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Lori Sturdevant: Organized labor is changing with the times

A fresh booth at the fair, a leadership transition for the AFL-CIO, shifting views on government ...

By LORI STURDEVANT, Star Tribune

Last update: September 6, 2009 - 9:39 AM

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Ray Waldron knows well the particular pleasure of strolling the State Fairgrounds at dawn -- the unusual quiet, the smell of fresh coffee (along with an occasional whiff of yesterday's trash), the anticipation of another day of talking work and politics with fair-going Minnesotans.

On most of the past 10 days, and at State Fairs for most of the past 10 years, Waldron has been first to arrive at the AFL-CIO pavilion. He's generally there by 7 a.m. to do some puttering, coffeemaking and reflecting.

The reflections have been more intense this year. It's Waldron's last as AFL-CIO state president. He's retiring after nine years at the state federation's helm.

On Oct. 1, the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation's Shar Knutson will succeed Waldron. She'll be the first woman to serve as state union boss and Minnesota's second AFL-CIO president to rise from the ranks of public employees. Their share of the organized workforce has grown in the past two decades as the ranks of privately employed organized labor have dwindled.

With a new national AFL-CIO president also about to be installed, a sense that change is afoot is strong in labor circles.

Another marker of change is the very booth that Waldron throws open to fairgoers each day at 9 a.m. Gone is the dimly lit warren in which organized labor touted its advantages for five decades. It was replaced in 2008 by what Waldron proudly describes as "the fair's first green building."

Built with Minnesota products -- recycled steel, cedar wood siding, Mankato-quarried Kasota stone, a porous concrete plaza -- the new booth is both environmentally friendly and a showcase for smart design. It invites visitors in with loads of natural light, a giant video screen and walls that open onto the corner plaza like welcoming arms. Portable kiosks on the plaza make union reps approachable.

The pavilion's bandshell-like shape would make it a grand spot for an old-time labor rally. There's been none of that this year. Instead, there have been performances by the labor chorus and patter by members of local actors' unions. The inventor who developed the electric Ford Ranger is on hand this weekend, talking up new automotive technology.

Time was, a mention of organized labor didn't conjure concepts like "design-sensitive," "environmentally conscious" and "female-led." But an organization that boasts 300,000 Minnesota members in 1,000 locals is bound to reflect changing times.

Waldron, who started his labor career as a roofer almost 40 years ago, is proud to have played a part in ushering in those changes. He's less sanguine about another trend in the body politic that's infecting labor's rank-and-file. Skepticism about government is high, he said -- even among purportedly progovernment labor voters.

"You see this playing out in some of the politics today. People's frustration level is high, because of inaction," he said. "Things aren't happening. The difference between campaign rhetoric and what happens once [elected officials] get the job is too big."

Mistrust of government isn't confined to the political right wing. Waldron says it's also present among union members who elected Bill Clinton president, then watched as the free-trade agreements he championed cost them their jobs. Labor holds both of the last two presidents, a Democrat and a Republican, responsible for the financial deregulation that made conditions ripe for the worst recession in 75 years.

Nationally, skepticism about government's willingness to serve working people's interests is an ingredient in the health care debate, he said.

In Minnesota, it could make a difference in the 2010 gubernatorial election. Working people want to hear straight talk from candidates about the state budget and its expected yawning deficit in 2011. They won't warm to a candidate who deals in euphemisms and generalities.

"Don't tell us, 'Do more with less.' That's a myth," he said. "We have to have more [state] revenues, and it has to be a tax increase based on ability to pay. There's nothing wrong with saying that."

Leadership isn't easy. Waldron knows as much. But, he said, his years wrangling sometimes contentious labor unions have taught him this: "You don't have to have a lot of courage to do the right thing. You just do it."

As a Labor Day swan song from the state's top union boss, that'll do.

Lori Sturdevant is a Star Tribune editorial writer and columnist. She is at lsturdevant@startribune.com.

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