Tea party extremists call it “worker freedom.” We call it the “right to work for less.” Today, Senator Dave Thompson (R-Lakeville) and Representative Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa) proposed another divisive constitutional amendment that would make Minnesota a “right to work” state with fewer jobs and lower wages. These legislators haven’t lifted a finger to create good jobs and now they want Minnesotans to work for less – that’s correct, the average annual income of a worker in a “right to work” state like Mississippi is $5,538 less than a worker in a fair-bargaining state like Minnesota. We must stop this attack on everyday people who deserve a decent job, health care, and a secure retirement. Until we do that, big money bullies will never get enough. Watch their news conference on The UpTake. Read AFSCME’s statement. Learn more.

Demonstrators who greeted Mitt Romney in Eagan Tuesday were good-natured. But their message was serious – the Republican front-runner has no core values and he is out of touch with regular Americans. Before making his way to Minnesota this morning, Romney told CNN: "I'm not concerned about the very poor." Romney’s tax return and his public statements are living proof that he is a big money bully who wants to steal the future from the working class. Romney needs to get his mitts off our Social Security and stop defending tax breaks to the wealthiest individuals and biggest corporations. Read more.

Four positions are open on the Board of the Minnesota State Retirement System (MSRS), which provides retirement benefits to state employees, as well as Metropolitan Council employees and many non-faculty employees at the University of Minnesota. Active members will soon receive a ballot in the mail for the MSRS board election. AFSCME Council 5 has endorsed four candidates who will protect our defined benefit pensions: Allen Hoppe and Michael Schweyen for the General/Unclassified Plan; Michael Keapproth for the Correctional Plan; and Wes Skoglund for the retiree seat. Your ballot must be postmarked by Thursday, March 1. You can also vote online – instructions will be included with your ballot. If you have questions, please contact Sally Kupferschmidt of MSRS at 651-284-7882 or toll free at 1-800-657-5757.

If the Minnesota Taxpayers Association had its way, retired public employees would be living in poverty under a bridge. This group has a distorted view of the state pension system's financial health. For a realistic view, read the Star Tribune counterpoint by AFSCME’s Mary Benner (MSRS Board chair), Thomas Marshall (president of the PERA), and Martha Lee Zins (president of the TRA). They acknowledge that there’s a retirement crisis brewing in America. But, rather than arguing that public-sector workers don’t deserve a pension, they suggest that society should be asking “Don’t private-sector workers deserve a secure retirement, too?” It’s simply wrong to advocate a race to the bottom in which every worker is income-insecure in their older years.

All workers deserve decent wages, health care, and a secure retirement. That’s what AFSCME stands for, that’s what unions stand for, and that’s what the 99 percent stand for. Council 5 is supplying locals with winter-proof lawn signs so you can demonstrate that those values are what you stand for, too. To get a sign, contact your local union president.

Minnesota legislators who belong to the secretive American Legislative Exchange Council are sponsoring more than 60 bills that directly benefit the bottom line of the corporate sponsors who bankroll ALEC, a new expose says. “Legislating Under the Influence,” an investigative report from Minnesota Common Cause, demonstrates how state legislators obediently try to turn ALEC’s corporate wish lists into law. The report spells out how pervasive ALEC’s influence is on bills in St. Paul that protect the rich, attack workers, promote privatization, harm consumers, and weaken citizens’ rights. Read more.

The Democratic-Farmer-Labor party, the Independence party, and the Republican party hold precinct caucuses on Tuesday, Feb. 7, beginning at 7 p.m. Find the location of the caucus in your community. For more information, call the AFSCME political organizer in your area – Metro: Jon Grebner, 651-287-0587; Northern and Western Minnesota: Chad McKenna, 218-310-8412; Southern Minnesota: Laura Askelin, 651-287-0586. Read more.

Brad Bruegger, a member of Mankato MnDOT Local 280, remains in intensive care at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester. Brad was airlifted after a Union Pacific freight train collided with his snowplow Jan. 20, while he was plowing Highway 22 in Faribault County. More information: To leave a note for Brad or his family, or to keep up to date with Brad’s medical condition, see his Caring Bridge website.

Dozens of AFSCME members are taking the Polar Bear Plunge again this year, to benefit Special Olympics. Members of MnDOT Local 868 jump into the icy water at 1:30 p.m., Saturday Feb. 11, at Foster Arend Park, 4109 E. River Road NE, Rochester. A week later, at 3 p.m. Feb. 18, members of DHS Local 1092 jump into Lake Superior in Duluth’s Canal Park. You can pledge cold, hard cash to the team of your choice: Mn/DOT District 6 or the Stellar State Jumpers.

This week the people of Wisconsin dropped a ton and a half of democracy on Governor Scott Walker. That’s what the recall petitions against Walker weigh. The recall movement collected more than a million signatures to recall Wisconsin’s anti-union governor. Forty-six percent of the state’s 2010 gubernatorial voter turnout signed. Four Republican state senators are also being recalled. Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board will now process those signatures.