Whether bosses call it “streamlining” or “reorganization,” the changes usually mean that workers will lose their jobs, their pay, their rights and their voice. Not this time. AFSCME is supporting SF 2874, a bill authored by Sen. Larry Pogemiller (DFL-Minneapolis) to reorganize state services related to business and employment. AFSCME members will have a key role in the process and the outcome. Council 5 Director Eliot Seide told legislators that workers will embrace change if they have job security and if certain principles are met.

Rep. Keith Downey (R-Edina) and Grover Norquist are two of a kind. They both want to shrink government and drown it in a bath tub. Downey introduced HF 3558, a bill to cut state government 15 percent by 2015. His poison pill is sugar coated with an early retirement option that’s packaged with furloughs, layoffs, frozen wages and a restructuring of our pension benefits. Please contact Rep. Downey today at rep.keith.downey@house.mn or 651-296-4363. Tell him to stop messing with AFSCME jobs and pensions.

AFSCME’s Day on the Hill rally raised a ruckus in the Capitol rotunda this session. At least 1,000 members met with their legislators Feb. 17 to help shape a state budget that will put Minnesota back to work. With loud voices and strength in numbers, no one could ignore our message: Raise revenue fairly to save our jobs and the vital services that Minnesota needs. Watch the video.

You’re invited to join Council 5 in St. Paul’s St. Patrick’s Day parade (on March 17, of course). Join us as we march side-by-side with AFSCME friend (and St. Paul mayor) Chris Coleman. We’ll have the green banner wavin’ as we stride through the streets of downtown St. Paul (which, according to a certain bald-headed governor, were designed by Irishmen). Council 5 is marching in Unit 16 with the mayor. Meet in Lowertown at 4th and Sibley no later than 11:45 a.m. The parade starts at noon and ends at Rice Park about one hour later.

A potential strike by Duluth city workers is now on hold thanks to a tentative contract agreement between the city and leaders of AFSCME Local 66. The deal, reached at 4:15 a.m. on March 4, was hammered out by negotiators in a marathon 19-hour session with mediators. The union bargaining team unanimously recommends that members vote to accept the agreement, which Negotiation Chair Jim Dreier calls “fair.” His team beat back union busting, got stronger layoff protection, won four days pay by ending forced furloughs, and retained steps, longevity pay and health benefits. Members will vote on their contract March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day) from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at AFSCME’s Duluth Office, 211 W. 2nd St.

The job package to save and create American jobs will be up for a vote very soon in the U.S. Senate. The package includes substantial federal Medicaid match funding to Minnesota of over a half-billion dollars that will help save AFSCME jobs in our state. Please call our Senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar TODAY to urge them to vote for the American Workers, State and Business Relief Act, and to make sure the bill includes very substantial investment in Medicaid. Please call 1-888-460-0813 where AFSCME will patch you through to Franken and Klobuchar’s offices. See attachment for more information.

Chanting “Fund education, not administration,” hundreds of demonstrators marched though the University of Minnesota March 4. Their advice: Stop trying to fix budget problems by targeting front-line staff, faculty and students. Instead, administrators can save more money by scaling back the soaring salaries and rapid growth in their own ranks.

We’re the blue-collar workers who take care of South St. Paul, while Gov. Pawlenty cuts his hometown. We feed grandma, while he forces her nursing home to close. We staff the emergency rooms, while he cuts hospitals to the bone. We help minds soar, while he crowds classrooms, hikes tuition and closes libraries. Its unionized public workers who come to the rescue of Minnesotans who are losing their jobs, their homes and their health care. We’re their life preserver, not their anchor, as columnist Katherine Kersten suggests (Public sector: An anchor as we sink). Read AFSCME’s Counterpoint.

A few weeks ago, most House Republicans supported a bi-partisan bill to rescue General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC), calling it “a great step forward.” Within hours of their vote, Gov. Pawlenty vetoed the bill, which would have saved health care for 38,000 of the poorest and sickest Minnesotans, including 8,000 veterans. On March 1, those same Republicans decided it was more important to protect the governor than to protect vulnerable residents and veterans. Not one Republican voted to override Pawlenty’s veto. When it became clear there would be no Republican votes, the DFL tabled the override measure to keep its options open for another attempt later.

AFSCME is reluctantly supporting benefit adjustments recommended by MSRS and PERA to ensure the retirement systems have sufficient funds to pay benefits for retirees, active employees and future hires. Legislative action would allow both systems to reduce the cost of living increase. Our Board originally asked the Legislature to wait until next year to take action. We had hoped that investment returns would be enough to make up for market losses over the past two years. Unfortunately, the slow economic recovery demands an immediate fix.