Hanging Tough in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS

Hundreds of university students, faculty, and labor and community activists joined a boisterous October rally supporting striking University of Minnesota clerical workers.

Almost 2,000 members of Locals 3800 and 3801 (Council 6) struck after management demanded that workers pay more for health care costs, even as it froze wages and eliminated step increases — an effective 5 percent cut in pay.

"I'm a single mother, and I took a big risk going out on strike," said Local 3800 activist Vanessa Vasquez. "My daughter has health problems. I had to fight to make sure I could keep providing the care she needs."

Faculty members held classes off-campus, and students staged sit-ins until university Pres. Bob Bruininks met with them. Construction sites lay dormant, and campus supplies dwindled as unionized workers refused to cross picket lines. Unions and businesses donated food and money.

Management was forced back to the table, resulting in a number of improvements. Members ratified the new two-year pact nine to one.

In Duluth, Local 3801 member Joan Erickson thanked students. "You may not remember us years from now or remember this event," she said. "But there is not a mother or grandmother on this line today who will forget you or what you did for us."

— Susan Ellen Holleran