It has been a commonplace to say that Joe Biden has been the most pro-labor president since ... well, forever. But Tim Walz may boast an even more supportive record of accomplishments for unions and working people; Walz even walked a picket line during last fall's United Auto Workers strike.
Timothy Noah explains:
The centerpiece of Walz’s labor policy is S.F. 3035, a law he signed in May 2023 that the news website Minnesota Reformer described as potentially “the most significant worker protection bill in state history.” The law requires Minnesota employers to grant full-time workers at least six paid sick days per year; bans noncompete clauses in new employment contracts; bans “captive audience” meetings, in which workers are required to listen managers’ anti-union messaging; establishes a board to set minimum pay and benefits for nursing home workers; extends job protections to meatpackers who refuse work they deem too dangerous; designates general contractors in the construction industry as joint employers jointly responsible for any wage theft committed by their subcontractors; and requires warehouse distribution centers (notably, Amazon’s) to furnish workers with clearer instructions on their expected work pace and also data on how well those workers are meeting those expectations.
In addition, the bill allows classroom size in public schools to be negotiated through collective bargaining and extends to early education and adult education teachers the same contract protections enjoyed by K-12 teachers.
Governor Walz signs bill creating paid family leave
... in May Walz signed a bill requiring Uber, Lyft, and other rideshare companies to pay drivers a minimum of $1.28 per mile and 31 cents per minute (excluding tips). According to the Service Employees International Union, this constituted a 14 percent increase over the average driver’s 2022 compensation. No other state has established a pay minimum for rideshare drivers. This precedent probably doesn’t thrill Harris’s brother-in-law, Tony West, who’s preparing to go on leave as Uber’s chief legal officer to work on her campaign as “family-member surrogate” (whatever that means).
Walz left Congress with a lifetime score from the AFL-CIO of 93 percent,...
Okay --he's a Minnesotan, long a very good place for labor. Still, this guy is special.
2 comments:
How great to hear. I wonder how he got the captive audience language in. Generally such issues are simply referred to the feds.
Hi Anon: I too reacted with curiosity to that about the captive meetings. Noah is a good reporter, so I was trusting. Maybe historically progaressive MN has residual good state law ,,,
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