Matthew Blake at The MINNPOST reports that for Organized Labor in the State of Minnesota, the 2023 legislative session was a rousing success. Labor Unions worked closely with Governor’s Tim Walz Administration and a DFL-controlled Legislature on high-profile accomplishments, like the creation of a State Paid Family and Medical Leave Program. There were also less obvious goals, like a new part of the State Government dedicated exclusively to the conditions of Nursing Home Employees. “We were the driving Advocacy Group for the Standards Board to exist,” said Jamie Gulley, who serves as President of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa - a Union that represents 40 nursing homes across the State. “The nursing home is the lowest paid segment of our Membership universe.” Gulley will get no argument from the nursing home lobby, who have called the Board they have sued to eradicate a favor to Labor Unions. State Representative Esther Agbaje (DFL-Minneapolis) worked with the SEIU and American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 65 in writing the Bill that created the Board. Asked if the measure was meant more to improve the labor conditions of Nursing Home Employees, or simply increase the number of Unionized facilities, Agbaje said: “A little bit of both.” But if the Workforce Board is Labor Unions leveraging their clout, that raises the question of why Labor is so into the idea. 

To Continue Reading This Labor News Report, Go To: How labor unions revived New Deal model for nursing home staff