Minnesota - State Workers OK Winning Contract

SUPPORT THE CONTRACT! | Minnesota Council 5 members show their support for a new two-year contract during a negotiations assembly.

SUPPORT THE CONTRACT! | Minnesota Council 5 members show their support for a new two-year contract during a negotiations assembly.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Munt

St. Paul, Minnesota

Approximately 19,000 state workers represented by Council 5 overwhelmingly ratified a new two-year contract this summer that maintains health insurance benefits at current levels and includes step wage increases of 2.5 percent next year.

The achievement came at a particularly tough time for the public employees, including executive branch, corrections and radio communications workers. Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) had proposed to help close a projected $6.4 billion budget deficit by forcing the employees to swallow a 1.5 percent wage cut over the next two years and to take up to 48 hours of unpaid leave during that period—the equivalent of a 10 percent pay cut.

The union helped to defeat the governor’s plans through a member-driven campaign that included pledge cards, outreach to local businesses and an ad campaign supporting fair taxes on the wealthy.

“We refused to let the governor balance the budget on our backs,” says Eliot Seide, executive director of Council 5 and an AFSCME International vice president. “No furloughs, no take-backs and a step increase—that’s a pretty good deal when you’re bargaining with a GOP Presidential wannabe during a budget crisis and a recession.”

To minimize layoffs, the contract postpones a 6.7 percent employer-paid health insurance increase to the second year. Plus, the state agreed to make a $125 contribution to each employee’s “Benny Card,” which allows workers to pay for eligible products and services from their medical-dental or health reimbursement accounts.