Labor supporters hold rally as Cravaack arrives to meet with local officials
More than a dozen Koochiching Labor Assembly members and supporters held a rally Wednesday near the Koochiching Veterans Memorial.
The rally coincided with a meeting U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack attended in the nearby Koochiching County Courthouse. The freshman representative for the 8th District spoke briefly with the assembled crowd before attending a meeting with area officials.
Cravaack later told The Journal that the people at the rally asked him to remember the plight of the working class and members of unions when he returned to Congress.
“They just said, ‘Don’t forget us,’” he said.
Prior to Cravaack’s arrival, Mike Holden, assembly president, said he was concerned that Cravaack supported bills that affect Medicare, education and the Falls International Airport.
“I can’t see the good in that,” said Holden.
“(Members of Congress) don’t realize what they’re doing,” he added. “The cuts being made by him are serious.”
Holden said he feels that lawmakers sometimes forget about Borderland.
“We want to let (Cravaack) know not to forget I. Falls,” Holden said. “This is working man, working ladies territory.”
This is the first time the Republican representative has visited International Falls since he was elected to the House in November’s elections. Cravaack took office in January, replacing former Rep. Jim Oberstar, a Democrat.
Meanwhile, the rally was also intended to send messages to state officials.
“We’re supporting Gov. Mark Dayton because without him, we’d have problems like in Wisconsin,” said Holden. “We want to let Dayton know to keep fighting the fight.”
“Thank goodness we have Gov. Dayton and not Gov. (Scott) Walker,” he said, referring to labor disputes that have been ongoing in neighboring Wisconsin, Walker’s state, for several months.
“We’re standing up for the union people, the working men and working ladies,” Holden said of those gathered outside the courthouse.
He explained that those assembled Wednesday represented many different local unions organizations, and that the rally was intended to be friendly and positive.
Most of the signs held by rally participants read either, “We are one standing together” or “Stand with Wisconsin,” as a show of solidarity with the laborers in Wisconsin. One handwritten sign read “Stop Walker — Support Dayton!”
