On Monday, progressive state policymakers and fair wage supporters were in a celebratory mood, as Governor Dayton signed into law the first Minnesota minimum wage increase in nine years. Under that law, the hourly minimum wage will be gradually increased to $9.50 ($7.75 for small employers) by 2016 and indexed for growth in the cost of living beginning in 2018. While the new minimum wage law is a big win, more needs to be done to reverse the tide of growing income inequality.
After nearly three hours of debate — and several accusations that the minimum wage package was done as a “back room deal” between House and Senate leadership in exchange for a new legislative office building — the House voted 71-60 to increase the state’s minimum hourly wage to $9.50, phasing it in by 2016, and indexing for inflation starting in 2018.
The 2014 Untold Stories series focuses on the struggles facing workers in the past – and how they influence the issues of today. This year’s theme is “Memory and Place.” The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library sponsors this series of free, public programs in honor of Labor History Month.Here is the schedule:Pete Daniel – Dispossession Tuesday, April 22, 7 p.m. Minnesota History Center, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd.Pete Daniel, a past president of the Organization of American Historians and a retired curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, speaks about his recent book Dispossession: Discrimination Against African American Farmers in the Age of Civil Rights. Between 1940 and 1974, the number of African American farmers fell from 681,790 to just 45,594 – a drop of 93 percent. Daniel analyzes this decline and chronicles black farmers’ fierce struggles to remain on the land in the face of discrimination. After Daniel’s presentation, Pakou Hang from the Hmong American Farmers Association and Dale Wiehoff from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy will talk about current struggles of small farmers to keep their land. Continue Reading
Income inequality is certainly the rallying issue for many progressives these days. Paul Krugman goes as far as to call it the one issue, the only important one. “Inequality is, indeed, the defining challenge of our time. Will we do anything to meet that challenge?” he asked last December. Continue Reading
Unfair labor practice charges under the Public Employment Labor Relations Act would no longer be heard in a district courtroom, but instead by a newly created Public Employment Relations Board under the Bureau of Mediation Services.
Last night, the Minnesota House decided that amendment using the same 40-hour per week standard to calculate overtime for farm workers was not germane to a bill designating March 31 as Cesar Chavez Day. Continue Reading
After being deadlocked for weeks, state lawmakers announced an agreement Monday to raise Minnesota’s minimum wage to $9.50 an hour and index it to inflation. Legislative leaders said pressure from citizens was critical to moving forward.
Overall, Bluestem Prairie is pleased with the compromise minimum wage agreement that’s coming out of the conference committee. The wage is raised to $9.50 in steps, it’s indexed to inflation (and apparently deflation), and there’s a small business rate and youth rate. Continue Reading
