas County History Theatre is bringing Eleanor

Roosevelt to Superior for a visit. The Roosevelt family’s firstvisit to Superior was in 1892 when James Roosevelt, along withother investors who included John D. Rockefeller, started theWest Superior Iron and Steel Company. Later a young Franklinslipped into the bay during a ship launching and was rescued bya dock worker. Now it’s Eleanor’s turn, to come to town that is.

The Douglas County HistoricalSociety, 1101 John Avenue, will hostRacine, Wisconsin-based FirstImpressions Actor Jessica Michna asEleanor Roosevelt in a one womanshow.

There will be two differentshows, the first on Eleanor will beSaturday, July 30, 7:00 p.m. called“First Lady of the World,” a titlegiven her by President Harry S.Truman.

Sunday, July 31 at 2:00 p.m. willfeature “Brother can you spare adime,” which was a Great Depres-sion song that turned into a docu-mentary film about a poor man who

lost his job and questions the system that allowed it to happen.In Michna’s performance: “Eleanor Roosevelt shares with the

audience her tragedies and triumphs. Born into the opulentwealth of America’s ‘Golden Age’ she would grow from the shy,homely orphan into a confident, driven woman. Annealed bypersonal tragedy she would emerge as a champion of civil rights,an author and a stateswoman.”

Eleanor Roosevelt was a proud, card-carrying member of theAmerican Newspaper Guild, now known as The NewsGuild-CWA, from 1936 until her death in 1962. Her column, “MyDay” from her days as first lady and afterwards, was syndicatedto more than 200 newspapers with more than six million readers.

Soon Eleanor will be the first union member depicted on U.S.currency. She will be on the back of the re-designed $5 bill alongwith Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and opera singer MarianAnderson. Abraham Lincoln will remain on the front of the bill.

Ticket information is available at the Douglas County Histor-ical Society or DouglasHistory.org. Their number is 715-392-8449. Discount tickets are available if you attend both shows.

The History Theatre is accepting RFPs for theatre and musi-cal groups and other artists who are welcome to use their space.

Training kicks off electioncampaigns for Labor 2016You’ve heard a lot about this fall’s elections already but now

it’s time for volunteers who care about working family issues tostep up and help move their agenda.

The North East Area Labor Council and the Minnesota AFL-CIO will kick off Labor 2016 with a campaign school to trainunion activists for the upcoming effort to elect leaders who sharetheir values, and support organizing, collective bargaining, andlabor’s collective policy priorities.

The kickoff in Duluth will be Thursday, July 14, 9 a.m. to 5p.m. in Wellstone Hall of the Labor Temple, 2002 London Road.Register online at aflcio.mn/MNCS2016

Among training topics are:– Why politics matter for union members and families; – messaging for the elections– having good conversations with co-workers and friends; – the latest technology; – organizing at your worksite; – volunteer recruitment.

This is a “you have to be there” training for confirmed andpotential union release staff, union activists, and local unionstaff. In fact everyone is invited to attend these informative andfun sessions that will help build the skills and knowledge need-ed to win elections.

Labor 2016 Days of Action Doorknock dates have been setfor Weds., August 17 (4:30 to 8:30), Thursday, Sept. 8 (4:30 to8:30),, Saturday, Oct. 1 (10 to 2:30), and Saturday, Oct. 15 (10 to2:30).

For more information, contact Bethany Winkels at 320-296-5853 or bwinkels@mnafl cio.org.

CLB screening for countyboard district 5 July 14

On July 14 the Duluth Central Labor Body will complete itsscreening for offices that will be on the election ballot this falland are under its jurisdiction.

The St. Louis County Board District 5 seat will be screenedat 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, July14 in the Duluth Labor Temple’sWellstone Hall. Incumbent Pete Stauber is seeking re-electionand will be opposed by Todd Youngberg. Neither candidate hasan AFL-CIO Labor-endorsement.

“Pete has been a champion for our Building Trades on thecounty board,” said Duluth Building & Construction TradesCouncil President Craig Olson. “Our body will screen July 19and I fully expect our 17 affiliated unions to endorse Pete.”

Central Body screenings are open to all affiliated union mem-bers but endorsements are discussed, and voted on, by affiliatedlocal union delegates only at the Central Body meeting that fol-lows screenings.

one-day, multiple location foodcollection total.

The NALC food drive nowhas surpassed 1.5 billionpounds since it began in 1993.

All the food stays in the areain was collected in and is dis-tributed to local food banks,charities, soup kitchens,pantries and other enterprisesthat feed the needy, union

President Fredric Rolando said.Many of those enterprises hadexhausted the food they hadcollected during the winter andwith kids out of school andmissing those meals, summerscan be hungry

“These results are gratify-ing, because they mean thateven more people will behelped,” Rolando said. “AsLetter Carriers, we are honoredto be able to assist people inneed. On a daily basis we seethe struggles in the communi-ties we serve, and we believeit’s important to do all we canto help. None of this would bepossible without the generosityof residents throughout thecountry.”

