Category Archives: Post type

We can do better!

I happen to think Northern Minnesota is pretty darn great. We have big lakes, nice trails, and good people. Yet, we aren’t perfect.

In fact, in Southern St. Louis County less than half of workers can earn paid sick time — the worst percentage in the state according to a recent study conducted by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. That’s why when the campaign to pass earned sick and safe time throughout Minnesota launched last week, they came to Duluth to do it.

We were proud to stand with the Minnesota Benefits campaign as it kicked off with labor leaders, legislators, community organizations, small business owners and people who know what it’s like to choose between caring for their family and a pay check.

I believe that by working together, Northern Minnesota, can and will do better.

VIDEO: League of Women Voters speaker believes felons need second chance at jobs, voting

Justice 4 All, a Twin Cities-based organization, promotes giving the thousands of Minnesotans with criminal records a second chance at becoming productive members of society.

Justin Terrell, program manager for Justice 4 All, gave a presentation Monday at Bethel Lutheran Church on behalf of his campaign.

“We want to make sure people are stepping out, rather than stepping back into their old ways,” Terrell said during Monday’s presentation during a League of Women Voters meeting.

A total of nearly 60,000 people were turned away from polls in the 2014 election due to felony convictions, according to a New York University study.

Unclear voting laws prevent even more felons from voting in Minnesota, said Jessica Rohloff, leader of League of Women Voters.

Click here for the full article and video from the event.… Continue reading »

We Love MinnesotaCare

There are a lot of numbers behind MinnesotaCare. It covers 88,000 Minnesotans and keeps premiums down to $50/month for many individuals. MinnesotaCare catches those who fall through the cracks between Medical Assistance and costly private health insurance plans. But you know what’s even better than the numbers? The stories. Take a look at what MinnesotaCare means for Minnesota:

MinnesotaCare means being able to pursue professional dreams. Many folks who are self-employed or who work a variety of part-time jobs rely on MinnesotaCare for their health care. For Gabe, who is pursuing work as a graphic designer, MinnesotaCare gives him the security of knowing he’s covered if his pre-existing condition causes trouble, even as he pursues his career goals.

MinnesotaCare means feeling safe when your world turns upside down. Many people, especially in the last several years, have relied on MinnesotaCare when jobs have moved out-of-state, changed management, or downsized. Without MNCare, Julie wouldn’t have access to health care while she goes through the stressful process of finding a new accounting job, because after losing her job, COBRA was just too expensive. For Jane, MinnesotaCare provided necessary care when her daughter was born with Down syndrome and a hole in her heart.… Continue reading »

A Push for Sick Leave: “Everyone Benefits When Minnesota Benefits”

A new push for earned sick leave could mean more employees get “Minnesota Benefits.”

According to TakeAction Minnesota, 1 million state workers – four in 10 – can’t take time off without risking their jobs or paychecks.The new Minnesota Benefits coalition wants legislators to change that.

An increasing number of families are living paycheck to paycheck, said Dan McGrath, executive director of TakeAction, who added that he thinks the whole state would benefit by helping them. “No one wants someone who’s preparing food to be ill. No one wants kids to have to stay home and take care of a younger brother or sister, so that mom can go off to work,” he said. “You know, we all do better when we all do better.”

Click here for the full article.… Continue reading »

Campaign Wants Guaranteed Sick Days For Workers

A statewide coalition of labor, faith and community organizations are kicking off a campaign called “Minnesota Benefits.”

The campaign is pushing to help pass earned sick and safe time guarantees for more than a million Minnesotans who don’t’ earn even one sick day of safe time to take care of themselves or family.

Click here for the full article. … Continue reading »

Workers Organize to Push for Paid Sick Time, Hold Event in Duluth

Workers advocating for paid sick time have kicked off a campaign to back proposed legislation in Minnesota.

The employees call their coordinated effort “Minnesota Benefits” and held an event Tuesday in Duluth.

