News

From: Dayton Media <[email protected]>
Date: June 27, 2018 at 9:51:12 AM CDT
To: Dayton Media <[email protected]>
Subject: RELEASE: Statement from Governor Dayton on the US Supreme Court’s Ruling in Janus v. AFSCME

Seal State of Minnesota


OFFICE OF GOVERNOR MARK DAYTON

 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 27, 2018
 
Contact: Matt Swenson
651-201-34
41 office
[email protected]
 
Statement from Governor Dayton on the US Supreme Court’s Ruling in Janus v. AFSCME
 
ST. PAUL, MN – Today, Governor Mark Dayton issued the following statement regarding the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME.
 
“The US Supreme Court’s decision today in the case of Janus v. AFSCME is appalling. Its determination that fair share union fees somehow violate the US Constitution is just the kind of terrible ‘Judicial Activism,’ which some Justices profess to deplore.
 
"The benefits provided by a union to employees who elect not to join it are enormous. They receive the same better wages, safer working conditions, and stronger job protections as do union members. It is only fair that they should share in paying for the benefits that they receive."
 
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Office of Governor Mark Dayton, Communications Department
130 State Capitol, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155 

T: 651-201-3400 | [email protected]

Our AFSCME winter celebration event will be held on Wednesday, December 19th, noon, at South Central College in North Mankato.  As in the past, we will be having door prize drawings for our members.  If you have a talent that you would like to showcase, we would greatly appreciate hand-crafted items that you would donate.  If you are not crafty but have new items that you are not going to use and would like to “re-home” them, we are interested in those too.

The last few years have seen a rise in worker momentum, with unionized workers raising their voices to demand higher pay, safer working conditions and more.

AFSCME President Lee Saunders praised the White House’s announcement Thursday that the Biden administration will forgive student loans for an additional 78,000 borrowers — including many AFSCME members — under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.

AFSCME President Lee Saunders congratulated Nicole Berner, a longtime labor lawyer and general counsel of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), on being confirmed to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Mr. Montoya goes to Washington

Photo: Nicholas Voutsinos/ AFSCME

In this year’s State of the Union speech, President Joe Biden highlighted his administration’s achievements over the past three years and vowed to continue fighting for working people.

AFSCME applauds his accomplishments and strongly supports the Biden-Harris administration’s vision for the future, which includes defending our nation’s democracy, protecting a woman’s right to choose and making the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes, among other things.

The public sector has finally recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of last year, there were 22,000 more public service jobs in the nation than in February 2020, just before the pandemic started.

This is cause for celebration for everyone in our communities, but especially for workers of color, who have been historically overrepresented in state and local government jobs.