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| Date: | November 16, 2011 | | Contact Name: | Susan Closmore | | Contact Phone: | 651-296-5712 | | Contact Email: | susan.closmore@senate.mn | | For Immediate Release | |
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| Governor Dayton Orders Daycare Union Election Misusing Unions for Political Reasons |
Lakeville, MN – State Senator Dave Thompson issued the following statement regarding Governor Mark Dayton’s decision to order an election to unionize daycare workers.
Governor Mark Dayton says he will order an election that will allow daycare workers that receive government payments to vote on whether to unionize.
Senator Thompson said, “First, the whole concept of unionizing self-employed people borders on the bizarre. Unions exist to protect employees from large, overreaching employers. It is obvious Governor Dayton is simply trying to create one more organization to extract money from taxpayers by negotiating with the government for larger reimbursements.
The Governor stated his intent to allow only those daycare providers that accept government reimbursements to unionize, and that he does not want anyone to be forced to join the union or to have to pay union dues. I don’t know how the Governor intends to force the union to abide by these wishes.
Also, this is an abuse of power by the Governor. I know of nothing in state law that allows a governor to unilaterally provide the mechanism for union elections. Once again, a DFL politician is working to take money from the taxpayer and put it in the pockets of those who have extraordinary influence on big spending politicians.”
