Bill Hansen
The most interesting dynamic in the House 3A special election DFL primary is the competition between a nonferrous mining skeptic in Tofte businessman Bill Hansen and three candidates who generally support copper-nickel mine proposals in the district. Most campaigns in Northeastern Minnesota have been a knock-down drag-out battle to see who supports mining MORE. Now mining opponents, skeptics, supporters and devotees all have an outlet for their very strong opinions.
Sure, there are other issues, but most of the energy expended in arguing about this race will be on the topic of mining and economic diversification. Thus, the question is really “Will Hansen win the DFL primary, or someone else?” (And if someone else, will it be Koochiching County Commissioner and labor favorite Rob Ecklund, Ely City Councilor and Greater MN Cities past-president Heidi Omerza, or International Falls businessman and former GOP nominee Eric Johnson?)
About the most predictable thing about this race was the fact that Hansen would be blasted by the Mesabi Daily News. Though he waited a whole week, editor Bill Hanna obliged with a two-day drumbeat of editorializing and front-page content hitting Hansen on a set of recent comments.
First, from an editorial last Sunday:
House 3A special election DFL candidate Bill Hansen has submarined his campaign to a new low level by degrading the proud men and women of the building trades.
The Tofte preservationist said in a recent public forum that the proposed PolyMet copper/nickel/precious metals project near Hoyt Lakes will bring “crime,” “prostitution,” and “gambling” because of worker “man camps,” that will basically destroy the community fabric of the Iron Range.
A state official with the Local 49 Operating Engineers put those incredibly offensive comments in clear and proper perspective in today’s front page story on the issue when she said: “He degraded working men and women.”
We couldn’t agree more. …
But to go after the men and women who do so much to make this country great and carry on the legacy of those who came before them to build the very foundation of our exceptional way of life with their labor and skills is just plain reprehensible.
What a smug, arrogant and terribly disgusting viewpoint from someone who benefits each and every day from the efforts, sweat and toil of people of the trades.
And, yes, someone who also enjoys a good modern life in great part because of products made possible because of the minerals PolyMet will mine on the Iron Range.
Note that word “preservationist,” — a dog-whistle word used locally against environmentalists — which Hanna also uses in a front page story about the comments:
An Iron Range trades union official said Monday that Bill Hansen, House 3A DFL candidate in the Sept. 29 special primary election, “has degraded our members for his own personal and political gains.”
Mike Syversrud, president of the Iron Range Building and Construction Trades Council, was referring to a Mesabi Daily News Sunday story and a video posted on Hansen’s campaign website that alleges the PolyMet copper/nickel/precious metals would bring crime to the area because of an influx of construction workers.
Syversrud, in a news release, quotes directly from the video in Hansen’s own words.
“Mr. Hansen said: ‘We need the jobs. Jobs are important. But those aren’t the jobs we want. In this modern age, these projects are going to be man camps … that clear out the community, create a lot of crime, prostitution, gambling. All kinds of community problems and tend to drive out other sustainable jobs.’”
Syversrud said Hansen’s remarks were “shocking” to labor.
Today, Hansen struck back with this statement:
I knew going into this race that my willingness to question the wisdom of copper-nickel mining would make me the target of those who want to bring this dangerous form of mining to District 3A.
There’s a lot of money at stake for some very powerful, multinational corporations that have a track record of playing dirty, whether it’s in their treatment of workers or of those who might stand in their way. These companies and their backers in the media think nothing of distorting my comments for their own purposes. Anyone who listens to the full video clip (available at www.hansenforhouse3a.org) that’s been the subject of recent attacks against me, will quickly see I was referring to comments by Frank Ongaro, a vocal PolyMet advocate, who says copper-nickel could become northeastern Minnesota’s “North Dakota.”
From my experience, such a prospect makes most people in District 3A cringe. The well documented social problems associated with the oil boom in North Dakota are a cautionary tale to many of us in District 3A, particularly now that the oil boom has gone bust. If people want our region to be the next North Dakota, they shouldn’t vote for me, because I’ll be working hard to create a diversified and entrepreneurial economy with real staying power.
Let me be absolutely clear on my position. I am a strong supporter of both unions and ferrous mining, and I have repeatedly said that our current mining industry provides sustainable, good paying, union jobs. I will work hard to bring new value-added opportunities to expand employment in the iron mining sector.
I would urge the voters of 3A to take a look at the track record of the company who would ultimately be calling the shots if the NorthMet mine were to go forward. I’m talking about Glencore, a company with an international reputation as a ruthless violator of workers rights and the environment. But don’t take my word for it. Just ask the Steelworker’s union. Earlier this summer, the national union highlighted what they called Glencore’s “history of broken promises and abuse of workers and communities across the globe.” As the Steelworkers noted, Glencore stands accused of anti-union campaigns against mine workers in South Africa, Colombia, Peru, Australia and elsewhere. If you think this company will be a friend to labor, think again.
The Iron Range Building Trades may have a project labor agreement with PolyMet, but I have doubts that this agreement will ever be honored. If the NorthMet mine goes forward, it will be Glencore that’s in charge and, given their track record, why would anyone believe they’ll live up to any kind of labor agreement signed by a junior partner before they arrived on the scene?
That’s one more reason that I am deeply skeptical of the proposed NorthMet sulfide mining project. This is a different and dangerous form of mining that has routinely left poisoned water, shortchanged workers, and devastated communities in its wake.
Even proponents who say it can be done safely admit it will take 500 years of water treatment once the mines close in order to mitigate the damage to our environment. Does anyone actually believe that Glencore will live up to a 500-year promise? If you don’t, then join me in taking a much more critical look at this dangerous and destructive proposal. Join me in building an economy for our region that respects our workers, our communities, and our environment.
Mining backers would love a fight that doesn’t talk about the vital need for Iron Range economic diversification or the economic realities of the global commodities markets. What Hanna is giving them is a fight about whether its OK to insult good, clean, salt-of-the-earth working men and women. Time will tell whether Hansen successfully navigates that particularly disadvantageous headwind.
This is only the opening salvo of what I expect will be a rough-and-tumble campaign sprint to the Sept. 29 primary and Dec. 8 general election, where Republican (and former DFL and Independence Party candidate) Roger Skraba and independent Kelsey Johnson await the DFL nominee.
Written by Aaron Brown for Minnesota Brown © 2014 |
Range paper lashes at 3A candidate; Hansen strikes back