Franken's 98 percent career voting record in favor of AFL-CIO positions is the fourth-highest among all U.S. Senators.

Gov. Mark Dayton, labor activists and House members made an appearance at the Minnesota State Fair on Tuesday to renew a push to raise the state's minimum wage from $6.25 per hour to $9.50 by 2015.

Shar Knutson and Brad Lehto, Minnesota AFL-CIO; David Olson, Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

State Rep. Karen Clark, who was the lead sponsor of legislation legalizing same-sex marriage, will receive the lifetime achievement award as part of the fourth annual Leaders in Public Policy awards, sponsored by Capitol Report and Politics in Minnesota. Clark and the other honorees will be recognized at a ceremony at the Saint Paul Hotel on July 11.

State lawmakers are introducing a workers’ compensation proposal that business and labor leaders alike regard as the most significant change to the system in 18 years.

During the last two years, organized labor has largely sought to preserve the status quo at the Capitol. Republican legislative leaders repeatedly pushed proposals that were vehemently opposed by unions, most notably “right to work” legislation that would have prohibited requiring individuals to pay union dues as a condition of employment.

The Minnesota AFL-CIO wants to boost the minimum wage to $10.55 an hour and index it to inflation moving forward. That would be an increase of nearly 50 percent over the current rate of $7.25 an hour.

Shar Knutson and Harry Melander.

Politics in Minnesota and Capitol Report are proud to announce the winners of our Leaders in Public Policy awards for 2012.

Left for dead in April, the Vikings stadium bill sprinted to passage in the session’s closing days. What happened?