MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has his own ideas for what a Labor Standard Board should look like.
After vetoing the council's version he is recommending his version that he argues is more fair to local business owners.
"Virtually all major business organizations, like 400 businesses, all came out and said they're just not going to participate at all because the board is totally lopsided and stacked,” Mayor Frey said.
The mayor’s proposal would create a Labor Standards Board that has equal representation between employees and employers.
The mayor’s version would also give the mayor’s office a chance to appoint half the members, and the council would appoint the other half.
The city council’s version would allow the mayor to appoint three of the 15 members on the Labor Standards Board.
Mayor Frey’s proposal also requires that a supermajority of board members must agree on an issue before the board can issue a recommendation to the city council.
The council’s version would require a simple majority for the board to issue a recommendation to the council.
Council member Aurin Chowdhury was among the nine council members who passed the original proposal to create a Labor Standards Board.
She argues the original version was fair already, and it's likely the council will attempt to override the mayor’s veto.
"I think this is the route the authors are planning on going. I am planning on voting to override the mayor's veto. We are going to ask our members that voted in support of a labor standards board to put the voices of workers at the center of this,” Chowdhury says.
Meanwhile, workers unions and business leaders continue to speak out.
Both sides have sent letters to the city, and both sides have organized awareness campaigns to try and sway city leaders into voting in their favor.
“We gotta love our city more than we do our ideology,” Frey says.
“Right now, Minneapolis needs some love for it to take the next step and that means we value business, that means we value labor, that means we create a proposal where they can truly work together.”
Council members say they will likely take a vote during their next council meeting on December 5th.
If all the council members stay with their original votes, they would have enough votes to override the mayor’s veto.