Workers’ Rights

I recognize the critical history of unions in establishing and protecting workers’ rights, and I am a strong supporter of workers’ right to organize and to bargain collectively. Our economy is strong, diverse, and innovative, and we can make that economy work for all Minnesotans, not just the top 1%. 

During the 2023 legislative session, I worked In partnership with the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters to build upon the work the legislature began in 2019 to address the all-too-prevalent practice of wage theft in the construction industry. This issue disproportionately impacts immigrant workers and shifts the burden of preventing wage theft from workers, who have the least amount of power to assert their rights, to general contractors who control the project site. 

Working with the Advocates for Human Rights and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, I chief authored successful legislation to enact an important update to our labor trafficking laws to address some glaring holes in our existing statutes that enable perpetrators to evade the law and enhance penalties in particular severe instances of trafficking. This legislation was designed to better protect uniquely vulnerable undocumented workers from exploitation. 

I also fought for the Nurse and Patient Safety Act this session, and when passed, will provide important new protections and a voice for nurses in hospitals around the chronic issue of unsafe staffing. While we did not achieve the full version of this bill, in the last hours of the legislative session, we did pass the most comprehensive hospital workplace safety legislation in the nation. We have more work to do next year, and I will continue to fight for our nurses and the protections they so desperately need to continue to serve our communities.

I am proud to have earned a 100% rating by the AFL-CIO on my 2021 voting record supporting workers in Minnesota. As a member of the Minnesota State Legislature, I support a mandatory $15 minimum wage for all workers, Paid Family and Medical Leave, Sick and Safe Time, and other measures to ensure that all workers are supported and valued in Minnesota.