Senate Jobs Committee Listens to Experiences of Minnesota Workers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 8, 2015
Contact: Greta Bergstrom, 651.336.6722, greta@takeactionminnesota.org
Earned sick and safe time, fair scheduling, wage theft, and tip protection legislation widely supported as solutions to lift up working families
St. Paul, MN – On Wednesday afternoon, the Senate Jobs committee held an informational hearing on several pieces of legislation contained in the Working Parents Act, authored by Senator Sandy Pappas in the Senate and House Minority Leader Paul Thissen in the House. On the agenda were bills pertaining to earned sick and safe time guarantees, fair scheduling, wage theft and tip protection legislation.
Senator Pappas provided some remarks to reporters and others gathered just prior to the hearing, saying she was happy that the Senate Jobs committee was listening to the experiences of workers. “We’ve begun an important conversation on an issue that has long been overlooked — ensuring that hardworking Minnesotans have peace of mind when it comes to economic security and job quality,” said Pappas. “As legislators, it’s our job to listen, and I’ve been listening enough to know improvements are needed for low-income working Minnesotans and their families.”
On hand were several workers who shared their struggles with how erratic scheduling practices, wage theft and lack of access to even a single paid day of sick time affected their quality of life. Ed Hurlebaus, a former Radio Shack employee from Minneapolis and member of Working America, was forced to work unpredictable hours with little to no control over how many hours he would be scheduled each week nor when his shifts would be. Ultimately, the company went bankrupt and he was laid off without any notice or severance. Hurlebaus said that “while executives got big bonuses, the other associates and I received no severance when we were laid off from the company. Corporations need to do better. Retail companies need to make sure there are fair schedules and workers receive enough hours to make a living.”
Octancia Adams of Brooklyn Center, a Neighborhoods Organizing for Change member and former temp worker, explained how erratic scheduling and lack of paid sick time make it impossible to balance family life with professional demands. “My day care requires two weeks’ notice for a schedule change, but some jobs I’ve worked haven’t even provided 24 hours’ notice. Parents like me need fair scheduling and earned sick and safe time so we don’t have to choose between earning a paycheck and taking care of our family.”
While not able to be present at the Capitol Wednesday, Kathleen Styks of Crosby offered her own experience on how employer wage theft affected her family last year. “I worked as a PCA and one day my paycheck didn’t come. I didn’t get paid for a whole month this past October and November—and we struggled. It was the month of Christmas coming up and we were all going to meet at my daughter’s home in Illinois. We couldn’t afford to go down there, let alone buy Christmas gifts. I am grateful that friends and family help out with food and gas money. Now, five months later we’re almost caught up on bills, but it all takes time when you are counting on that money and you are set that far behind. What my homecare agency did was horrendous to a lot of people—we worked and we were relying on that income. I don’t know if we are ever going to get paid for our work. I still want some insight into that. I want legislators to pass a bill to make sure other families will not have to struggle like we did.”
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