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What is a large lobbying effort with close ties to organized labor and a strong stand on women’s reproductive choice doing supporting a city council candidate in Winona?
First-term at-large Winona City Council candidate, Debbie White is being backed by the Progressive Majority. On the committee’s Web site, White takes credit for playing a leading role in negotiating flood relief for southeastern Minnesota families who were affected by storms last year.
I don’t recall many Winona families affected by the flood. Many Goodview and Minnesota City residents as well as many Fillmore and Winona County residents were victims. I don’t recall a large contingent of Winona city residents needing assistance or White’s aggressive efforts to help them.
White also takes credit for leadership in the region as a co-chairwoman of the Community Bridge Coalition to address our Interstate Bridge. I know there are many efforts to provide input to the Minnesota Department of Transportation as they look at replacing our bridge. I’m sure many of the people working on those ideas are surprised to find out White is the co-chairwoman of their effort.
I like to point out local problems with our city leaders. I really get worried when a national lobbying effort gets behind a local candidate. Leaders from organized labor, members of Congress, and progressive donors founded the Progressive Majority in 2001 to serve as a multi-issue political action committee and to enhance the political effectiveness of the “progressive movement.”
Its director, Gloria A. Totten, has served as political director for the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws from 1996 to 2001. The Progressive Majority’s mission is to support liberal candidates in state and local races — even school board candidates. The committee’s agenda is clearly spelled out.
The Progressive Majority’s agenda includes:
With the exception of reproductive freedom, I can live with the agenda, but I am troubled why I have to worry why my city council member is supported by organized labor, the pro-choice movement and health care reform?
Those seem like lofty goals for a council that is struggling with designating what is a family pet. It’s time we recognize how deep the liberal movement works. White has just finished her master’s degree in public policy. She may have more lofty goals than the city council. If she makes it to a higher level, the Progressive Majority can count on her in their back pocket.
Prevailing wages
Last week, it was reported that an Iowa contractor that won a bid for work at Winona State University is under investigation by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry for underpaying its workers. When you take on a state job, you agree to pay the prevailing wages that are set by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. The pay scale is complicated and quite generous. Prevailing wage rates are broken into categories such as “skilled laborer” or “electrician” and are calculated differently in each county.
In Winona County the prevailing wage for some laborers explains why state jobs cost an arm and a leg. Rather than confuse you with hourly wages, I’ll use annual wage figures minus two weeks of unpaid vacation.
The prevailing wages in Winona County are:
Laborer (just about anybody) $64,260.
Sheet metal worker $73,940.
Carpenter: $75,620.
Electrician: $85,880.
Plumber: $97,720.
Heat Frost Insulator: $105,100. (pipe and duct insulation installer).
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average wage in Winona County is just north of $35,000.
It would appear the state is applying a little of that “economic justice” organized labor is campaigning for. Government funding is complicated. Lawmakers make a living creating this kind of wage scale. It’s why unions still control many lawmakers and liberal political action committees.
Galewski is the retired editor and Opinion page editor of the Winona Daily News. His views don’t necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper. If you have an idea or tip about a Winona issue, call Jim at (507) 452-3960. His e-mail is editor@luminet.net.
