St. Paul educators reach tentative deal, shift focus to levy campaign

August 14, 2025 by

SPFE members and community supporters rallied in 2020 to support the union’s contract campaign. (UA file photo)

The St. Paul Federation of Educators last week reached a tentative agreement on new union contracts covering about 4,000 teachers, education assistants and school professionals working in the state’s second-largest school district.

If union members and the Board of Education vote to ratify the two-year contracts, they could take effect before the district’s first day of school.

That’s a big departure from recent bargaining cycles, which take place every two years. Talks between the St. Paul Public Schools and SPFE typically extend deep into the school year and have often required assistance from a state mediator.

Educators had voted to authorize a strike in each round of talks since 2018. They went on strike for a week in 2020.

This time around, SPFE and the district committed to a robust summer bargaining schedule, meeting for full days instead of evenings. Union negotiators credited the early settlement to engagement both from rank-and-file members, who spoke to the union’s proposals during open bargaining, and from district leaders.

Erica Schatzlein, SPFE’s lead negotiator, said newly hired Superintendent Stacie Stanley and school board members – at least one of whom attended every session – set a new tone for the collective bargaining process.

Stanley’s predecessor, Joe Gothard, would “show up on the first night in a suit, stand up, give a speech and then we would not see him again typically until very close to a strike date,” Schatzlein, who has been part of the union’s negotiations team since 2012, said.

“Dr. Stanley wasn’t there all the time – we expect that she can’t be – but she was there often. In crunch time she was there pretty much the whole time, for a lot of hard discussions, and she participated. She offered some solutions. It was a very different vibe.”

Focused on dignity

Educators and the district make bargaining sessions open to the public, and SPFE took steps to turn out its members in support of their negotiators. The union provided child care, held cookouts and brought in an ice-cream truck.

SPFE also took a new approach to presenting its contract proposals, organizing members with similar interests into “bargaining action teams,” which joined the union’s elected negotiators whenever those issues were on the agenda.

Schatzlein, an English-learner teacher at Nokomis North Middle School, declined to discuss economic gains until they had been presented to union members, but she said the strategy built on the SPFE’s work over the last two decades to expand the scope of bargaining and push for the “schools St. Paul students deserve.”

“We went into this round talking about dignity,” she said. “We’re in a political climate right now where things that would have shocked us eight years ago are happening all the time. So what do we need to do to shore up our contract language to provide dignity for our members and our students and families across the district?”

The district agreed to language that protects students’ right to be addressed by their preferred name and pronouns – and protects educators from discipline for using them. SPPS also agreed language that recommits the district to educating every student in the district, regardless of immigration status.

The new contract delivers new standards on staffing, training and beyond for educators at RiverEast, which provides therapeutic services to students in the district with acute special-education needs.

Another contract gain will give school nurses more time to complete legal paperwork and track down the authorizations they need to administer medications or other health services to students. Schatzlein said the bargaining action team of SPFE nurses was especially effective at the negotiations table.

“They came and presented the proposal and said, ‘This is what we need,’” she said. “And at the next meeting, the district’s head of Health and Wellness came to the table and actually said that’s not what nurses need.

“That’s really shocking if you think about it, to say, ‘I know better what the workers need than the workers who are doing the work.’ That’s what happens in open negotiations; those voices have been heard by all of our members in attendance. It’s really powerful.”

Rallying behind ‘Vote Yes’

By wrapping up negotiations early, SPFE and school leaders can shift more of their focus to advocating – in harmony – for the levy referendum before voters in the district this fall.

SPPS is seeking an increase to the current annual operating levy of $1,073 per student. If approved by voters, it would generate about $37.2 million per year – and stave off the same amount in cuts to staffing and programs beginning next school year, the district says.

Superintendent Stanley, in announcing the tentative agreement with SPFE, said the district is “focused on coming together as one community,” noting that includes “informing St. Paul residents about the upcoming referendum this November.”

SPFE already has endorsed the “Vote Yes” campaign.

“We did have an eye to whether, if we are all in the throes of negotiations, we were going to be able to devote the energy necessary to campaign,” Schatzlein said. “Our feeling was if the district can get its house in order to settle this sooner, then we’re going to do that as well. And I feel confident that we’re taking our members a good settlement.”

– Michael Moore, UA editor

Filed Under: Organizing, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Broadcast Technicians bring energy, expertise to Twin Cities PBS studios

September 25, 2023 by

Union members gathered on the set of “Almanac” before a June broadcast included (L to R) Joe Kaczynski, Kai Holm, Scott Trotman, Eric Pagel, Michael Phillips, Annika Johnson, Jon Van Amber, Jim Kron and David Bales.

