The free trade agreements passed with the partial support of many Democrats, although two members of the Minnesota delegation opposed all three agreements.
Ellison said officials should respect the autonomy of the Occupy Wall Street movement, and not try to “inject” themselves into it.
Protests inspired by the Wall Street occupation have broken out in Minnesota. One group, OccupyMN, plans to occupy a site in downtown Minneapolis Friday.
Union members were locked out by American Crystal Sugar after they overwhelmingly rejected a contract proposal at the end of July.
Union representatives said the incidents were likely the result of poorly trained replacement workers.
In his address to Congress Thursday night, President Obama outlined his “jobs plan” to jump start the American economy. Minnesota’s elected officials and interest groups weighed in on Obama’s speech, and the responses fell along party lines.
By a unanimous vote on Monday, the Minnesota AFL-CIO agreed to oppose a ballot measure that would add a ban on same-sex marriage to the Minnesota Constitution.
If union workers reject the contract offered by American Crystal Sugar tomorrow, the company could bring in replacement workers.
As Congress draws nearer to considering three new free trade agreements, union members are putting pressure on their congressional representatives to oppose them, arguing that they’d cost the state more manufacturing jobs, even as corporate supporters see new hope for quick passage.
Republican legislative leadership unveiled its budget targets on Thursday. Most government departments would see a cut under the budget proposals from the last two years, while a few, such as education and health and human services, would see a modest increase from the last biennium. Democrats immediately blasted the proposal, which will spend $34 billion in the 2012–2013 biennium — $3 billion less than the budget proposed by Gov. Mark Dayton.
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