Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz has a history of working for the interests of the wealthy against working people.

The headlines should be obvious at this point, or Minnesota Governor Tim Walz would never have been on the Democratic candidate list, but it’s worth remembering in the midst of all this noise.

I first heard about Waltz last year when some in the media were reporting on Minnesota. A shining example of progressivism And that “The best state for workers” So I started looking into the law.

There’s no doubt that states have passed some decent bills. Here’s a thread that lists them all:

They made school lunches free for all students, leading to Governor Tim Walz being adorably surrounded by elementary school kids.

(Special mention to my wonderful friend Sydney Jordan MNHe is the lead author and principal sponsor of the bill. https://t.co/JsulllBX8I

— Will Stancil (@whstancil) May 23, 2023

But what this thread misses is that last year, Minnesota workers came together to nearly complete two major bills that would have dramatically improved their lives, but those bills threatened capitalist interests. The rich interests in this case were Uber, Lyft, and the Mayo Clinic, and when their bottom lines were threatened, they all responded with various threats. In each of these cases, Minnesota’s elected officials, led by Walz, quickly backed away.

Waltz is Former union memberAlongside Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, the other finalist for vice presidential nomination, he might seem like a saint. Friendly photo shoot That’s relatable to anyone who works to make a living, but his recent actions leave us questioning just how much of a ally he is to American workers.

Let’s look at two cases where Mayo Clinic, Lyft, and Uber issued orders to Walz last year. First, Mayo Clinic. Here are the details of the nurse staffing bill: Minnesota Reformers:

Bedside Nurse Retention Act (HF1700/SF1651(), supported by the nurses’ union, Hospital needed Form a committee of nurses and other hospital staff to develop a “core staffing plan” that includes the maximum number of patients each nurse can typically safely care for.

In response, Mayo threatened to bring billions of dollars’ worth of new facilities and infrastructure plans to other states.(1) Mayo executives wrote to the governor and legislative leaders:

Because these bills are moving forward without meaningful, necessary changes to avoid harm to Minnesotans, we cannot move forward with the process to approve investments in Minnesota. We need to redirect this enormous investment to other states.

Democrats quickly caved, and Walz agreed to exempt Mayo Clinic from the union-backed bill. As Mayo poked holes in the bill, other hospitals argued the double standard was unfair, cracks began to appear, and soon the entire bill was killed. According to Mayo, Walz played a major role in victimizing nurses. Becker Hospital Reviews:

Her relationship with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz Exemption From the Bedside Nurse Recruitment Bill — and the final stages of the bill revisionThis was announced by health authorities.

Mayo Clinic President and CEO Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., said the health system “stood firm” in its position throughout the legislative session and expressed gratitude to those who supported it, including the governor.

The good news is that Mayo employees are persevering without him. Star Tribune:

Mayo Clinic is one of the world’s top hospitals, but hundreds of Rochester employees say the health system isn’t treating them like it. The roughly 1,600 unionized employees, including clinical technicians, caregivers and cleaners, want a minimum wage of $20 an hour, in line with other hospitals around Minnesota. Nurses in Rochester are considering unionizing, which would bring union membership to more than 6,500 in Minnesota’s third-largest city.

Meanwhile, thousands more workers are expected to come to Rochester as Mayo builds a factory there. $5 billion expansion Downtown.

Aside from better wages, the biggest concern of nurses working at Mayo facilities is a lack of staffing — the very issue that Walz succumbed to at Mayo.

Callie Ellingson, a caregiver at St. Mary’s Hospital and a member of the SEIU bargaining team, said her unit needs 28 caregivers to care for an average of about 150 patients a day.

“We are consistently working 30 percent less every day, excluding PCAs who may be out sick,” she said.

Ashley Lower, a certified surgical technician who has worked at Mayo for about 20 years, said her unit at St. Mary’s averages 30 hours of overtime a day, a mix of union and non-union staff.

“Most employees are scheduled to work eight-hour shifts, but most are working 12-hour shifts,” she said.

Mayo is now threatening to further restrict working flexibility and create “workforce problems” for nurses if they unionize.

Mayo in 2017 I decided to give it priority A bill that would have prioritized privately insured patients over those on Medicare and Medicaid thwarted an effort last year to create an Affordable Care Commission in Minnesota, which would have monitored trends in the health care market and provided recommendations and oversight. Mayo not only asked for an exemption from the bill, but also called for the bill to be scrapped, writing:

This bill is highly problematic and poses a significant threat to the integrity of Minnesota’s health care system as drafted. This bill must be removed from the HHS omnibus bill and consideration must be given to Mayo to move forward with the investments mentioned above.

