HIBBING, Minn. – Nearly 100 AFSCME members, retirees and community supporters gathered outside a hospital here to send a clear message to Congress: Rural working families should not be sacrificed so billionaires can get a tax break.
Last week’s rally outside Fairview Range Medical Center included members of AFSCME Council 5, AFSCME Council 65, and AFSCME Minnesota & Dakotas Retirees United.
The event focused on the recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” The new law slashes billions from essential programs like Medicaid and food assistance to fund tax giveaways for the wealthiest Americans.
“This is class warfare, plain and simple,” said Sandy Wallin, president of Northeast Minnesota AFSCME Retirees Subchapter 170. “Billionaires are cashing in while working people are being told to do more with less. But we know the truth. Public services are worth fighting for. We won’t be silent, and we won’t be sacrificed.”
AFSCME Local 1119-1 (Council 65) President Dawn Burnfin, who works at Fairview Range, said the cuts attack the very freedom working families need to live with dignity.
“Twenty to 25% of our hospital’s revenue comes from Medicaid dollars,” Burnfin said. “That’s not just numbers. It’s care for our parents, our kids, and our neighbors. This bill tells working people, ‘You’re on your own.’ We’re standing up to say, ‘Not on our watch.’”
Burnfin’s family relies on Medicaid. She fears what will happen if politicians keep listening to billionaires instead of working people.
“These cuts could eliminate thousands of health care jobs and force families across Minnesota to go without care,” she said. “Our communities can’t survive when the people who care for us are pushed out of their jobs.”
Mike Larson, president of AFSCME Local 1426 (Council 5), called the bill a “full-on assault on rural families who show up and do the work every day.”
“We see exactly who this bill was written for, and it wasn’t us,” said Larson, a bridge maintenance worker. “It was for CEOs and the wealthiest 1%. We’re here to say enough is enough. We need leaders who will stand with working people, not sell us out.”
Larson also called out the historic cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which he said threaten families already stretched thin.
“It’s wrong to take food off people’s tables just to line the pockets of the rich. Our people deserve better,” he said.
The bill was signed into law earlier this month, gutting core federal safety net programs to extend 2017 tax cuts that primarily benefitted the wealthy. In rural regions like Minnesota’s Iron Range, hospitals like Fairview are already under pressure. AFSCME members say the fallout will be devastating.
“Our hospital is a lifeline,” Burnfin said. “This isn’t about politics. It’s about survival. It’s about whether our elders can afford their prescriptions and whether a parent can get their child to a doctor without driving hours. Congress needs to come back and undo this mess. We won’t stop fighting until they do.”
AFSCME members pledged to keep organizing and using their power in numbers to protect public services and defend the freedom of working people to thrive.