Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey vetoes city council’s plan for labor standards board
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Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has vetoed the city council’s plan to create a labor standards board. Frey announced the veto Thursday, saying the proposal is not fair and would be ineffective.
“It should come as a surprise to no one that an effective board requires meaningful collaboration between both businesses and workers,” Frey said in a statement. “The council’s proposal is so lopsided that hundreds of businesses, many of them BIPOC-owned, and nearly all major business organizations, have voiced their opposition and said they won’t participate in the board at all. Without their participation, there is no way for the Labor Standards Board to be effective.”
Frey says he supports the idea of a labor standards board, but cited issues with details of the plan he vetoed. He’s asking the council to revise the policy and send it back to him.
But the veto might not stand. The council passed the resolution with a 9-3 majority — enough to override the mayor’s veto. The council will vote on it in December.
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The new board would advise the city council on labor policies. It would be made up of representatives for employers, employees and other community members.
Many business owners voiced their opposition to the board, saying it would lead to more regulations and cost. Representatives of a coalition of businesses thanked Frey for the veto in a statement Thursday.
“A Labor Standards Board is not the right solution for Minneapolis,” the statement reads. “We urge the City Council to sustain the mayor’s veto and make the right decision for Minneapolis businesses and the communities they serve.”
Since backlash to the board spread over the last several months, authors of the resolution have blamed business interest groups for spreading undue anxiety over the board. Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai noted that the advisory board would not be able to set policy.
“It’s important we dispel the myth that an advisory body to the Council is a threat to our economy,” Chughtai said in a statement Friday. “Despite Mayor Frey’s veto, I remain clear: the voices of working class people in our City matter. Our entire community benefits when the people who are most impacted, lead.”
Advocates had celebrated city council’s passage of the proposal. Speaking after the council’s vote last week, downtown worker Estela Tirado said the idea of a board gave her hope. She and other advocates said they wanted the chance to come to the table and push for improvements to their work conditions and benefits.
In a statement Thursday, Tirado said the veto is a disappointment.
“This was a chance for the mayor to support a giant step to ensure the well-being of thousands of Minneapolis residents,” Tirado said. “I have been working downtown for several years, and we all want to see a revitalized downtown that is vibrant and works for everyone.”
Frey is asking the council to sustain his veto and create a new plan. He wants the board to have a 50/50 split between employees and employers, as well as an equal number of appointments made by city council and the mayor. The council’s proposal suggests that three of the board’s 15 seats will be appointed by the mayor — not half.
Frey said he also wants any recommendations from the board to pass through a supermajority consensus. The council’s resolution calls for a simple majority, with the caveat that at least one employer, employee and community representative must vote for a recommendation before it passes on to the council.