Union suing state for using prisoners to clean up roadsides

04/27/2005

Conrad Defiebre, Star Tribune
April 27, 2005

A state employees union complains in a lawsuit that up to 1,200 low-paid Minnesotans being put to work cleaning up littered highways are “outside consultants” whose new duties violate state labor law.

“Inside consultants, maybe,” quipped Brian McClung, spokesman for Gov. Tim Pawlenty, whose “Operation Clean-Up” launched this month taps crews from state prisons and county jails.

On Tuesday, Council 5 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) took its legal challenge to Ramsey County District Court.

The union says the effort unfairly takes work from its members at the state Department of Transportation, allowing the department to leave job openings unfilled while paying prisoners as little as $1 a day. State law, the suit says, requires an official finding that work cannot be performed by available staff before outside consultants are hired.

“They’ve decided to ignore the statute,” said Council 5 attorney Gregg Corwin. “This governor obviously wants to contract out work. We have to make a stand somewhere.”

The state is citing a 1935 statute that allows inmates to work for state agencies on land controlled by the agencies. “The statute we’re quoting is a lot newer,” Corwin said.

Corwin also said he is preparing a similar suit on behalf of another state labor union, the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, over outsourcing of job counseling positions at the Department of Economic Security. It will be filed soon, he said.

McClung, meanwhile, said “Operation Clean-Up” is a vital cost-cutting measure for the state in tight budget times. “Does the union want us to spend more taxpayers’ money to clean up the roads?” he asked.