Day-care union takes a hit with Supreme Court ruling

Immediate reaction after today’s Supreme Court ruling on compulsory union dues. Brian Bakst of the AP writes, “Bolstered by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Monday that limits organized labor’s power to collect compulsory dues, the lead plaintiff in a parallel Minnesota lawsuit urged Gov. Mark Dayton to have state lawyers stand down and ultimately cancel a pair of drives to unionize home-based day care and health care workers.”

In the PiPress Christopher Snowbeck says, “The unionization effort in Minnesota was backed by the AFSCME and SEIU unions. Jennifer Munt, a spokeswoman for AFSCME, said Monday morning that her group was reviewing the decision. AFSCME is a public employee union; SEIU represents service employees. In a statement, Gov. Mark Dayton said the court’s decision rolled back the cause of civil rights in America.”

On the Watchdog.org site, Tom Steward writes, “Monday’s Harris v Quinn ruling appears to set a legal precedent prohibiting public employee unions from charging compulsory fair share fees from child-care providers or personal care assistants in Minnesota and across the country. ‘Like Harris v. Quinn, the lawsuit filed here in Minnesota on behalf of myself and 11 other child-care providers is a First Amendment challenge. In fact, the two cases are nearly identical, which leads us to believe the ruling today has set the legal precedent needed to permanently enjoin this unconstitutional child-care union scheme once and for all’ Jennifer Parrish, a Rochester provider and lead plaintiff in the Minnesota case, said in remarks for a Capitol news conference.”

At the right-of-center American Spectator site, Kevin Mooney says, “While today’s ruling in favor of health care workers who are opposed to compulsory union dues is a step forward for the constitutional rights included in both First and Fourteenth Amendments, the fight is far from over. Terry Pell, president of the Center for Individual Rights (CIR), is representing plaintiffs in a somewhat related California teacher lawsuit (Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association) that challenges compulsory union dues. The Fredrichs case is now before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. CIR’s amicus brief on behalf of the Harris plaintiffs can be found here.”

It’s his … . Adam Belz of the Strib writes, “Mankato billionaire Glen Taylor on Monday finalized a deal to purchase the Star Tribune, marking a new era for the state’s largest news organization. The media company will once again be owned outright by a Minnesotan, sixteen years after the Cowles family sold it to one of the nation’s largest newspaper chains. … He will own the Star Tribune personally; it will not be part of the Taylor Corporation.”

Truly amazing … Stribbers James Walsh and Libor Jany report, “A quick-acting good Samaritan traveling along Interstate 35W in New Brighton Sunday night pulled a driver to safety after the man was trapped inside a burning vehicle, the State Patrol said. … When [Bob] Renning got to the other car, the interior was filled with smoke. He could see no one inside. He started pulling on the door handle, but it wouldn’t open. Then he saw the driver, Michael Johannes, of Minneapolis, pounding and kicking against the passenger side window. … he braced against the door with his foot and ‘bent the locked door in half from the top down’, shattering the driver’s side window, the State Patrol said.”

Gargantua has arrived: The AP says, “Portions of a 400-foot mobile crane began arriving Monday, with a total of 70 truckloads scheduled to drop off the sections over a 10-day period. The crane is needed to hoist the steel pieces forming the top of the roof that at its peak will be 300 feet high. The crane will move back and forth, once assembled, on tracks that stand more than 8 feet high.”

Speaking of freaking enormous … I saw this thing come in for a landing … Bob Collins of MPR writes, “It’s a Russian-built Antonov 225, the longest and heaviest airplane ever built. It was to depart the airport yesterday afternoon, but the plane stayed another night and is now scheduled to leave town this evening.” Check out the video of the beast on the ground and taking off.

Hmmm … Not usually a positive sign. Brett Neely of MPR reports, “The campaign manager who engineered Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike McFadden’s surprise endorsement by the Minnesota GOP is stepping aside and will take a diminished role in the campaign. Brad Herold confirmed to MPR News that he is becoming a senior adviser to the McFadden campaign. A campaign spokesman said the reshuffle was planned and that an announcement about the new campaign manager would be made within the coming days.” Uh huh. When was it “planned.”