Most AFSCME workers ratify contract with state

Five of the six bargaining units represented by AFSCME Council 6 have voted to ratify a tentative agreement with the State of Minnesota, the union announced Monday. Corrections officers, who are “essential employees” by state law and therefore prohibited from striking, have rejected the proposal and their contract will go to binding arbitration.

The vote officially ends the strike by state employees that began Oct. 1 and was suspended when the tentative pacts were reached Oct. 14. AFSCME represents 19,000 state employees, including 1,700 corrections officers. The Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, the other union of state workers that went on strike, will announce the results of its contract vote Wednesday.

“We’re pleased with the acceptance,” Council 6 Executive Director Peter Benner said in announcing the results. The contract was approved by a vote of 6,688 to 1,443 by the five bargaining units who can strike. The corrections officers voted 245 to 226 to reject the agreement.

Although many members eligible to do so did not vote, Benner said the turnout was high by historical standards. He said he was not sure why the corrections officers rejected the contract, but said, “We will find that out when we have our leadership together.”

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The contract approved by the five bargaining units now goes to the Legislature’s Joint Subcommittee on Employee Relations for approval. The subcommittee is scheduled to meet Nov. 28. The date for arbitration of the corrections employees’ contract has not been set, but likely would be in January, Benner said.

Some legislators have said they would reject the contract because it includes health benefits for same-sex domestic partners. Benner said “there was a full debate and discussion of that (issue) the past session” and he hoped it would not hold up approval of the contract.

The two-year contract includes a 3.5 percent wage increase for each year and significant changes in health benefits for state workers. A key issue in the strike, Benner said, was limiting the amount of out-of-pocket health care costs for AFSCME members and their families.

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AFSCME Council 6 website: http://www.afscmecouncil6.org

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