Every Friday night, the Twin Cities PBS studios in St. Paul’s Lowertown district come to life for a live broadcast of “Almanac.” The award-winning public affairs show runs on PBS stations across Minnesota, and union members have been working behind the scenes since it went on the air nearly 40 years ago.

Around 35 members of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET/CWA) Local 57411 work at Twin Cities PBS as camera operators, videographers, directors, graphic designers, studio designers, tele-prompter operators and other roles.

The union has had a contract with the station for over 45 years. “Almanac” is its flagship production, but NABET/ CWA members also help produce membership pledge programming, original documentaries, seasonal broadcasts and other specials.

And a new, three-year contract approved earlier this month ensures union members will continue making television for the station. Local 57411 Steward Jon Van Amber said having a union contract ensures stability and professionalism at a time when many broadcasters are looking to increase automation in their productions.

“A lot of places have the robotic cameras now,” Van Amber said during a tour of the “Almanac” set before a broadcast earlier this year. “We’re really proud, from the union point of view, that we have a live crew. You get a lot more energy, and I know the talent really likes it.”

That much becomes clear during a rundown before the live show, as crew members and longtime co-hosts Eric Eskola and Cathy Wurzer walk through the “Almanac” segments – without guests – to nail down their timing and block out the staging.

Camera operator Mike Phillips films “Almanac” co-host Eric Eskola’s opening segment.

Crew members offer their feedback as Eskola workshops a snappy, stand-up opening, improvising his way through several versions before finally settling on the one he will use.

The intensity ramps up on set as the theme music plays and the broadcast begins. In three control rooms behind the scenes, NABET/CWA members provide direction to the camera operators, run the show’s graphics, roll out the closed captioning and more. Members of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 292, meanwhile, operate the sound booth, roll pre-recorded segments and tape the broadcast for streaming on the web.

Local 57411 member Scott Trotman, who started working at Twin Cities PBS in 1996 and is now director and technical director of “Almanac,” said he still gets a few butterflies before every live show.

“If you’re not getting that, you’re probably not going to be at the top of your game,” Trotman said. “You have to be a little on edge to have your senses heightened, and that way you’re ready to do what you need to do if something goes wrong. You’ve got to be ready to react.”

Back on set, camera operators glide across the floor between segments without making a sound. Longtime Floor Director David Bales gets guests mic’d up and into position for interviews while also moving furniture around the set, holding up time cards to keep the segments on schedule and relaying directions from the control room.

For all the intensity of a live show, the “Almanac” set also maintains a sense of ease that stems from the familiarity among talent and crew.

NABET-CWA members work in the “Almanac” control room.

“I like working a live show because you can only do it once, but when you’ve been doing it for so many years like I have, I could do it in my sleep,” camera operator Mike Phillips laughed. “Sometimes I probably have.”

Most NABET/CWA members who work at Twin Cities PBS are part-time employees, giving the station a deep pool of talent to tap for special programs and its pledge drive.

The union’s new contract makes gains on two key issues: staffing and wages. After merging four positions into two during the pandemic – to keep from crowding the control room – the station agreed to bring back all four positions: director, technical director, chyron operator and teleprompter operator.

Union members also won raises of 5% in the new contract’s first year, 3.75% in the second and 3% in the third. Local 57411 President Joe Kaczynski, a photojournalist at WCCO-TV, said that by the union’s calculations, the wage increases should make up for what members lost to COVID cuts and inflation.

“Since they’ve returned to regular production at that station, it sounds like the workload has just been crazy,” he said. “So these negotiations were really beneficial. It’s a good deal.”

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

Filed Under: Community, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , , ,

State employees to lawmakers: You got your raises, now approve ours

February 20, 2018 by

MAPE members led a rally on the Capitol steps on Day 1 of the 2018 legislative session.

State workers rolled out the welcome mat for lawmakers returning to St. Paul today, four months after a legislative subcommittee pulled the rug out from under their collective bargaining process.

Hundreds of state workers, members of AFSCME and the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, rallied on the Capitol steps over the noon hour. Union members called on lawmakers to approve their contracts, and to quit treating state employees like a political football.

“It’s disheartening and discouraging to feel like the Legislature doesn’t value the work we do,” said MAPE member Angie Arnold, a grant officer at Normandale Community College.