Click here for the full article. … Continue reading »

Minnesota workers organize to push for paid sick time

Workers advocating for paid sick time have kicked off a campaign to back proposed legislation in Minnesota.

The employees call their coordinated effort “Minnesota Benefits” and held an event Tuesday in Duluth.

Click here for the full article.… Continue reading »

Campaign for paid sick leave and safe time kicks off in Duluth

There’s a reason Duluth was chosen as the location to kickoff the “Minnesota Benefits” campaign. The Duluth-Proctor-Hermantown metropolitan area ranks as the worst place in Minnesota for workers having access to paid sick time leave.

Click here to read the full article.… Continue reading »

Group Pushes for Paid Sick Time for All Minnesotans

It can be an impossible choice. Going to work, or caring for a sick child, but without pay. Or going to work sick, so you don’t miss out on wages.

A group of concerned citizens from all walks of life have joined together to launch the campaign, “Minnesota Benefits.” They held their kickoff event at the Depot on Tuesday.

Click here to see video from WDIO.… Continue reading »

State campaign for paid sick days launched in Duluth, where fewest receive benefit

Perhaps it’s no surprise that the organizers of a statewide campaign to provide earned sick and safe time benefits to all Minnesota workers chose Duluth for their kickoff.

Workers in southeast St. Louis County apparently have the unfortunate distinction of being among the least likely to have access to paid time off in the state. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that between 2011 and 2012, only 49.6 percent of people employed in the area in and around Duluth and Hermantown had the ability to earn paid sick time.

Click here for the full article.… Continue reading »

DFL legislators introduce bill guaranteeing paid sick time

A coalition of labor, faith and community groups is hoping to make Minnesota the fourth state in the country to guarantee paid sick time off for workers.

“For those of us who have had paid time off, we often take it for granted,” said Dan McGrath, executive director of TakeAction Minesota, one of the groups backing a bill introduced by DFL lawmakers this week. “But there are a million working people in our state who don’t have that option.”

Click here for the full article.… Continue reading »

Enough Minnesotans to Fill Target Field

This past election 60,000 Minnesotans were denied the right to vote because of the Justice System. These are folks living in the community, paying taxes (if they can find a job), and being turned away at the polls because they are on probation or parole for a felony conviction.

Let me put it this way — that is enough people to fill Target Field one and half times. If you add up how many African Americans in MN have had their right to vote taken away, it is enough to fill half the Twins Stadium!

Fifty years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. marched from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to demand African Americans have a fair shot at the ballot box. Fifty years later we are still fighting for the same thing.

Join us at Second Chance Day on the Hill where we will rally and meet with elected officials (Republicans and Democrats) and ask them to support the Restoration of Voting Rights for our Minnesotans across the state.

For more about Justice 4 All visit http://50.87.249.163/~takeacu7/work/criminal-justice-reform/

For more info about #RestoreTheVote http://restorethevotemn.org/

Oh yeah, one more thing about jobs. Below is a list of local entry level job opportunities. Please share with folks who need some encouragement in their job search.… Continue reading »

Earned sick time for workers is overdue

Did you catch the State of the Union on Tuesday? President Obama talked about what life is like for working families who don’t have earned sick and safe time:

“Today, we’re the only advanced country on Earth that doesn’t guarantee paid sick leave or paid maternity leave to our workers. Forty-three million workers have no paid sick leave. …Think about that. And that forces too many parents to make the gut-wrenching choice between a paycheck and a sick kid at home.”

One million of those workers are right here in Minnesota. In fact, in Southern St. Louis County, less than half of workers can earn paid sick time, the worst percentage in the state, according to a recent study conducted by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

Tiffany McDonald knows these realities too well. She came to our office at TakeAction because she had to make the choice between a paycheck and caring for her child. She worked three part-time jobs to keep the family afloat. None of the jobs offered paid sick time, which was a challenge when any of her children, or she, was sick. She even got behind on her well-child visits and immunizations because the clinic was never open after work hours and she couldn’t afford to take the time off from work.… Continue reading »

Voters want paid leave, paid sick days, poll shows. Obama, too. Will Congress oblige?