Federal data show thatapproximately one of everyseven U.S. residents – 50 mil-lion people – go to bed hungryeach day. They include mil-lions of children, veterans andthe elderly, NALC said.

Preliminary collections datashow that eight NALC localbranches collected more than 1million pounds of food each.The leader, the 1,613-memberOrlando, Fla., merged branch1091, collected 2.233 millionpounds of food.

The other branches withmore than 1 million pounds offood were: Los Angeles Branch24 (1.523 million pounds),Clearwater, Fla., Branch 2008(1.304 million pounds), WestCoast Florida/Pinellas ParkBranch 1477 (1.26 millionpounds), Miami Branch 1071(1.19 million pounds), GardenGrove, Calif., Branch 1100(1.185 million pounds), SanJuan, P.R., Branch 869 (1.046million pounds) and PittsburghBranch 84 (1.034 millionpounds).

In Superior, Wisconsin andnortheast Minnesota just over163,500 pounds was collected.

Other groups aiding thefood drive nationally were theRural Letter Carriers, theUnited Food and CommercialWorkers, the AFL-CIO, thePostal Service, Valpak andValsis.

PAGE 2 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016

Get connected to resources in Minnesota and WisconsinFor services provided by the Community Services Program

sponsored by the Duluth AFL-CIO Central Labor Body andthe Head of the Lakes United Way...Call 218-726-4775

Rachel Loeffler-Kemp, Director424 West Superior St.

Suite 402 Duluth, MN 55802

Donʼt know where to turn? Dial 2-1-1 or 1-800-543-7709 or visit

www.211unitedway.org

AFL-CIOCommunity Services

This image is from theDCHS poster for JessicaMichna’s performanceas Eleanor Roosevelt.

Ironworker RetireesMonthly BreakfastThursday, July 21

9:00 a.m.Bridgeman’s (Mall)Mt. Shadow Drive

I.U.O.E. Local 70Monthly Arrowhead Regional Meeting

Tuesday, July 12, 2016, 5:00 P.M. Duluth Labor Center, Hall B

Dave Monsour, Business Manager, (651) 646-4566

At various events over theyears we’ve heard employeesof St. Louis County voice theirfrustrations with how the coun-ty runs programs. I guess wehear it from county residents aswell. That’s to be expected. It’sa huge county, largest one eastof the Mississippi, and biggerthan most west of it too I bet.It’s some 7,092 square mileswith 200,226 people, and a lotmore coming to visit 1,000lakes, uncountable miles ofrivers, and other “return tonature” attractions for big cityfolks, flat landers, and others...a lot of programs to be run ontaxpayers’ dimes. The mostexpensive is Public Health &Human Services (H&HS),which helps adults, children,families, those with disabili-ties, the elderly, those needingfinancial assistance, and thenthe whole area of public health.

Some criticism of H&HShas found AFSCME Local 66employees pouring their hearts

out about how poorly they areable to do their jobs because ofa lack of resources to do them.

Andy Fena told Sen. Frank-en staffers in Feb. 2015 thatfoster care pays about $565 butchild care can be twice that amonth. “We’re doing a terribleinjustice,” Fena said. The coun-ty is making a big push to findmore foster parents.

“It costs more to board adog than what foster parentsare paid,” Debby Henkin a 30-year employee doing thatrecruiting said at the time.

Jim Gaylord said back thenthat safe staffing ratios in insti-tutions are ridiculous and caus-ing many workers to get beatup by residents. He said privategroup homes are popping upeverywhere with workers get-ting $8 an hour and no training.

In July 2015 at a screeningof county board candidatesDennis Frazier, President ofAFSCME Local 66, said thecounty uses a “Titanic methodof crisis management” whichleads to high stress in the work-place because of caseload. Thecounty even contracts out someof the cases to “millionaireowners using low wage work-ers without health care. We’vegot prevailing wages forBuilding Trades but a Wal-Mart model for county humanservices,” Frazier said. “Childprotection services is reallychild poverty.”

When Zach Sias was hiredto be a North East Area LaborCouncil Field Coordinator onAug. 2, 2012 he has already putin his notice to quit his job withSt. Louis County as a financialworker administering publicassistant grants for their 24,000low income households.

“The program does a poorjob of providing services tothose households,” Sias said.“The program is made to beineffective by the administra-tion and commissioners.”

At a screening for the coun-ty board on June 9, 2016, Sias,now an AFSCME Council 5staffer, told candidates that thecounty’s case managementmodel isn’t good, that there arestaffing and service problemsthat make it a “dehumanizingassembly line” model.

Longtime St. Louis Co.H&HS director Ann Busche

retired this spring. In a nation-wide search for her replace-ment the county plucked risingstar Dave Lee from a similarposition in neighboring CarltonCounty that he had held for 11years. Lee had won numerousawards and recognition for hisinnovative work in H&HS. Hestarted on April 25. Within twomonths he quit and was rehiredby Carlton County on June 27.

In a June 29 article in theDuluth News Tribune by JohnMyers, Lee said “that he foundSt. Louis County to be serious-ly understaffed for the increas-ing casework demanded ofcounty social workers.” Thoseare AFSCME Local 66 folks.