The two unions, which represent about 29,000 state employees, reached tentative agreements on 2017-19 contracts with the state last summer, and members voted overwhelmingly to approve the pacts in August. They include annual wage increases of 2 and 2.25 percent, raises that are fully funded by the state’s budget and smaller than those in state workers’ previous contracts.

The raises are considerably smaller, too, than the 45 percent pay increase lawmakers are pocketing this year. In fact, one of the Republican subcommittee members who joined a party-line vote to reject the contracts last fall sued the state to make sure she got a pay hike of her own.

“That raises my blood pressure,” said Nikki Engen, a MAPE member from Ely who works as a collections officer for the Department of Revenue.

 

MAPE member Nikki Engen of Ely calls on lawmakers to pass state employees’ union contracts.
Angie Arnold, a grant officer at Normandale Community College, called the contract delay “disheartening and discouraging.”
“If lawmakers want us to do our jobs, they should let us know they really appreciate us,” said Sarah Bistodeau, a member of MAPE Local 902 who works in the state’s infectious disease lab.

Calling for fiscal responsibility while pocketing your own big raise is textbook hypocrisy, Engen added, noting that state employees agreed to a pay freeze during the state’s budget crisis a decade ago.

“My house payment doesn’t make itself. My daughter’s dance tuition doesn’t pay itself,” she said. “Costs go up, and we remain the same.”

MAPE and AFSCME members continue to work under the terms of their previous contracts, which expired June 20. Union leaders say they have no plans to return to the bargaining table and renegotiate the tentative agreements.

“There’s no reason not to approve this contract,” Arnold said. “We bargained with the governor’s team in good faith. This is what we get when we follow the rules and do the process the way it’s supposed to be done?”

Many at the rally worried that delaying state employees’ wage increases – and putting them in the middle of a political fight – would make it harder for the state to recruit qualified applicants to fill job openings.

Rep. Deb Hillstrom, a DFLer from Brooklyn Center, noted that wages in the private sector increased more, on average, than the raises negotiated by state employees. Private-sector wages increased 3.1 percent last year, and the increase is expected to be even greater in 2018.

“You are the people that make Minnesota work and that make Minnesota great,” Hillstrom told rallying workers. “You deserve better.”

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SPFT, district reach agreement, pledge to take on funding shortfalls together

February 12, 2018 by

SPFT President Nick Faber speaks at a press conference in the library at Galtier Community School, where he did his student teaching 31 years ago.

Members of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers will not strike tomorrow, but they aren’t walking away from the fight for fully funded, racially equitable schools.

After 13 hours of mediated talks that began Sunday, union and district negotiators reached tentative agreements on three contracts covering SPFT’s 3,700 members early this morning, averting a strike. Details of the agreements are not yet public.

During a press conference at Galtier Community School this afternoon, union and district leaders said collaboration was key to reaching common ground at the bargaining table – and will remain critical as the two sides carry forward their work to tackle funding shortfalls facing the St. Paul Public Schools.

“We are dedicated to working with our district and whoever else it takes to increase that funding so our kids can have the schools that they deserve,” SPFT President Nick Faber said. “SPFT is extremely excited about that work going forward, and we know we can work in the (spirit of) collaboration that we ended negotiations in … this morning.”

“We are so strong together,” Superintendent Joe Gothard said, adding that whatever approach the district takes to raising revenue, leaders know “we will not be able to do this alone.”

Collaboration could involve lobbying together at the Legislature or partnering in efforts to recruit new students, Gothard and Faber said. It might also mean working jointly on a levy referendum or other potential revenue sources.

The mutual commitment to raising revenue – whatever approach it takes – is a victory for SPFT, which refused to allow scarcity to dictate contract negotiations despite the district’s projected budget shortfall.

Instead, union proposals took aim at creating fully funded schools staffed with nurses, librarians and social workers, with smaller class sizes and expanded preschool and family-engagement programs. To realize its vision, SPFT called on the district to join its members in pressuring tax-exempt large nonprofits and corporate tax dodgers to pay their fair share.

The groundbreaking approach drew national attention and sparked public debate likely to outlive the next bargaining agreement. “We consider that a win,” Faber said.

“This contract campaign was centered around the myth of scarcity, but our corporate campaign continues on,” he added. “There is a lot of money in this state, we’re just making political decisions not to put it into our classrooms, particularly our classrooms with kids of color in them.”

SPFT’s bargaining team, meanwhile, said the proposed contracts for school and community service professionals, educational assistants and teachers make progress on several of union members’ top priorities.

“We won supports for our students, especially our English Learners and our students who receive Special Education services,” a post on the union’s website read. “We defended our class size language and strengthened the commitment to Restorative Practices.”