The United States is the only advanced economy with no paid parental leave policy, no paid sick days. The cost of child care outstrips tuition for public universities in many states. Women still earn less than men, in many cases, for doing equal work. The minimum wage traps families in the lowest rungs of the socio-economic ladder. In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Barack Obama said it was time to change all that.

“Really,” he said. “It’s 2015. It’s time.”

And a poll of likely 2016 voters being released on Wednesday by the Make It Work campaign, an advocacy organization pushing to make these working family issues central to the 2016 campaign, found that Democratic, Independent and even Republican voters overwhelmingly agree.

Large majorities of voters of all persuasions said they are in favor of paid sick days, equal pay for equal work and affordable child and elder care, and 73 percent say the government has a responsibility to ensure employers treat employees fairly by providing them with such policies. About 70 percent said that workplace laws and policies are out of synch with the changing realities of modern families, and with the changing roles of men and women at work and at home.… Continue reading »

Onward in 2015!

The New Year has me thinking a lot about our great state.

Minnesota is home to 5.3 million people and 852 cities. We have four different ecosystems. We are vast, different and unique.

But we are also so much alike. We are Minnesotans.

I have lived in six of our state’s cities. From a tiny little farming town on the border of South Dakota to the heart of our largest city. Each place has shaped my experience of what it means to be a Minnesotan. One thing is clear to me: we all want a good life for our family, friends and neighbors. And the things that get in the way of someone thriving in north Minneapolis are the same as the barriers to living the life you choose in Duluth. Rosie the Riveter marching for women's economic security

Whether we are talking about a failed criminal justice system or the antiquated workplace that holds women back, the only way we are going to move on a path toward a Minnesota that leaves no one behind is if we move together.

The city I live in now (and love so much!) also affords me the privilege to work for an organization grappling with what it is going to take to win real change in people’s lives. … Continue reading »

Your Voice Matters: Governor Dayton’s Health Care Task Force

MNCare Means Affordable Coverage for Self-Employed

So many Minnesotans who are self-employed have struggled to find affordable coverage options.

When Ruth got divorced 15 years ago, her ex-husband continued paying for her health insurance because she is self-employed. However, a few months ago she went in for surgery and was told that she no longer had coverage. She fought to keep the same plan, but ended up paying an unaffordable premium of $350/month.

With the help of a navigator, Ruth enrolled in MNsure and found out that she qualifies for MNCare. Now, she’s got affordable health care that covers her needs.… Continue reading »

MNCare Provides Necessary Care for Chronically Ill

Corey Lloyd One of the reasons it is so crucial that we keep MNCare as our basic health plan in MN is that it provides on-going care to so many who suffer from chronic health conditions. Corey is one of those people.

When Corey was 22, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Over the years, he’s been uninsured many times because his employer hasn’t always offered him coverage. Without coverage, he’s gone without his diabetes medication, which has landed him in the hospital. Four years ago, Corey applied and found out he qualifies for MNCare.

Thanks to MNCare, Corey has access to life saving insulin and is therefore able to work and take care of his family.… Continue reading »

MNCare Covers Folks in a Tough Spot

As we mark the halfway point during this year’s MNsure open enrollment, we’re reminded of how important this basic public health plan is to Minnesotans. All over the state, folks caught without coverage for a variety of reasons rely on MNCare to get the quality health care they need.

For example, John, a resident of Eden Prairie, lost his job two years ago and couldn’t afford the $789/month Cobra premium. So, he went without insurance. When MNsure opened, he enrolled and found out that he qualifies for MNCare. This past fall, John got a much-needed surgery that he would not have been able to afford without MNCare.

