Star Tribune
Organized labor, Minneapolis officials renew commitment to create a Labor Standards Board
Efforts to revitalize downtown Minneapolis could get a boost from a Labor Standards Board, city and union leaders said Wednesday as they tried to rally support for the idea.
The board, initially proposed in 2022, would be an advisory body comprised of representatives of both industry and labor who would study and recommend new workplace regulations to the City Council and mayor, who would ultimately decide whether to adopt them.
It has not yet been introduced in ordinance, but has already inspired an opposition TV and billboard ad campaign called Save Local Restaurants by national industry organizations. Members of Hospitality Minnesota are also concerned that more regulations would hurt their businesses and jeopardize downtown revitalization.
But supporters of the Labor Standards Board argue that it is meant to bring businesses and labor together to try to reinvigorate the local economy amid staffing shortages undermining many sectors.
“We need to be rejuvenating downtown, bringing back both businesses and people,” Mayor Jacob Frey said. “We’re leveraging a better outcome by not just creating policy from the council dais, not just having one individual mayor or council member bring an idea forward that hasn’t been fully vetted by both businesses and labor, but to do it together.”
City Council President Elliott Payne said it has taken a year and a half to make the board a reality because officials are trying to bring different stakeholders together in good faith, “to make sure that we’re being thoughtful and judicious about how we bring that together.”
The mayor’s office said it has been convening behind-the-scenes work to introduce the Labor Standards Board possibly as soon as next month.
SEIU Local 26 also released its own downtown revitalization report on Wednesday called “Building an Inclusive Recovery for Downtown Minneapolis: Prioritizing Workers for Inclusive Prosperity For All.”
The report was a response to a slew of other reports and recommendations published in recent months by business leaders including the Downtown Council and Minneapolis Foundation. It identified four recommendations for economic recovery from the perspective of service workers who could not work from home during the pandemic.
- Higher wages that keep pace with inflation and more full-time work that qualifies employees for benefits like healthcare.
- Setting up the Minneapolis Labor Standards Board to recommend new regulations for improving conditions in specific industries.
- Converting low-occupancy office towers to housing, and ensuring the builders hire non-trafficked labor and include affordable units.
- De-escalation and social service training for downtown security officers and other public safety alternatives to police.
Josh Musikantow, a security officer with the River Towers condominium downtown, said that when he works the late-night shift he encounters many people in need of homeless shelters, help for domestic violence, veteran services and mental health intervention. He said he spent a long time looking for a 24/7 non-emergency hotline to call for help before realizing that he was among the best resources on the street in the middle of the night.
“I certainly don’t have sufficient training to act in that capacity. Most of the time, all I could do is talk to people to get them a wheelchair, bring them some towels, let them borrow a phone,” Musikantow said. “I have seen firsthand how great the need is to invest in community-based alternatives for safety and de-escalation.”
Musikantow said there is also high turnover among downtown security officers, with many taking long commutes on public transit to live in more affordable communities.
“We should be able to afford to live in the city,” said Atayde Rios, a janitor.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed part of a state highway Wednesday evening near Austin because of a “major hazardous materials release” in the area.
Hwy. 56 from Hayfield to Waltham, a stretch covering about five miles, was closed in both directions and drivers were directed to follow a detour to Blooming Prairie on U.S. Hwy. 218.
No information on the hazardous materials released was immediately available.
A federal judge dismissed a civil lawsuit against Minnesota state trooper Ryan Londregan in the shooting death of Ricky Cobb II during a 2023 traffic stop.
The decision is the latest development in a case that has drawn heated debate over excessive use of force by law enforcement. Criminal charges against Londregan were dismissed by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in June, saying the prosecution didn’t have the evidence to proceed with a case.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel granted Londregan’s motion to dismiss the civil suit, arguing he acted reasonably when he opened fire as Cobb’s vehicle lurched forward with another state trooper partly inside.
Londregan’s attorney Chris Madelsaid Wednesday that it’s been a “long, grueling journey to justice. Ryan Londregan has finally arrived.”
On July 31, 2023, the two troopers pulled over Cobb, 33, on Interstate 94 in north Minneapolis for driving without taillights and later learned he was wanted for violating a felony domestic no-contact order. Cobb refused commands to exit the car.
With Seide partly inside the car while trying to unbuckle Cobb’s seatbelt, the car moved forward. Londregan then opened fire, hitting Cobb twice.
In her decision, Brasel said the troopers were mandated by state law to make an arrest given Cobb’s domestic no-contact order violation. She said it was objectively reasonable for Londregan to believe Seide was in immediate danger as the car moved forward on a busy highway, which would make his use of force reasonable.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Donald Trump walked down the steps of the Boeing 757 that bears his name, walked across a rain-soaked tarmac and, after twice missing the handle, climbed into the passenger seat of a white garbage truck that also carried his name.
The former president, once a reality TV star known for his showmanship, wanted to draw attention to a remark made a day earlier by his successor, Democratic President Joe Biden, that suggested Trump’s supporters were garbage. Trump has used the remark as a cudgel against his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
”How do you like my garbage truck?” Trump said, wearing an orange and yellow safety vest over his white dress shirt and red tie. ”This is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden.”
Trump and other Republicans were facing pushback of their own for comments by a comedian at a weekend Trump rally who disparaged Puerto Rico as a ”floating island of garbage.” Trump then seized on a comment Biden made on a late Wednesday call that “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.”
The president tried to clarify the comment afterward, saying he had intended to say Trump’s demonization of Latinos was unconscionable. But it was too late.
On Thursday, after arriving in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for an evening rally, Trump climbed into the garbage truck, carrying on a brief discussion with reporters while looking out the window — similar to what he did earlier this month during a photo opportunity he staged at a Pennsylvania McDonalds.
He again tried to distance himself from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, whose joke had set off the firestorm, but Trump did not denounce it. He also said he did not need to apologize to Puerto Ricans.
”I don’t know anything about the comedian,” Trump said. ”I don’t know who he is. I’ve never seen him. I heard he made a statement, but it was a statement that he made. He’s a comedian, what can I tell you. I know nothing about him.”
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