In Myers’ article Leepraised those workers for their“professionalism, but said thereis simply not enough of them.”And the quote from St. LouisCounty Administrator KevinGray in the article? “This cameas a bit of a surprise.” Really?

In that July 23, 2014 screen-ing of county board candidatesSally Thompson told themshe’d had one vacation in tenyears and can’t catch up incoming back to work. It’s notworth taking a vacationbecause of the stress when youreturn. As callous as corporateAmerica is the county and itsnot trying to make a profit.

How about listening to youremployees? Do you use listen-ing sessions and labor manage-ment relations to foster a betterwork climate and produce abetter product for those youserve?

The story about profession-al employees at the LakeSuperior Community Health

Center organizing with USWLocal 9460 has that same man-agement disregard for employ-ees and their input in trying tomake a worksite a better placefor employees and the peoplethey serve. And we complainabout dead retail service.

At the May 18 launch forearned sick and safe time inDuluth and the region DennisFrazier said “Parents in badjobs with no time off are forcedto do things like leave the chil-dren alone or not get neededmedical care quickly enoughthat often feeds them into thechild protection system. Badsituations like these leave par-ents with a host of bad choices.We only need to look at thewords of the Great Abolition-ist, Frederick Douglas, ‘It iseasier to raise a strong child

that it is to repair a brokenadult.’”

St. Louis County, and theDuluth area, have among theworst coverage – about half thejobs – on earned sick and safeopportunities for workers ofanywhere in Minnesota.Employers have abdicated anysense of responsibility.

We need the county to stepup, and to step up its game.

Taxes are the price we payto live in a civilized society.Let’s not be afraid of taxes forpublic services. The H&HSbudget is the largest portion ofmost counties’ budgets. In St.Louis County it is proposed tobe 23.8% of the total for 2016.

Dave Lee will tell you itsnot enough to do the job.Employees have been trying totell us that for a long time.

LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016 PAGE 3

LABOR WORLD(ISSN#0023-6667) is published

semi-monthly except one issue inApril, June, December (21 issues).The known office of publication isLabor World, 2002 London Road,Room 110, Duluth, MN 55812. Periodicals postage is paid at

Duluth MN 55806. POSTMASTER:

Send address changes to: Labor World, 2002 London Rd.,Room 110, Duluth, MN 55812

(218) 728-4469 FAX: (218) 724-1413

laborworld@qwestoffice.netwww.laborworld.org

~ ESTABLISHED 1896 ~Owned by Unions affiliated with the

Duluth AFL-CIO Central Labor BodySubscriptions: $25 Annually

Larry Sillanpa, Editor/ManagerDeborah Skoglund, Bookkeeper

Board of DirectorsPres/Treas Dan Leslie, IBEW 31;

VP Stacy Spexet, USW 9460;Sec Kathleen Adee, Education

MN; Mikael Sundin, Painters &Allied Trades 106; Dan O’Neill,

Plumbers & Steamfitters 11; Al LaFrenier, Workers’ United; Steve Risacher, Carpenters 361;

Tom Cvar, UFCW 1189Scott Dulas, NALC 114

S-70T W I N C I T I E S

D U L U T H

7

~NOTICE~Labor World 2016 issues:

July 20; Aug. 3, 24Labor Day issue;

Sept. 14, 28; Oct. 12, 26General Election issue;

Nov. 16, 30; Dec. 14Holiday issue.

The non-profit Labor World, Inc. is theofficial publication of the Duluth AFL-CIO Central Labor Body. It is an educa-tional, advocacy newspaper for workersand unions. The views and opinions sub-mitted and expressed in the Labor Worlddo not necessarily reflect the views of thepaper, its Board of Directors or staff, theDuluth AFL-CIO Central Labor Body, itsaffiliated unions, their officers, or staff.

Want patriotism? Put hope intheir hearts, not flags in hands

(The following quote is from research and published writ-ing on Labor World founder Sabrie Akin by Dr. Mary Pruitt,now retired as a Minneapolis Community College professor.)

Patriotism was also a prominent theme in the LaborWorld. "In this great battle that we are waging for the res-cue of our liberties," Akin wrote, "we must look for realpatriotism where it is to be found – that is, among the reformforces...[we] propose to fight it out if it takes the remainderof this century and half of the next." Akin demanded actionnot sentiment. On the 4th of July 1896, she editorialized:

Put flags in children's hands to make them patriotic! Putflags on the schoolhouse to make them loyal to their country!What a farce! Put hope in their hearts; put opportunitieswithin their reach; put prospects for progress before themand they will be patriotic.

~Mary C. Pruitt, “Without Gloves and With Knife in Hand:Sabrie G. Akin and Duluth’s Labor World,” MinnesotaHistorical Society Communitas, Journal of Ideas and Letters,Volume II, Number 2, Spring, 1998

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PAGE 4 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016

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These union members and friends of labor made the UnitedWay’s Day of Caring June 22 such a great success that italmost had Alan Netland crying. Well, he was cuttingonions. Rhubarb was cut for the CHUM Rhubarb Fest, heldSaturday, June 25 with a brat stand hosted by the AFL-CIOCommunity Services Program. Building Trades volunteersmade the island on 5th Avenue West weed-free June 22.