Thanks to MNCare, Minnesotans like John know that they can get health care when they’re going through a tough time.… Continue reading »

Research on MN’s Uninsured and Underinsured

Check out TAMN’s most recent paper on the uninsured and underinsured in MN.

TAMN Uninsured and Underinsured Paper… Continue reading »

What is “Ban The Box”?

In a movement gaining steam across the country to help ex-convicts find employment, ‘Ban the Box’ prevents businesses from asking about arrests and criminal records in the first stage of a job application.

Click here for video featuring TakeAction Minnesota staff and members.… Continue reading »

Study confirms what Minnesota low-wage workers know: life is tough

A new study on “The Future of Work in Minnesota” confirms what low-wage workers have been saying in their demonstrations for weeks: wages are too low. And wage theft, erratic scheduling, and lack of paid sick days are serious problems.

The report was done by Minnesotans for a Fair Economy and announced by Working America, an organization of some three million workers, including 300,000 in Minnesota. Though the new study is Minnesota-specific, Working America’s findings could easily cover low-wage workers nationwide.

Click here for the full article.… Continue reading »

Top 9 Photos of 2014 (and one awesome video)

From marching with single moms in a Polar Vortex in Brooklyn Center, to Rosie the Riveters in Duluth and Grand Rapids, and even heading to the White House — it’s been a busy year! Take a look at some of our favorite pictures, and make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom for our favorite video of 2014. Happy New Year!

Labor group wants new job protections

After last session’s passage of a minimum wage increase to $9.50 an hour by 2016, labor union members are now calling on Minnesota lawmakers to pass requirements for sick time and predictable schedules.

The groups Working America, an affiliate organization of the AFL-CIO, and Take Action Minnesota jointly released a report today that shows just 35 percent of the state’s non-union service industry workers are getting paid sick days. It also highlights that a growing number of workers face work schedules that are “unsustainable and unpredictable”

Click here for the full article.… Continue reading »

Report Says Future Of Low Paid Workers Is Bleak

Despite the recent success in raising Minnesota’s minimum wage, a new report paints a bleak outlook for the state’s lowest paid workers. The worker rights groups, Working America and Take Action Minnesota, say a lot more is still needed to lift 622,000 Minnesotans out of poverty.

Their report titled, “The Future of Work in Minnesota,” cites unpaid sick time, erratic scheduling and out-sourcing as three of the major hurdles employees face in getting ahead.

But the groups are also celebrating a recent breakthrough for some of the workers they represent.

That breakthrough involves Target Corporation’s Responsible Contractor Policy.

Click here to read more.… Continue reading »

Sold out! Find event details here if you’re joining us.

How Did Minnesota Stay Blue in the Midterms? By Embracing, Not Running From, Progressive Values

Minnesota bucked the nationwide swing to the right. The national Democratic Party could learn a few things from how they did it.

In the land of Lake Wobegon, progressives still reign.

Republicans gave Democrats a national wholloping during Tuesday’s midterm elections, seizing the Senate, expanding their lead in the House, and gobbling up governors’ mansions in Maryland, Massachusetts and Illinois.

But Minnesota bucked the rightward trend. In the upper Midwestern state known for progressive politics, Scandinavian sensibility and high voter turnout, Al Franken easily held onto his U.S. Senate seat (winning 53 percent of the vote), Governor Mark Dayton convincingly won reelection (by 5.5 percent), and the Democratic-Farm-Labor Party (DFL) held onto five of its eight Congressional seats.

Franken’s and Dayton’s landslide victories were particularly noteworthy because each of them had to endure statewide recounts in their initial runs for office. Franken won in 2008—a “wave year” for Democrats—by only 312 votes. (He later jokingly called that “the most efficient Senate race in history.”) Dayton won his first gubernatorial election in 2010 by less than 9,000 votes.

