Minneapolis City Council fails to override veto on labor standards board

The Minneapolis City Council fell one vote short of overriding Mayor Jacob Frey’s veto of a labor standards board. The board would have been made up of equal numbers of representatives for employers, employees and community members and would have advised the council on labor policies.

The council’s initial vote on the board had passed 9 to 3, but it could not get the eight votes needed to override the veto on Thursday.

Council member Aurin Chowdhury was one of the authors of the proposed policy.

“I am worried that workers that have taken so much time off to come to our chambers, day in and day out, just to make their voice heard, will have felt demoralized by this action today, by our body and decide that their voices aren’t welcome,” she said.

Some business owners worried the board would lead to more regulations and costs. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed the board, as it was proposed, in late November.

Frey proposed having a 50/50 split between employees and employers, and an equal number of appointments made by the council and mayor. Under the council’s proposal, the mayor would have appointed three of the board’s 15 seats.

“A labor standards board could be a really excellent structure to allow for feedback generated from a number of different entities and mentalities,” Frey said Thursday afternoon. “You could have labor and business, workers and employers at the table trying to figure out how to generate consensus and pass on thoughtful recommendations to the city council. That makes a lot of sense to me.”

He said businesses did not want any part in the board, as it was proposed.

“For this board to be effective, they have to be willing to participate. And the council’s proposal was so lopsided that business pulled out altogether,” he said. “Those businesses pulled out altogether. And so what I’m working on right now is to bring everyone to the table.”

Frey said he hopes they can negotiate and figure out a way to make the board work.

Council member Jason Chavez said the rejection of the proposed board might mean the council has to look for other avenues.

“I believe that working people deserve an opportunity to thrive. And what this means moving forward is that we’re just going to have to start introducing policy instead of working through this advisory board, we’re going to start moving labor policy as soon as possible to protect these residents, to protect their lives and to address and put food back on their table,” he said.