People’s Progressive summit strategizes for future to avoid same mistakes

Steve Hunter retires, Julie Blaha hired as Minnesota AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer

By John Wojcik, Editor,People’s World

CHICAGO (PAI)--Morethan 3,000 progressive andcommunity leaders andactivists who backed SenatorBernie Sanders (Ind-Vt) in thisyear’s Democratic presidentialprimaries spent a weekend atthe People’s Summit inChicago strategizing for thefuture and discussing how tokeep his movement – and theirs– going through and after theNovember elections.

The thrust of their argumentwas that although it is impor-tant that Donald Trump and theRepublicans suffer a massivedefeat, it is equally critical theirmovements continue to grow.

“Yes, we have to elect Hil-lary Clinton to defeat DonaldTrump,” said CUNY politicalscientist Frances Scott Piven.“But we can’t let electoral pol-itics swallow up the move-ments. There are Democraticpresidents who did great things-- Johnson and Kennedy forcivil rights, Franklin Rooseveltfor workers’ rights and this canhappen again. But those presi-dents did those great thingsbecause of mass movementsthat made them do those

Steve Hunter, Secretary-Treasurer of theMinnesota AFL-CIO, retired this spring.

In August 2001, Hunter succeeded RayWaldron as secretary-treasurer when Waldronbecame the federation’s president. Hunter con-tinued to serve as secretary-treasurer under SharKnutson and, most recently, Bill McCarthy.

Hunter joined the American Federation ofState, County and Municipal Employees, in1975 when, bachelor’s degree in hand from theUniversity of Minnesota, he started working asa graphic designer for the City of Minneapolis.

Hunter was president of MinneapolisEmployees Local 9, president of AFSCMECouncil 14, an executive board member of theMinneapolis Central Labor Union Council , aMinnesota AFL-CIO vice-president andAFSCME’s full-time state political director.

Hunter also served as a Regent of theUniversity of Minnesota and on the Minnesota

Fair Trade Coalition.He was a longtimemember of the adviso-ry committee of theUniversity of Minne-sota Labor EducationService.

On June 21 the statefed’s General Boardunanimously electedJulie Blaha to serve asHunter’s replacement.

Blaha was Presidentof Anoka-HennepinEducation Minnesotafrom 2010 to 2014 and

is currently a Mathematics and Science Teacherat Jackson Middle School in Champlin.

“Growing up in a union household, I learnedfirsthand how important the labor movement isto sustaining families and improving the livesof all working people,” said Blaha. “I took myfather’s belief in fairness and hard work withme both into teaching and leading my localunion. I’m excited to bring those values andexperience to the Minnesota AFL-CIO.”

With Blaha’s election, she becomes the firstclassroom teacher and Education Minnesotamember to serve as a Minnesota AFL-CIOexecutive officer and the first woman elected tothe office of Secretary-Treasurer.

“I’ve known Julie for a number of years andMinne-sota’s union members will be wellserved by the leadership and experience shebrings to the state federation,” said MinnesotaAFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy. “I’m look-ing forward to workingside by side with Julieto grow Minnesota’slabor movement,strengthen our relation-ships with communityallies, and advocate forpolicies that benefit allworking Minnesotans.”

The MinnesotaAFL-CIO state laborfederation has morethan 1,000 affiliatedunions, representingmore than 300,000working people.

Friedrichs rehearing denied A one-line order issued by the U.S. Supreme Court June 30

had unions, especially public unions, cheering again nationwide. Here’s how it read: REHEARING DENIED 14-915

FRIEDRICHS, REBECCA, ET AL. V. CA TEACHERS ASSOC.,ET AL. The petition for rehearing is denied.

What it means is that the 8-member Supreme Court, still onemember short after Justice Antonin Scalia died in February, willnot rehear Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association that ithad tersely ruled on in March. The Supreme Court voted 4 to 4on the case, which upheld a lower court ruling that sided with theCalifornia teachers’ union and not the union busting lobby.

Anti-union organizations had gotten teacher RebeccaFriedrichs to file the case against having to pay fair share duesfor bargaining on her behalf. Those dues are required even if aperson isn’t a member of the union because they chose not to be.

Given the deep pockets of the anti-union organizations, andthe momentum of the Friedrichs case, it is probably only a mat-ter of time until a new fair share case is filed.

Senate Republicans have refused to hold a hearing forPresident Obama’s nominee to replace Scalia, Judge MerrickGarland. They hope to leave the seat vacant for nine months untilRepublican Donald Trump is elected president and can make hisappointment. In the meantime any 4 to 4 decisions made by thecourt means a case will revert to the lower court ruling thatbrought it to the Supreme Court.