Republicans did regain control of the State House by ousting 11 DFL incumbents, mostly in rural Minnesota: they now have a four-seat majority (Democrats control the State Senate, which was not up for reelection this year).… Continue reading »

For support of women and families

We are days away from the election & there is a lot at stake for the women and families in northeast Minnesota. Almost half of those working in our area do not have access to a single paid day off. What this means is too many parents can’t take a sick day for themselves or have to make the awful choice of caring for a sick child or getting a paycheck. These are choices no parent should have to make. The fact is we all get sick and the modern workplace needs to catch-up with this reality. Who we elect on Nov. 4 can change this. For example, Congressman Rick Nolan was not only a champion for raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, he also believes large corporations should offer paid time off for their employees. We have the opportunity to elect champions for women and families, like Rick Nolan.

Last session was historic for women and families in Minnesota. As a state, we raised the minimum wage and passed the Women’s Economic Security Act. The Women’s Economic Security Act enacted on Aug. 1 provided workplace protections for pregnant and nursing mothers, expanded protections for victims of domestic violence, and required state contractors to pay women and men equally for similar jobs.… Continue reading »

NEW MNsure Eligibility Chart

Worried about your health care coverage? Wondering what you might qualify for this year on the MNsure exchange? Use the charts below to get a quick sense of what kind of health coverage you can get from MNsure, and what your expected monthly cost (premium) might be. Remember, open enrollment starts November 15.

Click here for the pdf version.

5 Scary Things That Happen When You Don’t Vote…

On this Halloween, only four days away from a major election, there are a few things I am pretty darn scared for in our state if every eligible voter in our state DOESN’T get out to the polls by 8pm on November 4th.

Here they are:

1. We will continue to have the worst-in-the-nation voting gap between voters of color and white voters. We will not hear the voices, demands, and needs from people of color. Our votes = our representation. No vote. No representation.

For my kids

2. More of us losing our voting rights. Right now, people living in our community who have served their time but are still on probation/parole do not have the right to vote. If we don’t vote, that will just be the beginning of silencing as many voices in our community as possible.

3. Our kids’ future. Our votes determine what kind of laws and policies we are able to create to make our lives and our future better. Future generations are relying on me and you to vote for them.

4. Our countries prisons have become something someone can profit on. The same people who build those prisons, locking people in our community up and out, are the same ones who rely on progressives like me and you to NOT vote, so they can build more prisons and profit more off of our communities.… Continue reading »

Category Archives: Post type

We can do better!

VIDEO: League of Women Voters speaker believes felons need second chance at jobs, voting

We Love MinnesotaCare

A Push for Sick Leave: “Everyone Benefits When Minnesota Benefits”

Campaign Wants Guaranteed Sick Days For Workers

Workers Organize to Push for Paid Sick Time, Hold Event in Duluth

Minnesota workers organize to push for paid sick time

Campaign for paid sick leave and safe time kicks off in Duluth

Group Pushes for Paid Sick Time for All Minnesotans

State campaign for paid sick days launched in Duluth, where fewest receive benefit

DFL legislators introduce bill guaranteeing paid sick time

Enough Minnesotans to Fill Target Field

Earned sick time for workers is overdue

Voters want paid leave, paid sick days, poll shows. Obama, too. Will Congress oblige?

Onward in 2015!

Your Voice Matters: Governor Dayton’s Health Care Task Force

MNCare Means Affordable Coverage for Self-Employed

MNCare Provides Necessary Care for Chronically Ill

MNCare Covers Folks in a Tough Spot

Research on MN’s Uninsured and Underinsured

What is “Ban The Box”?

Study confirms what Minnesota low-wage workers know: life is tough

Top 9 Photos of 2014 (and one awesome video)

Labor group wants new job protections

Report Says Future Of Low Paid Workers Is Bleak

Sold out! Find event details here if you’re joining us.

How Did Minnesota Stay Blue in the Midterms? By Embracing, Not Running From, Progressive Values

For support of women and families

NEW MNsure Eligibility Chart

5 Scary Things That Happen When You Don’t Vote…

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