“This agreement protects our health insurance and it ensures that we will be able to return to work with all our benefits intact,” explained Eliot Seide, director of AFSCME Council 5 and chief negotiator of the deal. “But, it also means laid-off state workers won’t get severance or vacation checks during the shutdown. Once again, state employees are doing their part to fix the budget.”
If Republicans refuse to meet Governor Mark Dayton halfway on a budget deal, up to 23,000 state workers will be laid off Friday. It will be the biggest layoff in Minnesota history – at a time when 196,000 Minnesotans already are unemployed. State employees will have the same opportunity as every other laid-off Minnesotan to file for unemployment.
“Minnesota is facing a state shutdown because the Republican Legislative leadership will not compromise with Gov. Dayton for the common good of this state. As a result of the GOP’s unwillingness to compromise, thousands of hard-working, dedicated public employees will be laid off and thousands of Minnesotans will lose the services they depend upon and deserve,” said Jim Monroe, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees.
“Like most Minnesotans, public workers expect solutions, not a shutdown,” said Seide. “We can’t do our jobs if the Republican majorities refuse to do theirs. They’ll continue to pay themselves while everyone else pays the price for their failure.”
AFSCME Council 5 represents 18,000 state employees, while MAPE represents 13,000.
This article is reprinted from the AFSCME and MAPE websites.
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“This agreement protects our health insurance and it ensures that we will be able to return to work with all our benefits intact,” explained Eliot Seide, director of AFSCME Council 5 and chief negotiator of the deal. “But, it also means laid-off state workers won’t get severance or vacation checks during the shutdown. Once again, state employees are doing their part to fix the budget.”
If Republicans refuse to meet Governor Mark Dayton halfway on a budget deal, up to 23,000 state workers will be laid off Friday. It will be the biggest layoff in Minnesota history – at a time when 196,000 Minnesotans already are unemployed. State employees will have the same opportunity as every other laid-off Minnesotan to file for unemployment.
“Minnesota is facing a state shutdown because the Republican Legislative leadership will not compromise with Gov. Dayton for the common good of this state. As a result of the GOP’s unwillingness to compromise, thousands of hard-working, dedicated public employees will be laid off and thousands of Minnesotans will lose the services they depend upon and deserve,” said Jim Monroe, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees.
“Like most Minnesotans, public workers expect solutions, not a shutdown,” said Seide. “We can’t do our jobs if the Republican majorities refuse to do theirs. They’ll continue to pay themselves while everyone else pays the price for their failure.”
AFSCME Council 5 represents 18,000 state employees, while MAPE represents 13,000.
This article is reprinted from the AFSCME and MAPE websites.