Two recent huge decisions on affirmative action for colleges,and on federal abortion rights versus state laws, found conserva-tive Justice Anthony Kennedy voting with his progressive col-leagues to move the measures.

things.”The top union leader at the

June 17-19 conference, Rose-Ann De Moro, executive direc-tor of National Nurses United,agreed. “There is a movementof millions now that rejectsneo-liberal foreign policy andausterity policy for the peoplehere at home. We reject a soci-ety that has as its norm the ideathat if it doesn’t make money ithas no value.” NNU was anearly backer and major boosterof Sanders’ presidential cam-paign. “To us a free society andsecurity means Medicare forAll, $15 an hour, free collegeeducation, a government thattakes climate change seriouslyand a Wall Street that pays itsfair share,” De Moro declared.

Although there were manyunion members in attendanceat the conference, NNU wasthe only major national unionthere. But if unions as organi-zations were underrepresented,the workers’ movements werenot. They included activists inthe Fight for 15, Medicare forAll, students fighting for reliefof piled up debt, people fight-ing voter disenfranchisement,movements for criminal lawand prison reform and others.

Whether activists agreed aboutvoting for Clinton is anothermatter. Random samples bymedia showed no one wouldvote for Trump, but many wereleery of Clinton’s business tiesand foreign policy.

One was CongresswomanTulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, wholinked fighting against the neo-liberal approach to foreign pol-icy to freeing up space andfunds for domestic issues.Gabbard quit her position onthe Democratic National Com-mittee so she could campaignfor Sanders. After demandingthe U.S. “stop overthrowinggovernments it does not like,”Gabbard, an Army NationalGuard and Iraq veteran andmedal winner, added “here athome we will never be able torealize healthcare for all, $15an hour and the social and eco-nomic justice we fight for aslong as these military adven-tures like the ones in Iraq,Afghanistan, Libya and Syriadrain our federal budget. Stopthe regime change, stop thewars and rebuild America.”

DeMoro warned againstrepeating the mistake progres-sives made when PresidentObama was elected in 2008 on

a movement built on hope andchange. “The moment he gotinto office, the movement wentaway and Wall Street occupiedthe White House, and like ter-mites they ate away at the foun-dation of democracy. What’sdifferent about this moment isthat there is a new urgency...particularly about a lack ofgood jobs, which is creating

anger across the political spec-trum...Today’s unemployedand underemployed feel thereis a certain level of desperationwhen you can’t take care ofyourself and you can’t takecare of your family, and youend up doing one of two things:You go around looking forscapegoats or you try to organ-ize yourself to change things.”

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LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016 PAGE 5

Steve HunterJulie Blaha

(Diane O’Brien photo)

Civics 2016: Teachers report this presidential campaign scares childrenBy Mark GruenbergPAI Staff WriterA California fifth-grader

has “full-blown panic attacks”in school because the studentfears being deported.

A Muslim teenaged girl inWashington state had suicidalthoughts after her classmatesrepeatedly shouted anti-Islamicslurs at her. Some other chantselsewhere: “ISIS”, “terrorist.”

An Oklahoma grade schoolteacher reports: “My kids areterrified of (Donald) Trumpbecoming president. Theybelieve he will deport them –and NONE of them areHispanic. They’re all African-American.”

And a Michigan high schoolteacher has to keep defendingthe rights of minorities to holddifferent views in an atmos-phere “where the rhetoric hasset up a school community thatis hostile to conservatives andthe Republican Party.

“It makes it difficult if notimpossible to take sides in myclassroom because I can’t besilent in the face of this rheto-ric, lest I lose my students’respect or trust.”

Welcome to the 2016 presi-dential campaign and its trau-matic, scary effect on kids.

That’s detailed in a newreport from the SouthernPoverty Law Center, thenation’s leading tracker andmonitor of hate groups, crimesand bigotry. For years, theSPLC has also run a “TeachTolerance” curriculum for thenation’s schools, which are stillviewed as the top way youngpeople are socialized into U.S.society’s norms, including tol-erance for minorities.

This year’s presidentialcampaign has undone a lot ofthat progress, SPLC reports.And it’s also traumatized mil-lions of students, from kinder-garten all the way through 12thgrade.

That’s what the SPLC foundin its informal online survey ofthe nation’s teachers, fromMarch 23-April 2. Some 2,000responded. The poll data inTeaching The 2016 Electionpainted a bad enough picture.The 5,000 comments from theteachers made it even worse:

• 67 percent reported theirstudents were concerned aboutwhat might happen to them ortheir families after the election.The fears came mostly fromchildren of immigrants, Mus-lims, African-Americans, andchildren of color. As a source,20 percent of teachers men-

tioned presumed GOP presi-dential nominee Trump. Fewerthan 200 combined namedother hopefuls.

“Close to one-third of stu-dents in U.S. classrooms arechildren of foreign-born par-ents. This year they are scared,stressed and in need of reassur-ance and support from teach-ers. Muslim children areharassed and worried. Evennative-born African-Americanchildren, whose familiesarrived here before the revolu-tion, ask about being sent backto Africa…We heard of stu-dents from second grade tohigh school crying in class,”out of fear, SPLC says.

