Workers Hold Wage Rally At Minneapolis City Hall
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Workers rallied outside of Minneapolis City Hall Wednesday in support of a proposal which critics and supporters agree would create the most sweeping workplace regulations in the nation.
People carried petitions of support into city hall to give to Council Members Cam Gordon and Lisa Bender, who are backing the measure.
"We are working hard to make sure you aren't sitting there on Sunday night not knowing if you are going to get four hours at your job next week or forty hours," Bender said.
Keandra Guillemante is a single mom who works at McDonald's.
"Their scheduling is not too fair right now," Guillemante said. "Some days I get three days, some days I get a full week. My son gets sick, I can't call off."
Mayor Betsy Hodges presented the proposal at her State of the City address in April, but business leaders say they were blindsided that the plan could be voted on by the council in the next two months
Julene Lind has owned an Ace Hardware store in south Minneapolis for 30 years.
"My initial thought was, 'Oh my God.' It was shock," Lind said. "This is not what the city council is there to do, to invade my business, tell me how I can schedule, how far out I can schedule."
Todd Klingel is the president of the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce.
"We don't want to lead the nation in burdens on business," Klingel said.
He estimates that only 10 percent of the city's 39,000 businesses know about this proposal, and he says as businesses are joining the fight against it after they learn about it.
The council set up a Nov. 4 public hearing on the measure. Supporters say they hope the council votes on the proposal by the end of this year.
Bender says the earliest the proposal would start being phased in would likely be next summer.
