“Despite this week’s vote in the Senate, millions of Americans are still out of work, the middle class is still under attack, and the corporate-backed politicians don’t have a plan to create jobs,” AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee said in a statement on Thursday. “Americans are reclaiming their voice in a Main Street Movement that spans from Madison to Columbus to New York to cities across the nation. Washington can help them by passing the American Jobs Act now.”

Cravaack has said he opposes the jobs bill, but is facing pressure in the district to support President Obama’s proposal. Earlier this week, residents held a “jobs vigil” to convince Cravaack to vote for the jobs bill.

Here’s the AFSCME ad targeting Cravaack:

Gov. Mark Dayton said Tuesday that GOP hearings around whether he has the authority to order a vote on union representation for home child-care workers were a “political ploy” from a part-time legislature that’s already drawn out the session.

“I’m well aware of the legal parameters that are available, but that doesn’t dictate policy. But I have a general counsel. I have the Attorney General. I don’t need a legislative show to trot this out,” Dayton told MPR.

Republican legislative leaders are planning hearings on the issue this week. Dayton told reporters that he’s still receiving legal advice regarding his authority to issue this sort of executive order, although governors of other states have ordered similar actions in the past.

Republican House Speaker Kurt Zellers and Majority Leader Matt Dean sent Dayton a letter last week questioning if the governor had authority in this area. “Any unionization of these independent businesses runs contrary to easing [Minnesota families' financial burdens]. Increased cost would lead to decreases availability, exactly the opposite of what we both want for Minnesota families.”

Rep. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, t0ld the Star Tribune that she’s worried the unionization of child-care workers would mean “propaganda,” like craft projects using macaroni noodles to spell out “tax the rich.”

A report by non-partisan House staff last week said the issue of the governor’s authority was cloudy, but that it’s likely that the state’s Bureau of Mediation Services, which typically oversees unionization efforts, doesn’t have jurisdiction over the workers, who are independent contractors.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) say they’ve obtained signed cards supporting the union from close to a majority of the 11,000 home child-care workers since organizing began in 2005.

The unions initially requested that Dayton issue an order recognizing the union, which Dayton denied. He told the Star Tribune that he’d “rather there be an election than have [unionization] imposed on child-care workers and providers.”

The Service Employees International Union’s Healthcare Minnesota and Minnesota State Council came out against the budget deal Gov. Mark Dayton and GOP legislative leaders reached Thursday.

As Dayton and the Legislature work to complete the budget and call a special session Monday to end the shutdown, SEIU released a statement decrying the compromise.

SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and SEIU Minnesota State Council President Julie Schnell said the union does not believe Dayton should have given ”in to the demands of the GOP leadership, who have refused to negotiate in good faith, and who would use the state’s children, middle class and working families as a human shield to protect 7,700 multi-millionaires from having to share any of the burden of the state’s fiscal problems, resulting from the past eight years of shifts and gimmicks under Tim Pawlenty.”

SEIU Local 284 Executive Director Carol Nieters said it’s “irresponsible” for the state to put its budget difficulties on its children.

“In these tough economic times, borrowing from our schools is just a cut by another name,” Nieters said in a statement. “What this means for our children is simple: class sizes will rise, programs will be cut, achievement will suffer, and more districts will look to raise property tax levies just to keep the doors open – taxes borne disproportionately by all of us so that multi-millionaires can avoid paying their fair share.”

The union has more than 30,000 workers around the state.

Another union, AFSCME Minnesota Council 5, said in a press release that the budget is “not a deal until it’s done.”

“Until [the Legislature passes the bills without changes], we continue our work to make sure we help achieve the best deal possible,” a statement on AFSCME’s website said. “Our phone banks continue, our rallies continue, our shutdown actions continue. Until we see the details of the actual budget bills, there is nothing solid to comment on, so we will have no comment.”

According to the Memorandum of Understanding between the state, AFSCME and other state employee unions, laid-off employees will be called back to the same job they held before the shutdown, the site said. Employees will receive a written, oral or electronic recall notice and, once they receive the notice, they must report back to work within three working days of the recall date.

Meanwhile Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Tony Sutton said in a statement that “it is those most disappointed with the governor who will benefit most from his decision to accept Republican terms for a budget framework.”

Sutton added Dayton’s plan to increase taxes on the rich would “hurt most the people he wants to help by killing jobs and opportunities.”

“It’s a good day for Minnesota with the promise of better days ahead,” Sutton said at the end of the statement.

Supporters of 22,000 laid-off public employees rallied at the Minnesota State Capitol in support of a tax hike on the rich Wednesday evening.

