Governor wannabe Tom Emmer says public employees have it too good. He recently told business leaders that he’d eliminate our defined benefit pensions: “They [public employees] get the guarantee of their secure future, while the rest of us, if we’re lucky enough to have a 401k plan, are watching it ride the rollercoaster of the market and we’re either delaying retirement or wondering if we’re ever going to be able to retire.” Watch the video. Download the flyer and share it with your co-workers.

AFSCME International is running a new television ad, entitled “Doors,” which focuses on the choice voters will face in the November election. While Congressional Democrats pushed through a jobs bill that kept the doors open at local schools, libraries and senior centers, Republicans voted to lay off hundreds of thousands of Americans. While Democrats looked out for us, paying for this bill by eliminating corporate loopholes, Republicans looked out for CEOs who shipped jobs overseas. It’s a clear choice this November. Either we open doors to a better future or we slam the door in its face. Watch the ad.

Labor Day begs the question: What does organized labor want? The answer is simple and timeless. We want what most workers want. We want a better life for ourselves and our families. We want to unite and change the things that oppress most workers today. Read the full commentary by Eliot Seide, executive director of AFSCME Council 5.

AFSCME stewards are our union's lifeblood. They’re the frontline volunteers who get things done for our union and its members. Please welcome these new stewards, who graduated from Basic Steward Training in August. Front row (left to right): Theresa Anderson (State Courts Local 3688), Marie Bjerkett (Ramsey County Human Services Local 151), Rebecca Ouimet-Lewis (151), Barbara Olson (Hennepin County Human Services Local 34), Dawn Flores (151), Stephanie Cegars (151), Alison Kelly (Ramsey County Local 8), Pat Williams (Public Safety Local 3142) and Barb Christianson (Washington County Local 517). Back Row (left to right): Matt Johnson (Oak Park Heights Corrections Local 915), Rick Manzke (Lino Lakes Corrections Local 2728), Raberta Washington (151), Jim Nephen (St. Louis County Local 3761), John Kelly (915), Paul Brannick (2728), Todd Childers (2728), John Ricard (MnDOT Local 221), Cliff Fleishmann (Minneapolis Local 9) and Carolyn Kyles (HCMC Local 2474).

Public employees have traded raises for better benefits. Yes, we enjoy good health insurance, paid vacation and sick leave – the kind of benefits that all workers deserve. But, we earn about 11 percent less than someone doing the same job in the private sector (check the facts). That means the average AFSCME member, who earns $38,000 a year, would make $4,180 more. That’s the truth, but cheap-labor conservatives are trying to pit public workers against private workers with lies about our pay and work habits. Their real agenda is to strip all workers of their wages, benefits and health care. They especially hate labor unions, because wages go up when workers stick together. Watch AFSCME's Eliot Seide destroy the cheap-labor agenda. He went head-to-head with the Taxpayers League on FOX-9 news August 9.

Don’t miss Council 5’s kiosk at the State Fair Labor Pavilion, located at the corner of Dan Patch Ave. and Cooper St. in St. Paul. The fair runs Aug. 26 through Labor Day, Sept. 6. We’ll be there every day from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Stop by and chat with one of our 80 volunteers like Fasil Wordofa of MnDOT Local 221, who’s shown here. Get a “Tax the Rich” button and learn who is not paying their fair share to help us provide the public services people need.

Look at your hands and think about what they do for the people of Minnesota. For AFSCME members, public service isn’t just a job; it’s a calling to make a real difference in the world we live in. It’s a chance to truly affect our neighbors, their families and even strangers we’ve never met. We proudly take on the responsibility of being part of what keeps our state strong and healthy. With members in hundreds of different occupations – from librarians to corrections officers, counselors to chemists, and child care providers to sanitation workers – AFSCME is the voice of the dedicated workers who take care of Minnesota. Watch our new video, titled These Hands, to see some of the vital services we provide.

Hiway Federal Credit Union and KS95 invite you to enjoy a free lunch to honor hardworking public employees and military families in Minnesota. It’s rain or shine on Wednesday, Sept. 8 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the upper mall of the State Capitol. Look for the KS95 van and tents with free lunch and beverages (while supplies last) from Subway and Vitamin Water Zero. You can also meet KS95 Morning Show hosts Greg and Melissa, and spin their prize wheel to win Minnesota Zoo passes and St Paul Saints tickets. Every 30 minutes, they’ll also give away tickets to see the Twins at Target Field. Download the invitation.

Governor wannabe Tom Emmer and other Republicans are desperately attacking Mark Dayton for closing his Washington, DC Senate office during the terrorist threats in 2004. We think Sen. Dayton’s decision was a brave act to protect his employees and visiting constituents. The fact is, Dayton moved his office. He gave staff two options. They could report to work at his chief of staff’s house or return to Minnesota to work out of his Fort Snelling office. Either way, constituent services continued uninterrupted. Read the first-hand account by Alison Rosholt, who worked for Sen. Dayton from 2001 to 2005.

What would happen if you missed one out of every five days of work for a year? Most of us would be fired – but not Tom Emmer. He missed one out of every five votes in the State Legislature, 142 missed votes in 2010 alone. Important votes on education, veterans affairs and jobs. Emmer can’t even show up for work and now he wants to be Governor. Watch the television ad by the Alliance for a Better Minnesota. Check the facts at www.missedvotes.com and tell us what would happen to you if you missed that much work.