A North Carolina highschool teacher reports her“Latino students carry theirbirth certificates and SocialSecurity cards to schoolbecause they’re afraid they’llbe deported.”

• Half of the teachers saw“an increase in uncivil politicaldiscourse” among students.“More than one-third haveobserved an increase in anti-Muslim or anti-immigrant sen-timent.”

• Some teachers are tacklingthe problem. Many aren’t.Others spend their time tryingto reassure their students thatthey’ll be safe. “Teachers ingeneral are very protective oftheir students and sensitive totheir pain,” SPLC reports.

But 43 percent of the teach-ers, including half of the ele-mentary school teachers, areavoiding teaching about thecampaign altogether – eventhough normal presidentialelection years see classroomsfestooned with red-white-and-blue bunting and age-appropri-ate lessons in history andcivics. By contrast, “I try not tobring it up,” an Arlington, Va.,teacher says about the cam-paign, “since it is so stressfulfor my kids.”

• Some school administra-tors ban political discussions,with the report citing instancesin Virginia and Colorado, plusone New England teacher whodecided not to discuss the cam-paign because “I need my job,so I must walk this fine line.”

• Other teachers “are throw-ing caution to the winds” andtalking about the campaign.They know it surrounds andimpacts their students. “I amless neutral,” said a Jersey City,N.J., high school teacher. “Iwant to reassure my studentsthat I don’t buy into racist rhet-oric.”

A teacher in Washingtonstate said: “This is probably thefirst time I haven’t been unbi-ased about” a political cam-paign. “My students need toknow that some of what theyare witnessing is not OK.”Added an Indianapolis teacher:“I am at the point where I’mgoing to take a stand even if itcosts me my position.”

• The campaign and its rhet-oric pervade every classroom,as the kids talk about it withteachers, at home and witheach other. “I am not a historyteacher, but the issues of thiselection are spilling over intoeverything,” a San Diego

teacher said. An Arlington,Texas, high school teacher saidher students tell her “they feelalienated from a particularmath teacher who advocatesfor Trump.” Other teachersreported students usingTrump’s name as a slur.

• The teachers want “factualcandidate profiles, facts aboutthe issues and fact-based expla-nations of policy differences(their emphasis),” the reportsays. Several teachers taughtsessions about media coverageand fact-checking, discussingfact-checking websites. Butsome parents complain aboutthose sessions, and about

teaching students to think criti-cally.

• One positive point is aheightened interest in politicsby students at all levels. Someteachers use that to instruct thestudents about the politicalprocess. But even then, there’sa downside. “One thing thatworries me is that this is thefirst presidential campaign myhigh school students are oldenough to understand,” said ateacher from Edmonds, Wash.“I hope they don’t walk awaythinking this is what politics isall about.”

The report is available onwww.splcenter.org

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PAGE 6 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016

Operating Engineers #49, Laborers #1091, Teamsters #346, and a malcontent member ofPainters #106 are picketing a new $6 million St. Luke’s Clinic being built in Hermantownbehind Sam’s Club. The new clinic will replace an existing one near Skyline Lanes. Whilemost contractors on the site are union, the excavating contract was awarded to Twin PortsExcavating, a non-union company, by St. Luke’s.

BGA plan for making public buildings more energy efficient a jobs plan Energy efficiency is on

everybody’s lips in trying tomake their home and workenvironments run better, andprobably more importantly,more inexpensively. For theBlueGreen Alliance, a coalitionof labor unions and environ-mental groups, it also meanscurbing climate change, creat-ing family-sustaining jobs, andinvigorating the economy byimplementing energy efficien-cy policies.

BGA’s Bree Halverson saidtheir MUSH (municipal build-ings, universities, schools, and

USW 9460 win historic...from page 1found guilty of the NLRB charges,” Curnow said. “We’ve

had a lot of turnover and some of the new employees are still try-ing to figure things out.” She said everyone is pleased with theirpay raises and the protection a union contract gives them frombeing at-will employees.

As the president of the new unit Curnow said she’s trying tofigure things out too. She’ll receive training for that this month.

“It’s been an interesting journey, and I’m certainly proud tobe part of the Steelworkers,” said Dr. Onello, who teaches at theUniversity of Minnesota Medical School on UMD’s campus inthe Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.She still works one day a week at LSCHC, and she sends stu-dents there for work experience.

Ironically Dr. Onello’s department is not part of the UMDfaculty union, the University Education Association affiliatedwith Education Minnesota. It is affiliated with the UM MainCampus faculty which filed for a union election this year but isbeing contested in court by the University.

Dr. Onello gave kudos to USW 9460 President Stacy Spexetand staff rep Cathy Drummond for helping organize the LSCHSunits and leading them in bargaining.

“Their expertise, knowledge and experience were pricelessfor us, and you can quote me on that,” she said.

Spexet said it is exciting to have physicians, who have his-torically owned their practices, join the USW. “Because a lot ofphysicians are not organized, I think it’s going to help us as anInternational with the Health Care Workers Council. It justmakes us stronger as a whole.”