Although both sides struck a conciliatory tone at the press conference today, negotiations between SPFT and the district were the most heated in years, with union members voting overwhelmingly Jan. 31 in favor of authorizing a strike. Faber called the strike authorization “an awesome responsibility and an awesome piece of strength” in negotiations.

“Teachers go into this profession to be in a classroom, not out of it,” he said. “So when people are so passionate that they’re willing to walk, that’s an incredible feeling. It did offer us a great deal of leverage and sense of purpose going into those final conversations to make sure we delivered for our members.”

SPFT will hold informational meetings with members about the contract Thursday, and the union expects to hold a ratification vote early next week.

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U of M relents in contract talks as workers stick together for raises and respect

December 11, 2015 by
Teamsters and AFSCME members rallied on the Twin Cities campus earlier this year as part of their joint campaign for fair contracts.

Teamsters and AFSCME members rallied on the Twin Cities campus earlier this year as part of their joint campaign for fair contracts.

Frontline workers at the University of Minnesota stood together for nearly six months, waging a contract campaign for raises and respect.

Now that strategy is paying off, as three bargaining units – Teamsters Local 320 and AFSCME Locals 3800 and 3801 – have announced tentative agreements with the U that include 2 percent wage increases, equitable family leave policies and other union demands.

Bargaining teams for all three local unions are recommending members vote to ratify the two-year contracts in the coming weeks.

By sticking together and staging several public events, workers were able to move the U’s negotiators, who for months held firm that they had no interest in discussing expanded family leave and could do no better than annual raises of less than 1 percent.

“We arrived today in bargaining on Dec. 10 and found that the university was finally willing to negotiate over our core issues,” Local 3800 President Cherrene Horazuk said in a video announcing the union’s tentative agreement, posted online.

“It is because (of) the efforts of all of us collectively that we were able to get the best contract that we have achieved in years,” she added.

Local 3800 and 3801, which represent clerical workers at the U, won tentative agreements that include a $15 minimum wage, annual wage and step increases amounting to about 2 percent and no increases in workers’ health insurance premiums.

Clerical workers also won six weeks of paid parental leave for birth mothers – a four-week increase that achieves equity with faculty and administrators – and a memorandum of understanding with the university regarding bullying in the workplace.

“This is a contract that, we believe, begins to address the disparities between employee groups at the university,” Horazuk said.

Local 320, which represents custodial, food service, animal and land-care workers at campuses across the state, reached an agreement with similar wage increases and benefit terms earlier this month.

“By standing with AFSCME, we showed the university that it’s no longer business as usual,” Local 320 said in a statement. “We showed the university that frontline workers at the university are ready to fight for a fair contract.”

AFSCME Local 3937, which represents technical workers at the university, resumes bargaining Monday. AFSCME Local 3260, which represents non-professional health care workers at the U of M, is also in negotiations.

All told, the contract negotiations affect about 4,000 workers at the U.

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Day One: Minnesota home care workers’ first contract takes effect today

July 1, 2015 by
Pro-union home health care workers celebrated the results of their organizing election last August.

Pro-union home health care workers celebrated the results of their organizing election last August.

The union contract that goes into effect today between the State of Minnesota and home care workers statewide is a big deal to Tallaya Byers. But it’s about more than paid time off, wage increases and other benefits that kick in today, the 38-year-old from St. Paul said.

“I’m being recognized as an employee,” said Byers, who provides care for her 6-year-old autistic son. “It’s really great to be recognized now and to know that there’s a family – a union family – that is looking out for my best interests.”

The historic first contract covers 27,000 workers like Byers who provide state-subsidized, in-home care for elderly and disabled Minnesotans.

Ratified by members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and approved by state lawmakers last session, the contract increases the wage floor in the industry to $10.50 this year (and $11 next year), allows workers to accrue up to five paid-time-off days per year and provides access to training opportunities and grievance procedures.

It’s a big step forward for home care workers, who organized a union to gain a stronger voice in an industry that took for granted a low-wage, high-turnover workforce. That’s an insult not only to home care workers, Byers said, but to the seniors and people with disabilities they serve.

“A lot of people – disabled adults, senior citizens – are in their homes instead of nursing homes because of the work we do,” she said said. “For a lot of people, this is not just something they want to do for family members, but as a career. Now they can get compensated, get training – it’s really great.”

Negotiations between SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and the state began after workers voted decisively to form a union in August 2014. The two sides reached a tentative agreement in January, and over 95 percent of voting members ratified the agreement.