Their protest was nicknamed “Downeyville” for Edina Republican Rep. Keith Downey, who introduced legislation that unions said would eliminate 5,000 state jobs and threaten collective bargaining rights for public employees.

The unions AFSCME and MAPE argued in favor of Gov. Mark Dayton’s proposal to increase income taxes on the state’s wealthiest citizens to end the budget standoff that shut down the state.

Antonio Rojas, age 8, with his French bulldog, Yogi. Photo: Michael Kuchta, AFSCME.

Jim Monroe, executive director of MAPE, told the crowd that Republican legislators had turned their backs on the middle class.

“We stand at a point in this state’s history of either standing strong for the common good or allowing extreme special interests with a radical social agenda to destroy our middle class as we know it,” Monroe said. “The chief business of all elected officials should be the common good and welfare of all members of society—not just a selected few.”

Downey (R-Edina) told Fox 9 that Gov. Dayton should sign the “lights on” bill proposed by legislative Republicans so public employees can get back to work: “Everyone appreciates the frustration people are feeling, we do too, we didn’t get our job done with the governor.” But in an interview with Edina Patch last week, Downey said the shutdown offers a chance to see how state government functions with only one-third of the typical workforce.

“Nobody wants a shutdown, but it’s an interesting opportunity to see what impact not having these nonessential employees has,” [Downey] said. “It will allow us a chance to assess, one-by-one, what can actually be done without all of those people.”

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson had a message for Republican legislators: “Do your jobs. You’re supposed to represent all Minnesotans, not just the two percent of the richest.”

Laid-off public employees plan to gather at the State Capitol Wednesday evening to put in some hard work building a town from the ground up. They’re naming the fantasy city Downeyville in honor of Edina Republican Rep. Keith Downey, who authored legislation that would eliminate the jobs of 5,000 state workers and threaten collective bargaining rights for public employees.

Jennifer Munt, public affairs director for AFSCME Council 5, said the event will include street signs for places like Beard Boulevard, named for Shakopee Republican Rep. Mike Beard, who has proposed an 85 percent cut to Metro Transit.

“We’re trying to make sure people understand what’s at stake with an all-cuts budget,” Munt told the Minnesota Independent. “The shutdown gives people a taste of what that would be like, but the Republican budget proposals as they stand today are far worse than the shutdown for the average person in Minnesota.”

Aside from the playful aspects of the event, it represents a push by the public employee unions MAPE and AFSCME to put pressure on Republican moderates who might help shift their caucuses towards compromise with Gov. Mark Dayton to end the state government shutdown. Republicans have so far shown little willingness to change their positions.

“Part of our rally is to differentiate the legislators who refuse to compromise from the more reasonable voices,” Munt said. “We’re going to nail the people who refuse to compromise and [who] demand cuts that are going to hurt our state.”

The unions have daily plans for actions throughout July, from as small as handing out “Tax the Rich” cards to the public to organizing in-district meetings between Republican legislators and union members.

The unions expect a slightly higher turnout than the vigil on the eve of the shutdown.

The event starts at 4:30 p.m. at the State Capitol.

Nell Nere sat on the steps of the Capitol Thursday night, hours before her state government shut down indefinitely.

Robert Benson of Hugo (left) and Nell Nere, an employee at the Department of Labor and Industry. Photo: Kathy Easthagen

Nere, a worker in the state’s Department of Labor and Industry and a member of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, began chatting with a student representative from Minnesota College Republicans about the numbers behind the budget dispute that has caused a historic shutdown.

“This is going to be a tragedy,” Nere said, scanning a growing crowd at the Capitol. “It’s going to be a huge hardship. Are we going to look like Minnesota, or are we going to look like Mississippi?”

With Gov. Mark Dayton unable to come to terms with Republican legislative leaders on a budget deal late Thursday night, the state government shut down and the fate of up to 23,000 state employees who have received layoff notices is highly uncertain.

A crowd of hundreds of state workers, including members of Minnesota’s two largest public employees’ unions — MAPE and AFSCME Council 5 — filled the steps of the Capitol Thursday night for a Shutdown Eve Vigil. Protesters held small signs — most calling for increased taxes on the state’s wealthiest 2 percent — as they dabbed sweat from their faces. Cries of “We want to work for Minnesota!” and “Tax the rich!” rang through the area. Participants ranged from those in wheelchairs to infants to disgruntled, but motivated state workers.

Even a few legislators made their way to a window at the front of the Capitol, holding candles and watching the protest.

“The Republican legislature has spent the last six months bashing and demonizing public employees,” AFSCME Council 5 director Eliot Seide shouted into a microphone at the top of the steps to a chorus of boos.

