MAPE takes over the Capitol for another Lobby Day

Nearly 200 MAPE members descended upon the Capitol for Lobby Day 2026 yesterday where they met with legislators and attended a rally. “Minnesota needs to stand strong in our commitment to public services and the common good,” MAPE Statewide President Angela Halseth told members at the rally.  

Members have been meeting with lawmakers this month to talk about the union’s legislative agenda including the bonding bill and other concerns. During meetings with legislators, Political Council Chair Nicole Juan said members are “making it clear that working people have priorities – and we expect legislators to act on them. That includes asking the wealthiest Minnesotans to pay their fair share through a fifth tier income tax. We’re also asking that our tax system be modernized so that profitable social media corporations contribute to the public good instead of extracting value without accountability. It includes protecting state employees’ data and personal information from misuse and exploitation.” 

Across the country, at the federal level and here at home, Minnesotans are seeing coordinated attacks on public workers and on even the idea of public service. Members see it when their work is dismissed as expendable. They feel it when federal health care, environment, Social Security disability determination funding, and more, is cut along with state programs and threats of layoffs of hardworking colleagues. “But let’s be clear: public workers are not the problem. We are the backbone of our cities, our agencies and our communities. When public services are weakened, working people pay the price,” Juan said.  

“We have privatized way too much of government,” DFL Leader Zach Stephenson told members. “Thank you for taking care of people in Minnesota every single day. You all have hard jobs and don’t need to have them made harder when people demonize public workers.” 

It is not just union members and working people under attack, as violence from ICE's recent Operation Metro Surge showed. Local 901 Vice President Maya Sarkar told the crowd, “Last fall [at Delegate Assembly], MAPE committed to immigrant rights, and today we reaffirm our love, support and action for our immigrant siblings, neighbors and fellow union members. Some of MAPE’s rank and file members have done so much more than many elected officials, and I want to recognize that courage. 

“Our state deserves well-functioning programs, and we as public servants deserve key wages, benefits and staffed teams so that we can serve our public in the best way. We chose to be public servants to our communities and our neighbors, and we ask to be taken care of in return,” Sarkar said. 

Local 1402’s Cindy Osborn is a program administrator with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in Duluth. “After years in the private sector – where the focus is often on the bottom line and profits – it is refreshing to work for an agency where what you do actually matters. The work is mission focused. It’s about serving the people of Minnesota, improving public health and protecting the land and water we all depend on. Protecting them doesn’t happen by accident – it happens because skilled public workers are funded and allowed to do their jobs,” Osborn said.  

“That’s why unions matter and that’s why unions must be engaged in civic life,” she added. “When unions have been strongest in history, they weren’t just bargaining contracts. In the early 1900s, labor unions across the Iron Range helped to build their community – all outside contract negotiations. They understood that strong communities and strong workers go hand in hand.” 

At their core, public service unions exist to care for people. MAPE members are represented across dozens of agencies, and the work members do directly impacts and improves the lives of Minnesotans. “To continue doing this work, we need elected leaders who support public services and public workers. Because when public workers are supported, Minnesota is stronger, healthier and more just for everyone,” Osborn said. 

“Your voice matters. As state workers you have this dual lens because you know what it takes to make the state work and for it to work well.  And you know what it takes to live in a state and make it a really great place for everyone to thrive,” Senator Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger said. “I’m proud to be a MAPE member representing you in the Senate.”