Two big unions approve two-year state contracts

08/30/2005

Conrad Defiebre,
Star Tribune
August 30, 2005

Members of state government’s two largest employee unions have overwhelmingly approved new two-year labor contracts in voting that was tallied on Monday.

The contracts, which are to run through June 2007, provide 2 percent annual raises and only slight increases in health insurance premiums for more than 30,000 state workers. Tentative agreement with both unions was announced July 29 after bargaining that was interrupted by a historic eight-day partial government shutdown brought on by a budget impasse in the Legislature.

Council 5 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees announced Monday that 86 percent of those voting among the 19,000 state workers it represents approved the deal.

The Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, which represents 11,600 workers in jobs that mostly require college degrees, voted for approval by 92 percent.

“It was a good settlement and a higher voter response than normal,” said Jim Monroe, executive director of the association. The two unions’ last contracts, set as the state dug out of a $4.5 billion projected budget shortfall, froze pay scales for two years and got much less rank-and-file support.

Eliot Seide, lead negotiator for Council 5, said, “We demanded respect and got it” in the latest round of bargaining, securing “a decent contract that state employees support.”

The next step for the contracts is consideration within 30 days by a joint legislative panel. If it approves the contracts, as is expected, raises and back pay dating from July 1 would probably reach employees by early October, Monroe said.

Unaddressed in the contracts are union demands for compensation for lost work during the July shutdown, which idled about 9,300 employees, 1,650 of whom had exhausted their vacation and suffered a loss of pay.

“State employees wanted to work, but they were locked out through no fault of their own,” Seide said. “They should be made whole for their loss of pay, vacation and comp time. It’s critical to rebuild morale.”

Shutdown claims, estimated to total $10.1 million, will be the subject of mediation between state officials and at least four unions beginning Sept. 6. Lance Teachworth, former state chief labor negotiator and head of the Bureau of Mediation Services, will facilitate the talks.

Seide also said Minnesota needs a law, similar to those in 38 other states, to keep government operating even if the Legislature fails to enact a budget on time.

“Never again should political gridlock be permitted to shut down any portion of state government,” he said. “Taxpayers and state employees deserve this protection.”