Gov. Mark Dayton Wednesday said he would not issue an executive order to unilaterally recognize unions representing day care workers, but may order an election on the issue.
"I haven't made any decision on it," Dayton told reporters, saying he wouldn't go further than authorizing a union vote. "I'm not going to dictate the outcome of that."
Since the Star Tribune reported on the issue on Monday, Republicans have inveighed against the idea of unionizing the state's more than 11,000 licensed family day care workers.
In other states, governors have issued executive orders to automatically unionize day care workers, Dayton said. "I could issue another kind of executive order that would decree something, but I'm not going to do that," he said.
The unionization question is the result of years of work by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union.
On Wednesday House Speaker Kurt Zellers and House Majority Leader Matt Dean wrote Dayton a letter to "dissuade" him from issuing an executive order to unionize family day care providers.
"Simply put, the action you are proposing to take will kill jobs in Minnesota and increase costs to Minnesota families. This would be unwise given the current economic conditions we face in Minnesota," they wrote.
RACHEL E. STASSEN-BERGER