AFSCME Council 5 Executive Director Eliot Seide. Photo: Kathy Easthagen

Throughout the night, religious leaders and public employees made their way to the microphone, using rhetoric of “brothers and sisters” to address the crowd. The Twin Cities Labor Chorus sang “This land is your land,” among other songs. Speakers discussed the importance of the public sector, bashing the GOP-controlled legislature for what they perceived as disdain towards state employees. They spoke in support of Dayton, calling for the DFL governor to stay strong through the conversations.

“Tonight, our hearts and souls go out to all of you because it’s the public sector that makes this state work,” said Marcia Zimmerman, a rabbi at Minneapolis’ Temple Israel.

But ralliers with highly negative attitudes flooded the Capitol entrance.

Rebecca Carpentier works for HIRED, an agency which helps low-income adults, dislocated workers, welfare-to-work individuals, refugees and youth find jobs and job training.

“We’re putting people to work only to find out they can’t work,” said Carpentier. “That’s bullshit … Everyone wants the workforce working. I work at an agency to do that. But they’re cutting our fingers and toes off.”

Nearby, B.J. Wuollet engaged members of the College Republicans — seemingly the only conservative representation on the steps of the Capitol — in an argument about the role of government.

“My sister will not be able to feed her children or take them to the doctor,” said Wuollet, who was frequently heard telling the small group of Republicans they were “bumming Jesus out.”

Ryan Lyk, chairman of Minnesota College Republicans, fired back, calling Dayton’s unwillingness to sign a budget bill a “bad move.”

The State Capitol, just prior to shutdown. Photo: Kathy Easthagen

“At the very least, they need to figure out their differences,” Lyk said. “We need to keep government going to some extent.”

Dayton addressed the press and many Republican legislators as protestors continued to shout and sing, the St. Paul skyline behind them.

“I deeply regret that the last week of intense negotiations between the Republican legislative leaders and Senator Bakk, Representative Thissen, and myself have failed to bridge the divide between us,” Dayton said.

After Dayton and Republicans put all their offers on the table, a $1.4 billion gap remained between the two proposals, the governor said. He added that he, Thissen and Bakk made two offers Thursday, which involved raising revenues by increases taxes only on Minnesotans who make more than $1 million per year. Dayton said the Department of Revenue reported that figure includes 0.3 percent of the state’s population.

Some notes and the biggest headlines regarding the state government shutdown that will begin Friday if Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders can’t reach a budget deal in time:

• A Ramsey County judge ruled Wednesday that the state’s core services must remain open if the shutdown occurs, the Star Tribune reported. In her ruling, Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin said she agreed with Dayton in that state functions, which serve Minnesotans in prison, nursing homes, veterans home and state hospitals, must continue to be funded. Gearin also ruled health care must be funded, and that computer system maintenance, internet security and other basic functions also must go on.

However, Gearin offered rulings on few specific services beyond the basics.

“The Court believes that the negative impact of a government shutdown on these programs does not justify a court in over-extending its authority. … the Court must construe any authority it has to order government spending to maintain critical core functions in a very narrow sense,” she wrote.

Dayton later released a statement, saying, “While I am still reviewing Chief Judge Gearin’s order, it appears that her order arrived at the same middle ground as my Administration, and essentially agreed with my list of critical services that must continue … Let me be clear: I would much prefer to find a fair and balanced budget solution, rather than a government shutdown. I am continuing to work toward a compromise needed to move forward.”

• Minnesota’s two largest employee unions Wednesday approved an agreement that will “protect all the rights of laid-off workers while saving taxpayers millions in layoff costs if state government shuts down Friday,” according to a Minnesota Association of Professional Employees press release.

“This agreement protects our health insurance and it ensures that we will be able to return to work with all our benefits intact,” Eliot Seide, director of AFSCME  Council 5 —  the other union — and chief negotiator of the deal, said in a statement.  “But, it also means laid-off state workers won’t get severance or vacation checks during the shutdown.  Once again, state employees are doing their part to fix the budget.”

MAPE is a union of 13,000 state workers and AFSCME Council 5 is a union of 43,000 public and non-profit workers throughout Minnesota, including 18,000 state employees.

According to its website, MAPE plans to hold a Shutdown Eve Vigil Pre-Vigil Cookout on Thursday at 9 p.m. on the steps of the State Capitol.

• The Immigration Law Center sent an email Wednesday, detailing which services of the organization will be most affected by the shutdown. The list includes:

• Green card applications (legal permanent residency) for newly arrived refugees and their children, predominantly from Burma, Laos and Somalia.
• Citizenship applications for refugees with 5 years of legal permanent residency.
• Citizenship applications for disabled refugees with 5 years of legal permanent residency.
• Pro Bono services and general operating support of our statewide immigration cases.
• U-visa applications for immigrant victims of serious crimes who work with police to stop crimes committed against vulnerable immigrants and their children.

