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State employees rally against pay freeze
by Michael Khoo, Minnesota Public Radio
March 13, 2003

State employees protest at the Capitol Thursday, in oppposition to a proposed wage freeze for public employees. (MPR Photo/Michael Khoo)

More than 1,000 public employees converged on the state Capitol Thursday to demonstrate against proposed budget cuts and a plan to freeze public sector pay. Gov. Tim Pawlenty has fashioned a $4.2 billion deficit reduction package that relies heavily on spending reductions and offers no new tax increases. Pawlenty has also proposed a wage freeze that would extend from state employees down to the city, county, and school district level. But government workers say the governor and lawmakers should reconsider their aversion to new taxes.

St. Paul, Minn. — The Minnesota chapter of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees represents roughly 50,000 public sector workers across the state.

A substantial number of them assembled in the Capitol rotunda to deliver a message to Gov. Pawlenty and legislators, opposing a potential wage freeze.

	AFSCME'S Eliot Seide

Eliot Seide, legislative director of AFSCME Minnesota, says the proposed wage freeze is an insult to the collective bargaining process. Seide says compensation and benefit issues should be handled during contract negotiations, not imposed by the Legislature.

"We're saying that workers are responsible. We don't need a patronizing, paternalistic kind of effort to say that we don't know what's good for our own people," Seide says. "People will send people to the bargaining table to represent them. And they can decide what their priorities are -- pay versus job security, pay versus health care. Those trade-offs get made at the bargaining table every day."

Pawlenty, however, says the mandate is a tool for government managers who are struggling through lean times. Pawlenty argues that by holding salary costs down, the state and other jurisdictions can target limited funds to other programs and services. And he says private sector employees are making similar sacrifices.

The very wealthy and corporate rich can afford tax increases -- they got the bulk of the tax cuts since '97. It's time they stepped up and paid a fair share. - AFSCME's Eliot Seide

"We are mindful and appreciative of the contributions that our public employees make. But we cannot, in these times, run up public sector wages and benefits beyond what we can afford, and beyond what we are seeing in the private sector. That probably means a wage freeze, and we want to bring health care costs under control," Pawlenty says.

Seide says if the governor is interested in tools for managing the state's fiscal crisis, he should reconsider his pledge to keep a lid on state taxes. Seide says the governor's plan asks too much of moderate-income families.

"The very wealthy and corporate rich can afford tax increases -- they got the bulk of the tax cuts since '97. It's time they stepped up and paid a fair share," says Seide.

Seide says he hopes the Capitol rally and other events will inspire lawmakers -- including Democrats who control the Senate -- to develop the necessary "backbone" to stand up to Pawlenty's tax pledge.

The only place that can start tax increases is in the House of Representatives under our Constitution. So it doesn't make any difference what the Senate does or does not do. - Sen. Jane Ranum, DFL-Minneapolis

But Senate DFLers have so far been reluctant to offer any tax increases. Sen. Jane Ranum, DFL-Minneapolis, chairs the State Government Budget committee. She says she opposes the wage freeze plan because it denies local government the authority to negotiate contracts as they see fit. Even so, she says it's not realistic to expect a Senate tax plan.

"It may not be comforting, but it's the truth. The governor has said he will not raise revenues at the state level -- he will not increase taxes," says Ranum. "And the reality is that the only place that can start tax increases is in the House of Representatives under our Constitution. So it doesn't make any difference what the Senate does or does not do."

The GOP-controlled House is closely allied with Pawlenty on his budget principles. Rep. Chris Gerlach, R-Apple Valley, is sponsoring the governor's wage freeze bill. Gerlach says new taxes will remain unpopular as long as the existing tax structure continues to bring in growing revenues.

"I don't think that we have a problem with the amount of revenues coming into the state. The budget proposed by Gov. Pawlenty spends 6.6 percent more than the previous biennium. That's $1 billion more in state spending. That's not that problem," says Gerlach.

While the governor's budget does increase state spending, the growth falls far short of what Minnesota would need to maintain its current commitments.

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