Minnesota AFL-CIO Supports Twin Cities Local Organizing Plans

"I’ve been attending the Minnesota AFL-CIO’s monthly organizing roundtable meetings and have met with the new statewide AFL-CIO organizing director, Todd Dahlstrom, and Strategic Researcher Melissa Hysing. From those meetings, we have outlined the beginnings of a multi-phase local organizing plan.

"The first step was to reaffirm longstanding local labor support for Twin Cities union talent via two Minnesota AFL-CIO Convention resolutions (passed in 2010, and again in 2012) supporting Twin Cities Local members and calling on affiliated unions and their partner organizations to do all of their media projects union. Partner organizations are those that benefit from substantial labor support, either through direct funding from labor or via labor leadership on their boards.

"On March 10, the Minnesota AFL-CIO Executive Committee unanimously approved a letter from President Shar Knutson and Secretary-Treasurer Steve Hunter, which was sent in early spring to all Minnesota AFL-CIO affiliate unions statewide, reminding unions to do all of their media projects under union contract and to hire union talent. In June, local President Bob Davis spoke to the Minnesota AFL-CIO full Executive Board and emphasized the importance to local members of statewide labor support for the union’s commercials organizing initiative.

"We continue meeting with Todd and Melissa to strategize about setting up meetings with union communication directors to put this statement of principle into concrete action. A longer range goal will be to leverage prevailing wage rules to organize government agencies to do their media projects with union talent. All of these local activities will, of course, also be coordinated with national organizing campaigns and priorities."

This item was originally featured in the September 2015 local newsletter.