• Minnesota Public Radio reported the Federal Emergency Management Agency has asked the state what will happen if the agency needs to a respond to an incident at one of the state’s two nuclear power plants if a shutdown cannot be avoided.

FEMA Region V Administrator Andrew Velasquez sent a letter to state Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Kris Eide last week, asking if “staff and resources will be maintained sufficiently” to meet the state’s responsibilities in responding to an incident at the Prairie Island or Monticello nuclear plants.

Doug Neville, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, said Eide was reviewing Dayton’s list of core services to ensure nothing was overlooked, but expected him to respond to FEMA by Wednesday.

Minnesota Majority has launched a “Battle of the Ads” campaign, allowing its website’s visitors to choose which anti-Gov. Mark Dayton advertisement will receive more air time on radio stations and cable television.

The two ads criticize Dayton’s budget plans and a potential government shutdown. One features male and female narrators detailing the negative consequences of the governor’s unwillingness to accept the state legislature’s proposed budget.

“The legislature has offered a balanced budget that includes more than 4 billion in new spending,” the narrator says. “But it’s apparently not enough for Mark Dayton. He wants more. More spending and more taxes. And he’s willing to shut down state government to get his way.”

The second ad shows Dayton’s head on a wind-up doll, repeating “more spending, more taxes,” responding to a Barbie doll, who asks questions about the budget.

Both ads also give  Dayton’s phone number. The ads will receive air time based on how much donation money each garners.

Meanwhile, another ad, titled “We Want to Work for Minnesota,” presents a different message. The ad, sponsored by AFSCME Council 5, the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, the Inter Faculty Organization and the Middle Management Association, supports a tax increase for the state’s richest 2 percent as a way to protect against layoffs. It features a number of state employees, speaking about the necessity for their jobs.

The ad will air starting June 9 and will appear 11,500 times on statewide broadcast and local cable channels, according to an AFSCME release.

“Hey you [expletive] piece of [expletive],” the angry caller said in a message left with the labor union (mp3). “Your days are [expletive] numbered sucking at the public tit.”

But the phone number on the AFSCME voicemails points to someone who’s benefited from public dollars: Ed Motch, president of Minneapolis-based Bachman Printing Company, which has a contract with the state to bind legal documents.

Motch’s company may have taken in $42,000 or more in state funds over the years. According to a vendor search at the state-run Transparency and Accountability Project for Minnesota, his company has taken in $10,600 in state funds between 2007 and today, the only years in which the online database has been operational. Motch purchased the company in 1996, inheriting the company’s approved-vendor status, which was gained in 1983. Assuming the same contract terms — Bachman Printing takes in between $2,000 and $4,000 from state jobs each year — Motch may have made $42,000 from state binding contracts since Motch purchased the company 14 years ago.

AFSCME’s public affairs director Jennifer Munt said, “What I am confident of is that the phone call came from the home of Ed and Kristi Motch.”

AFSCME’s Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone system is “hack-proof,” Munt says, and saves the name and phone number of each caller — in this case a phone identified as Motch’s — that leaves a voicemail message. The Minnesota Independent is awaiting comment from South St. Paul Police Chief Daniel Vujovich on Motch’s involvement.

A screen capture of AFSCME's voicemail system caller

Motch did not respond to the Minnesota Independent’s email and phone queries Wednesday about the AFSCME call or the printer’s state business.

Munt told the Minnesota Independent that AFSCME Council 5 will continue its fair taxation ad campaign.

“We aren’t fazed” by the phone calls, she said. The group plans to provide information on fair taxation at metro-area post offices Thursday as last-minute tax filers rush to meet the IRS’ midnight deadline.

Munt also said that Toni Backdahl, a co-founder of the Minnesota Tea Party Patriots, contacted her Wednesday evening to assure that no one named Motch appeared on any of that group’s lists.

Paul Schmelzer contributed to this report.

Kelliher picked up the endorsements from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49 (yesterday) and the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (last week).

How important are such endorsements?

“[B]ecause of changing demographics, union political endorsements may not move the rank-and-file members, whose interests may not be the same as the union leadership, the way they used to be,” Hamline University professor David Schultz told the St. Paul Legal Ledger.

AFSCME Council 5′s executive director disputed that.

“[O]ur members are incredibly motivated to elect a new governor who will promote public services, rebuild the economy of the state and deal with the budget crisis in a way that asks the wealthiest people in the state to pay their fair share of taxes,” Eliot Seide said.