Curnow hopes their efforts can help improve health care. “Beyond having a voice at work, my big picture – and I said

this all along to my co-workers as we organized – was to try andtake health care back into the hands of actual providers asopposed to being in the hands of management and insurancecompanies,” Curnow said.

LSCHC provides comprehensive primary and preventivehealth care, medical, and dental services for low-income andmedically underserved communities in the Twin Ports, with clin-ics in Duluth and Superior, Wisconsin. The new bargaining unitmembers work both clinics.

“As our nation’s health care system undergoes major chan-ges, more and more doctors and other health professionals areworking in large health systems rather than in private practice,”said Emil Ramirez, USW District 11 Director. “One way to makesure that health care providers continue to have an effectivevoice in patient care is to ensure their right to bargain collective-ly.”

The USW’s thriving Health Care Council represents some50,000 workers across the U.S., Canada, and Caribbean in healthcare fields. The council’s local unions cover a wide range ofworkplaces including hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, assistedliving facilities and at-home elder care.

The USW represents 850,000 workers in North Americaemployed in a wide range of industries. The USW’s District 11includes Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana,Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

USW@Work contributed to this story.

hospitals) program seeks toachieve 20 percent of compli-ance toward the Clean PowerPlan by reducing energy use inthose buildings.

The CPP has been draftedbut not implemented yet.

Over two dozen labor lead-ers attended a BGA panel dis-cussion in the Labor Templelast Thursday to hear aboutthose efforts to bring energyefficiency to city, county,school, and hospital buildings.

Design shortfalls in theDuluth Public Library and theGovernment Services Center in

Duluth, both built about 30years ago, make the subjectmatter real here as does thelarge number of old buildingsin town.

Sam Gomberg, who leadsthe Midwest Energy Analysisfor the Union of ConcernedScientists, said other states, andeven some municipalities, areseeing great returns on theirinvestments in green banks.They are state institutions thatprovide financial products toassist homes, businesses, andinstitutions with developingclean energy by leveraging lowcost, private sector capital.

Financing costs for these

Women win incourt...from page 1“until this rule, this growing

and increasingly importantgroup of workers...were left outof the American promise of afair day’s pay for a hard day’swork. It undermines America’sbasic bargain when an estimat-ed 40 percent of home careworkers rely on public assis-tance to make ends meet.”

“For the first time since theLabor Department erroneouslyexempted these workers fromthe Fair Labor Standards Act in1975, America’s home careworkers...have unequivocalassurance that the law is ontheir side, and that at last, theyhave the fundamental federalfair-pay rights most other U.S.workers have long enjoyed,”added Christine Owens of theNational Employment LawProject.

The court “protects millionsof women in Texas and acrossour country who will be able tocontinue to make their personalreproductive and healthcarechoices with their doctor andcare team – which is as itshould be for every woman,everywhere,” said SEIUPresident Mary Kay Henry.“Today’s outcome underscoresthe pivotal role the SupremeCourt plays in people’s livesand why we must continue tofight extremist attacks onworking women and all work-ing people...we know millionsof working people must unitein a wider movement to win onthe interconnected issues thataffect us, from reproductiveand healthcare justice and eco-nomic justice to racial andimmigrant justice and environ-mental justice. We are commit-ted to taking the fight to build abetter future for our families allthe way to the ballot box inNovember.”

programs are typically lowerbecause the state backing low-ers their risk. Kentucky, Penn-sylvania, and Iowa are among11 states that have green banks.Gomberg said the UnitedKingdom has a strong pro-gram. The City of Ann Arbor,Michigan has a program.

“There is money to be madein these kinds of investmentswhile lowering capital costs,risks, and increasing employ-ment,” Gomberg said.

They can still be a tough sellto financial institutions, whichmay see them as unsecuredloans with poor pay back onretrofits for energy efficiency.But success stories are startingto win them over.

“We see about a 5 or 10 toone return of investment,”Gomberg said. “Michigan hasseen a 20 to 1 return. And therehas been only about a two per-cent loan loss rate.”

Rep. Mike Sundin said a2013 Clean Energy Jobs Billbecame law in DFL-controlledMinnesota that was designed toimplement many aspects of agreen bank, including a grantprogram for local governmentsto move on energy efficiencyprojects. But the law seems tohave lost its traction and hasn’tbeen promoted by state govern-ment. For labor leaders that’sakin to having good labor lawsbut not enforcing them.

Rep. Sundin, Business Mar-

keting Consultant for thePainters & Allied TradesDistrict Council 82, cautionedthat past programs thataddressed energy efficiencyonly created dead end jobs.

“I hope there are labor stan-dards for any grants that will beavailable in loan programs,”Sundin said.

Halverson said fair con-tracting standards are part ofthe work being done on theissue at the University ofCalifornia-Berkeley.

Dan Olson, InternationalRepresentative for the LaborersUnion, which is a BGA mem-ber, said his union is investingheavily with millions of dollarsfrom their pension funds forresearch on how to get in onenergy efficiency. They expectthe demand for electricity togrow by 14% by 2030, result-ing in a 21% shortage.

