Business owners, labor advocates clash over proposed Minneapolis labor standards board

Lev Roth works at the front desk of a downtown Minneapolis condominium building, helping residents navigate the building’s amenities and keeping track of who comes and goes. Roth said they’ve had their fair share of frustrations in recent years, including workplace safety issues and scheduling problems.

“We are given a certain amount of vacation time, but it’s really hard to find people to fill the shifts that we don’t fill,” Roth said. “It would be great if there was a way to make sure that people could use their vacation time, sick leave, and safe time off.”

That’s the kind of issue Roth says a city labor standards board could help address. Roth has organized with her union, SEIU Local 26, to advocate for the board — and the idea has long had support from the Minneapolis City Council.

After a lengthy process, council members said they plan to share language establishing the council and vote on it soon — but even before that happens, business owners and labor advocates are still at odds over the idea.

What will the council do?

While specific details are still being worked out, in general the council — if formed — would be able to study specific industries in Minneapolis, such as property services or restaurants.

The council will create a subcommittee specific to an industry, comprised of workers, business owners and community stakeholders, such as consumers and academics. The subcommittee can make recommendations for new regulations, which will be forwarded to the City Council for consideration.

The standards board itself cannot enforce regulations. Its recommendations must still go through the board’s full legislative process.

City Council members voted last winter to draft the resolution for the council. They are still working with city staff to draft the language; neither business owners nor labor advocates have seen the draft resolution.

Council member Aurin Chowdhury, one of the authors of the resolution, said workers need the forum with employers that the council provides.

“Workers are facing rising living costs, and wages are often inadequate,” Chowdhury said. “We have had a number of workers come forward and share their stories of the hardships they are facing in various ways.”

Rejection from business owners

But the idea has raised concerns among some business owners. Several Minneapolis restaurant owners have rallied with Hospitality Minnesota, demanding that the standards board be blocked.

Chef Gustavo Romero owns Oro by Nixta, a Mexican tortilla and taco restaurant in northeast Minneapolis.

Romero said he is concerned about the possibility of more regulation from the labor standards board, which would create more challenges for an industry already struggling through the pandemic.

“It feels like we’re finally getting some momentum in the restaurant where people are coming back, and it feels like they’re waiting for us to get up so they can pull us back in,” Romero said.

Romero was one of 120 restaurant owners who signed a letter to the council in June opposing the council. The letter’s authors noted that a third of the signatories identified as people of color and said they would be particularly affected by the new rules.

Romero said he operates on razor-thin margins, like many minority restaurant owners struggling to get their businesses off the ground. He worries that more regulations could mean more expenses, and it won’t be easy to bring in more revenue.

“I can’t charge $6 for a taco today and $10 tomorrow,” Romero said. “We know realistically that doesn’t work.”

He worried that members of the city’s labor standards board wouldn’t understand.

Waiting for language draft

City Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai said the council was formed to avoid such misunderstandings. That is why the council’s research into specific industries will involve employers and employees, she said.

Chughtai said he believes misinformation is a major factor in the backlash. He said the board is trying to involve as many voices as possible in the formation of the labor standards board.

“Community members, workers, and local businesses are left out of policymaking around labor standards, or feel left out of policymaking around that,” Chughtai said. “I think that’s where the support for these kinds of policies comes in, it’s just that the community feels like their voices aren’t being heard.”

Meanwhile, supporters of the measure say they want to speed up the process. The idea for a labor standards board was first floated two years ago, when a majority of the City Council and Mayor Jacob Frey joined forces with labor unions to support it.

Brian Elliott is the executive director of the Minnesota State Council of SEIU. He said he thinks it will be easier to negotiate with business owners once stakeholders can see the draft language — which he said took longer than other city policies he has worked on.

“When people don’t know, they’re going to go for the worst case scenario, so one of the challenges we’re facing is getting the bylaws out,” Elliott said. “For this policy, we’re all waiting for the draft.”

City Council members said they hope to have a resolution ready for review in the coming weeks.

The labor standards board is part of a larger effort, in Minneapolis and across the country, to give workers a seat at the bargaining table. Unionization efforts have gained momentum in recent years, including at several Minneapolis restaurants. Kim’s in Uptown recently unionized, after owner Ann Kim asked workers to vote against the effort. Workers at Colita and four Café Cerés locations announced their intention to unionize last month.

Lev Roth said they want a seat at the negotiating table.

“The reaction I’ve heard is from employers saying that they know best what their employees need. I can’t imagine that employers know better than employees what employees need,” Roth said.

City Council members said they will schedule more meetings with employees and business owners to hear opinions on the board as they continue to draft the resolution.