MAPE members celebrate organizing, election victories

More than 70 people gathered Thursday night to celebrate recent labor wins from the monthlong MAPE-tober organizing efforts and the election resulting in a pro-labor House, Senate and Governor in Minnesota.  

“We must shift from survival mode post-Janus to offense to fight for and be creative with what we can win at the Capitol,” said MAPE President Megan Dayton.   

Members invited to the reception, held at the DoubleTree in Bloomington , had participated in either or both political shifts and/or MAPE-tober efforts. 

“To win these fights, we’re going to have to level up our organizing,” said MAPE Organizing Council (OC) Vice Chair Sarah Evans. “And I’m proud of the work the OC did this year to coordinate our newest and largest organizing event called MAPE-tober. MAPE-tober encouraged and uplifted the local leaders like you all who are here doing innovative things to rethink membership engagement in our locals.”   

Member activists were also joined by legislative guests including Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Sen. Erin Murphy and two MAPE members who won their races for Minnesota House, Rep-Elect Amanda Hemmingsen Jaeger and Rep-Elect Kim Hicks. 

“We’re going to do good things for working folks. And we’re going to have things like paid family and medical leave,” Lt. Gov. Flanagan said. “And we’re going to make sure we are partners in how we do this work.” 

MAPE Political Action Chair, Monica Webber, recognized the two MAPE members who ran and won this election, and praised everyone who helped elect pro-labor candidates like them. 

“Thank you so much to everybody who door knocked, phone called, made PAC contributions, will continue to make PAC contributions, who voted and told a friend to vote because really every vote counts,” Weber said. 

Sen. Murphy agreed the upcoming legislative session will be a time for raising the bar on issues mattering to labor and working people in Minnesota. 

“{The majority} means we have the power to move an agenda and we’re going to move an agenda for the people of Minnesota,” said Sen. Murphy, Chair of State Government Finance. 

Minnesota’s 2023 legislative session starts Jan. 3.