“We had a LIUNA webinaryesterday that said we’d need46,000 acres of solar panelsthat would cost $21 billion tofill the clean energy shortageby 2030,” Olson said. “This isa big deal for us. We are invest-ing in ourselves.”

If combatting climatechange, environmental degra-dation and pollution, whileshoring up our aging infra-structure and buildings and cre-ating good jobs are all part ofthe plan, it makes you wonderwhere you sign up.

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LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016 PAGE 7

Grocers refuse to address UFCW concerns

Christensen first woman tolead UFCW in Minnesota

On June 29 the Executive Board of United Food &Commercial Workers Local 1189 elected Jennifer Christensen toserve out the remainder of retired President Don Seaquist’s term.She is the first woman to hold that position.

Newly elected President Christensenspoke to a room filled to capacity in theDuluth Labor Temple, home to UFCW’sNorthern Division:

“I would like to thank you – the mem-bers, for allowing me to work for you –this is the best job in the world. Mythanks to the Executive Board for theiraffirmation of my ability to lead ourgreat Local. Thank you to the staff foryour hard work and partnership in thefight for worker justice.

“I honor and am humbled by thewomen who blazed the trails before me

and beside me – and for the men who open doors and showedthat there are no glass ceilings in this Union. This is an historicday - a woman as a UFCW President in Minnesota - it is some-thing that hasn’t been done before and it speaks to the nature ofour membership.

“I am so proud to be a member of this Union and stand in sol-idarity with all of you. Our Union has done an awesome job instanding up for the workers in our industries and in our commu-nities – but there is much more that needs to be done. In the wordof George Meany – the first president of the AFL- CIO, ‘Labornever quits. We never give up the fight no matter how tough theodds, no matter how long it takes. Brothers and Sisters, we arestronger together and together we will win.”

Other officers elected by the Executive Board were: JimGleb, Secretary Treasurer, Jeanine Owusu, Recording Secretary.Director of Organizing Abraham Wangnoo administered the oathof office to the new officers, including Scottie Rotter, the newestVice President who was elected at the Board’s May meeting.

UFCW 1189 represents over 10,000 members working inretail, health care, meatpacking, manufacturing, food processingindustries; our members also work as pharmacists, paramedics,barbers, truck drivers and in non-profit and public agencies inNorthern, East Metro and Southeastern Minnesota, WesternWisconsin and North Dakota.

The United Food and Com-mercial Workers (UFCW)Local 1189 Union NegotiatingCommittee meet with theArrowhead Retail Grocers’Alliance (ARGA) employersat the Duluth Labor Temple fora short but highly animatedskirmish over contract negotia-tions in late June. The contractexpired in April.

The two sides got backtogether after about 1,400UFCW members covered bythe agreements voted down theemployers’ offer by a widemargin.

ARGA grocers involved inbargaining include: Cub FoodsGrand Rapids, Mount RoyalFine Foods in Duluth, and 13Super One stores in Superiorand northern Minnesota.

UFCW Representative TomCvar outlined the reasonsmembers gave for the rejection.

Among them were: • part-time grocery mem-

bers objected to having theirentire increase go to health carepremiums;

• multiple pay scales for thesame job;

• reduction of top rates insome categories; and,

• the extension of the time ittakes to get to the top of thescales.

Full-time grocery workersvoted “no” - expressing theirsolidarity with their parttimeco-workers and demanding afair contract for all.

Meat cutters rejected theemployers’ proposal for a two-tiered wage scale with lowerrates for new journeymen intheir contract.

The employers appeared tohave returned to the table inJune with no intention ofaddressing union members’

concerns. With finger pointingand bombastic rhetoric, AGRArepresentative Mark Schneiderwent so far as to insult and dis-parage the union members onthe committee - a commentSecretary Treasurer JenniferChristensen strongly andvocally challenged, sending theemployers from the room.

UFCW requested updatedemployee information from theemployers in order to assessthe current situation in thestores. The employers returnedonly briefly after their theatri-cal exodus to state that theywould gather the informationand contact the FederalMediation & ConciliationService mediator for anothertime to get together.

Cvar said the next round oftalks have been set for July 21and 22.

In December of 2013, theMinnesota Supreme Court decideda case called DYKOFF vs. EXCELENERGY. Since then employersand insurance companies haveinterpreted the ruling very broadlyand used it to deny injured workersthe benefits they deserve.

We do not believe that eliminatinga broad range of comp claims wasthe intent of this decision. We do

believe that most of the workers,who have been rejected, will get fairbenefits in the end.

If you have received a "benefitsdenied" letter using some of thereasons shown in red above, give usa call. It costs you nothing to meetwith us. We can help youunderstand where your comp claimstands in light of the DykoffDecision.

PAGE 8 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016

Jennifer Christensen

Members of UFCW Local 1189’s negotiating team for theircontract with area grocers are staying strong during toughnegotiations. Workers rejected the last offer. (Photo byJennifer Christensen, UFCW 1189 President)