Mayo again got what they wanted.

Now, about Uber and Lyft. Minnesota Reformers:

The bill required transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft to pay drivers a minimum fare of $5, plus $1.45 per mile and 34 cents per minute in seven counties in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Drivers throughout Minnesota were entitled to $1.25 per mile and 34 cents per minute. The minimum fare would have risen with inflation.

Drivers were entitled to 80 percent of the cancellation fee if they had already departed to pick up a passenger, and they were also entitled to $1.25 per mile and 10 cents per minute if the company charged customers a “long-distance pickup” fee.

Drivers were ecstatic at the prospect of better pay and protection.

Senator Omar Fateh MN Uber/Lyft drivers hailed as heroes as bill passes Senate pic.twitter.com/JbYCssEfLF

— John Croman (@JohnCroman) May 21, 2023

But when Uber was wiped out, elected officials didn’t have the guts to side with workers. statement State media reported:

If the bill is enacted, Uber will stop offering rides outside of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area starting August 1. In the metropolitan area, it will only offer premium products that match the premium prices set by the bill.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz ultimately vetoed the bill, but passed a watered-down version this year that would have increased wages by $1.28 per mile and $0.31 per minute. Ade Ali, president of the Minnesota Uber and Lyft Drivers Association, said the law was progress, but: Still disappointingThis is especially disappointing considering Governor Walz vetoed a better bill last year. Disappointing is an understatement. What this year’s bill actually did was strengthen Uber and Lyft’s monopoly in Minnesota. Minnesota Reformers:

… The new law contains a series of anticompetitive mechanisms that disadvantage new competitors vis-à-vis incumbents.

Application fees for ride-hailing companies are the biggest unresolved issue locking in an anticompetitive market: Uber competitors who are first in the market must pay roughly $100,000 a year in license fees to the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Metropolitan Airports Commission.

The Minnesota bill would also strip cities of their ability to set and enforce wages and collect data about ride-hailing operations within their jurisdictions. Read more:

Finally, the bill did not advance language in a Minneapolis ordinance that would have required ride-hailing companies to make payments. 80% off special events Or there is surge pricing, and drivers are well aware that “platform fees” and “external fees” significantly erode their existing take rates. Some drivers $13 for a $55 Lyft ride.only 28% of passengers pay tips. With Uber’s total pay falling 17% overall since 2022, it would not be surprising if drivers’ incomes fell further after this bill goes into effect. It is odd that this element of the Minneapolis language did not make it into the final bill, but conversely, it is odd that most elements of this bill benefit Uber and Lyft at the expense of drivers, riders, and competitors.

In summary, the Legislature’s ride-hailing bill is anti-competitive. It raises barriers to entry for competitors by increasing costs for new competitors and for riders, without rebalancing regulated rates to compete with Uber and Lyft. It removes drivers’ ability to lobby city councils to again ask for higher wages. It incurs unclear and potentially exorbitant costs, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars, to comply with anonymous driver advocacy groups, while denying those groups the ability to again align with competitors to offer an alternative to Uber or Lyft.

Governor Walz is clearly touting this bill as a big win for working people, but a closer look at the ride-share bill and our subservience to huge health care costs shows that “America’s Dad” is not as much of a champion for the common man as he’s portrayed.

Note

(1) As the Minnesota Reformer pointed out at the time, Mayo executives were perhaps most concerned that nursing staff standards could put a brake on their growth. Appear automation EffortsIncluding work with Google Health. Mayo Recruit Automation has been advanced as a way to conserve PPE, but it is not being used in practice.

Beginning Monday, April 10, patients and staff will no longer be required to wear masks in most patient care areas on Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Health System campuses.

For more information about our updated masking policy, see below. https://t.co/IUzLoKut3q

— Mayo Clinic (@MayoClinic) April 4, 2023

About Mayo Automation “Forward”:

Mayo Clinic has demonstrated the feasibility of using a robotic system to perform simple tasks in COVID-19 patient rooms. Mayo’s experiments using dummies in a simulated intensive care unit (ICU) room show the potential for robotics to reduce the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and healthcare worker exposure to COVID-19.

The experiment, published in the February 2021 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings “Innovation, Quality and Outcomes,” demonstrated that the robot could successfully: