The greater Bemidji Area will celebrate working people and the struggle for labor rights at 12:30 PM on Monday, September 2nd at the Rotary picnic pavilion by the iconic Paul and Babe statues at the downtown Bemidji waterfront.
A public gathering with a freewill meal and potluck lunch, with a short speakers program and information tabling by organizations including the
Beltrami County Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), the statewide American Indian Caucus of the DFL, Our Revolution Bemidji, and members and representatives of regional labor organizations (unions).
This is the Beltrami DFL unit's first large, public free event leading up to February 25th, 2020 precinct caucuses and the state run Presidential Primary on March 3rd, 2020 through which DFL voters will elect delegates and then determine the proportion of delegates the various presidential candidates will be awarded from the 7th and 8th Congressional districts in our area, and statewide. The caucus process elects delegates that go to local conventions to endorse candidates for local state legislative elections, US Senate and the US House of Representatives, as well.
Working people are under attack! In our region, average weekly wages are lowest in Cass ($618), Hubbard ($734), and Clearwater ($765) Counties, and wages could be higher in Beltrami County ($821) as well. The national avg weekly salary is $1,055. We want to invite folks from adjacent counties that don't have a strong public labor event to join us. says Soren Sorensen, in a recent Facebook posting about the event.
"This is the event where local local politicians, representatives of presidential campaigns, and labor organizers will appeal to working families and each other for support for their plans. Most folks are talking about raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. That's exciting.”
Monday's Labor Celebration is also a friendly gathering to mark the end of summer in a public space. There are no tickets, no membership required. It's a free event and open to all.
For more information, contact Soren Sorensen, Beltrami County DFL Outreach Officer at votepraylove@gmail.com or 218 760-6563
UPDATE (Fear of the public or fear of a potluck edition):
This event is subject to modification to satisfy either fear of a potluck stomache-virus scandal and/or fear of the general public. We may have a formal meeting on Saturday at the earliest that might make a formal change to this event, but I was given incredible leeway to organize this with you, the Netroots constituency, with the formally organized Constituency Caucus, the American Indian Caucus of the MN DFL, with Our Revolution Bemidji, and labor partners, rank and file members of unions, and regular voters. If we meet, I have proposed this motion to formalize this plan as previously set forth with much input and discussion, but no motions by the unit other than to secure the space and pay for the deposit. This is my motion:
The Beltrami DFL cancels the potluck but commits wholeheartedly to Celebrate Labor at Paul & Babe on Labor Day. The Beltrami County DFL shall organize crowdfunding for a prepared food delivery sufficient for a small crowd utilizing ActBlue in the digital space, with passing the hat at the sequence of in-person organizing events implied in the rest of this motion, and will also approve and fund a rigorous knock and literature drop of a simple, black-and-white but union printed leaflet explaining any and all changes to the event, and authorizes the Outreach Officer and the Outreach Committe to cut VAN-derived canvassing turf to cover all walkable doors in the precinct containing the event.
The Beltrami County DFL unit shall consider the event a fundraiser, with a freewill offering, and we feed people attending this fundraiser, plus volunteers and invited guests. We create a simple volunteer ask to enlist the largest number of volunteers in that group we can legally feed. We shall have two shifts on doors, one on Sunday afternoon, and on Monday morning to get the knocking and walking done. We make the potluck portion a private event for the canvassing crew, and anyone who signs up to be greeter at the event, and people inspired to make banners. We invite labor & caucus partners who are members of the DFL to use our VAN privelegs to create their own accounts to create lists of likely caucus attendees and volunteers that a new "Outreach Committee" can use to do the necessary work of conducting caucus and convention training, as we approach the Febraury 25th DFL precinct caucus event, and the March 3rd DFL Presidential Preference Poll.