“The governor’s veto pen is a job killer…”

The State of the State is now in the past, but reaction is still simmering.  The Uptake has the scoop:

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty waved his veto pen like a sword at his State of the State address, but the labor community sees that sword as cutting jobs, not cutting taxes.

“The Governor’s veto pen is a job killer,” said one American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) member after listening to Pawlenty’s threat to veto proposed legislation that would invest tax dollars in transportation.

“I was looking for… something that would help our members to afford to move ahead instead of back with paychecks and take home (pay),” said a representative of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), noting that paychecks for teachers in the central part of Minnesota have gone down while health care costs have gone up.

AFSCME’s 1.4 million members include nurses, corrections officers, child care providers, EMTs and sanitation workers. The SEIU counts 1.9 million members in the health care, property services and public services arenas.

Be sure to check out their full video…