State Employees Strike

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA

As Public Employee was going to press, negotiators reached a tentative agreement, ending the two-week strike. The new two-year pact calls for 3.5 percent increases in each year, adjustments to pay inequities and much better language on health care.

On Oct. 1, Minnesota state workers represented by Council 6 went on strike. It may be the single-largest public employee action in the state's history. Nearly 19,000 AFSCME members were joined by 10,500 members of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees. Health care coverage is the primary issue.

Council 6 had been in negotiations with the state since February, but the state was unwilling to abandon efforts to shift health insurance costs to employees: Its last offer could have members themselves paying $1,900 a year for individual coverage or $3,800 a year for a family. Prescription drug costs would also escalate. The union's proposal would protect employees against such catastrophic health care costs.

This past spring, state workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if negotiations stalled. Talks broke down after management put out a final offer with no remedy for the projected health insurance increases. The Council 6 executive board then voted unanimously to call a strike.

When some observers grumbled about the timing of the strike, with regard to the Sept. 11 attacks, the Minneapolis Star Tribune editorialized that "questioning the state strikers' love of country betrays lack of respect for a right Americans fought and died to win.