What messages move working-class voters – and other labor news

Striking Minneapolis park workers affiliated with LIUNA Local 363 march to the park headquarters on July 24, 2024. Photo by Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer.

Take a seat in the Break Room, our weekly roundup of labor news in Minnesota and beyond. This week: workers vote on the economy; Minnesotans can leave work to vote early; Trump’s visit to McDonald’s puts spotlight on the minimum wage debate; Missouri elementary school named for custodian; and Boeing workers reject the second tentative agreement.

Workers vote on the economy

Union leaders in Minnesota are leaning on the pro-labor policies that Democrats have adopted over the past two years and control the state government as they knock on doors and call on their members to get workers to the polls.

“The trifecta gave us a lot of things to talk about,” said Hannah Alstead, political director of the Teamsters Joint Council 32, which represents more than 85,000 workers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and the Dakotas.

She rattled off a list of new state laws, including unemployment insurance for hourly school workers; the Warehouse Worker Safety Act, which aims to protect workers at Amazon and similar warehouses; the Refinery Safety Act; the ban on so-called captive audience meetings, where management forces employees to listen to anti-union talk; earned sick and safe time; and paid medical leave with family.

The Teamsters are focusing their efforts on competitive races in the State House – backing Democrats in the Twin Cities suburbs such as Zack Stephenson, Brian Rains, Jen Fox and Lucia Wrobleski.

But they also make sure their members know they have endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket. The International Teamsters refused to endorse a candidate for president and released polls showing majority support for Trump among their members. But that announcement was followed by scores of Teamster residents and joint councils rallying behind Harris.

Alstead said they are reminding their members of Governor Tim Walz’s record in support of unions and President Joe Biden signing the bill that prevented reductions in pension benefits for some 350,000 Teamsters.

SEIU State Council Executive Director Brian Elliott said they are on track to have 300 staff and members knock on doors or work on the phones in Minnesota and Wisconsin. They’re talking about protecting the gains they’ve made with the Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board, which will increase wages for all nursing home workers, as well as paid sick leave.

“I get more questions from our organizers about earned sick and safe time than anything else,” Elliott said.

Polls show that these economic messages resonate most with voters — perhaps even popular enough for one former trade union leader and independent populist to win a U.S. Senate seat in ruby-red Nebraska.

The Center for Labor Politics and Jacobin results released A recent poll of Pennsylvania voters found that Vice President Kamala Harris’ most popular hypothetical message was about lowering prices, standing up for corporate interests and taxing billionaires.

The populist economic message outperformed messages about immigration and abortion, while the least popular message focused on Trump as a convicted felon and a threat to democracy. That line of attack is prominent in Harris’ campaign – and for obvious reasons with two four-star generals who served in the Trump administration (John Kelly And Mark Milley) called the former president a “fascist.”

Grain of salt: The Ideological Group’s Poll concludes that the Ideological Group’s message is the best, but this poll’s findings — based on a survey of 1,000 eligible voters in Pennsylvania — are consistent with numerous other voter surveys showing that the economics is the biggest concern for voters, although a Gallup poll found that democracy was the most important issue for Democrats.

Dustin Guastella, research associate at the Center for Working-Class Politics and director of operations for Teamsters Local 623, wrote in the Guardian that he worried the Harris campaign is wasting the final days of the election focused on Trump instead of a message that resonates more strongly with voters.

“Every ad or speech that whines about the Trumpian threat is one less opportunity for Harris to focus on her popular economic policies,” Guastella wrote.

Minnesota workers can leave work to vote early

Minnesota workers are right to leave work to vote on Election Day on Nov. 5 or, due to a 2023 law change, to vote early. Employees may only take as much time as they need to vote, while employers may not deduct employees’ wages, personal leave or vacation for this time.

According to the minister, employers may not deny or interfere with the rights of employees, even if they choose to vote.

Minnesota has one of the most pro-voter laws in the country — allowing early voting, same-day registration and no-excuse absentee voting — helping boost the state’s voter turnout. the highest in the country where almost 80% of eligible voters will cast their vote in 2020.

Trump’s visit to McDonald’s draws attention to the low minimum wage

Former President Donald Trump spent about 15 minutes this weekend donning an apron and serving fries at a McDonald’s in suburban Philadelphia, trying to burnish his image with working-class voters (and sell more merchandise).

Then a reporter asked Trump if that was the case he supported raising the minimum wagewhich has been locked federally and in Pennsylvania at $7.25 per hour for 15 years. He objected, “Well, I think this. These people work hard. They’re great. And I just saw something… a process that is beautiful.”

To critics, it was classic Trump: working-class optics, plutocrat policies.

That prompted Vice President Kamala Harris come for supportt of raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

During her campaign, Harris has often emphasized her middle-class roots by talking about her her own experience in college at McDonald’swhere, according to the fast food giant, 1 in 8 Americans will work at some point.

Most Americans said in a Pew Research that they supported raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour poll in 2021 – before inflation became a central issue in national politics – and minimum wage measures were consistently passed, even in red states.

Primary school named after custodian

CBS News a heart-warming story told about an elementary school in Swedeborg, Missouri, named after the school’s dedicated administrator, Claudene Wilson.

For the past thirty years, Wilson has mopped the floors of the elementary school, as well as driving the school bus, supervising lunch, mowing the lawn and changing light bulbs. All of this often led to her working twelve hours a day, which she said was worth it for the children.

“Children, the children are in your heart,” she said.

The students say she is a beloved presence and role model.

“That’s what everyone should want to be, you know,” student Alex Lein said. “That’s what I would like to be.”

Boeing employees reject the contract offer and extend the strike

Unionized Boeing workers, who have been on strike for nearly six weeks, rejected a second tentative deal on Wednesday that would increase wages by more than 35% over four years but did not include the restoration of their defined benefit pension plan that lasted 10 years ago was frozen.

“How do they expect someone to stay with the company if they don’t have a pension plan or better investments?” Boeing employee Darryl Shore told the New York Times.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents about 33,000 striking Boeing workers, said 64% of voters rejected the offer, sending the two sides back to the negotiating table.

Bloomberg reported The strike has forced Boeing to suspend work on its most popular plane, the 737, as well as the larger 767 and 777, further straining the airline, which is still recovering from the fiasco of a door blowing off in mid-air earlier this year. comes under further pressure. Hours before the union vote, the company reported a $6 billion loss and said earlier this month it would have to cut its workforce by about 10%.

The impasse has led to gridlock in the Biden administration. Labor Secretary Julie Su traveled to Seattle last week to meet with union and Boeing leaders.