Although membership in the bargaining unit is voluntary, the contract will cover all home care workers statewide. Byers said she expects more will sign up to become union members after the benefits of the new contract hit home.

“For a lot of people, our union is still brand new,” Byers said. “So we still have a lot of information to get out to the PCA’s about why it’s important and how beneficial it is.”

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It’s official: Dayton signs Minnesota home care workers’ contract into law

May 22, 2015 by
Pro-union home health care workers celebrated the results of their organizing election last August.

Pro-union home health care workers celebrated the results of their organizing election last August.

In a victory for 27,000 home health care workers across Minnesota, Gov. Mark Dayton today gave final approval to a historic first union contract that will dramatically improve working conditions in the industry when it takes effect July 1.

Dayton’s signature on the Omnibus Health and Human Services bill, passed by the Legislature with bipartisan support, made the contract official. It’s the first new union contract with the State of Minnesota in decades, according to SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, the union representing home care workers.

For workers, the contract means the wage floor in the industry will jump from $9 to $11 by 2016. The contract also includes paid time off – five days per year for full-time workers – plus increased training opportunities and grievance and arbitration procedures.

The contract represents a victory not only for workers, but for the seniors and people with disabilities they serve. Clients joined workers in supporting the union drive – a process that took several years and involved changing state law – and together, they cheered the governor’s final signature today.

“Invisible No More” was the slogan of home care workers’ organizing campaign. Nikki Villavicencio, a home care recipient from Maplewood, said the new contract provides more than just wages and benefits; it shows the state values the freedom home care workers provide thousands of Minnesotans who choose to stay in their homes.

Nicole Villavicencio (L) talked about why they support their home health care providers’ efforts to join SEIU Healthcare Minnesota during the lobbying effort two years ago.

Nicole Villavicencio (L) offered her support to home care providers organizing s to join SEIU Healthcare Minnesota as the campaign kicked off two years ago.

“This contract will mean a better life for workers, but also for families across the state like mine,” Villavicencio said. “My family will benefit from the increased stability that will come with a higher pay floor, paid time off, new training funds and the other benefits that this contract will provide the workers who care for us.”

The contract will also help reduce turnover among workers the industry by cutting down on wage theft. Sadie Hawkins, a home care worker from White Bear Lake, is in the middle of a fight to get the wages she’s owed – a fight the new contract will help her win.

“The grievance process will give those of us who have gone through wage theft a clear way to get the pay we are due for the work we have done – without going to smalls claims or another unpredictable process,” Hawkins said. “I worked for Forest Lake home care and my agency failed to pay me for a month of my work, but I couldn’t stop working because my client needed support. Two months later and I’m still waiting on my money.”

Although membership in the bargaining unit is voluntary, the contract will cover all home care workers serving clients in so-called “self-directed care” programs, which are supported with public funds. The new Health and Human Service bill appropriates $16.227 million toward the home care contract over two years, and its economic impact will be double that because of federal Medicaid matching, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota said.

The contract elevates standards in an industry marred by low wages, part-time schedules and few benefits, and it’s a welcome change, said home care worker Alberta McCurdy of Minneapolis.

“I currently make $9 an hour and this wage increase will help me pay my bills and pay my rent,” she said.

“I’m so excited to get paid time off after working for all these years without it,” Christine Hale, a home care worker and mother of three from Crosby, said. “The last time I had a surgery I had to go back to work right away because I was the only provider for my family – and it was really hard.”

Negotiations between SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and the state began after workers voted decisively to form a union in August 2014. The two sides reached a tentative agreement in January, and over 95 percent of voting members ratified the agreement.

Filed Under: Organizing, Politics Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Allina hospital workers ratify contract establishing $15 minimum wage

April 17, 2015 by
web.Allina3-26.picket1

Workers picketed outside United Hospital in St. Paul last month.

Capping a week that saw fast food workers, bank tellers, students and other workers across the Twin Cities mobilize for higher wages, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota announced today that members have ratified a new contract with Allina that establishes a $15 minimum wage at seven Twin Cities hospitals.

Allina backed out of metro-wide negotiations between the union and hospital systems that resulted in a new, three-year contract for 3,000 workers in March. In informational picketing at several Allina hospitals March 25-26, workers said Allina was insisting on language that would allow hospitals to outsource their work to non-union subcontractors.

The contract with Allina, according to a press release by the union, provides employment security protections to prevent subcontracting.

It also includes health and safety protections for workers, wage increases in each year of the contract for all members, an increase in Allina’s contribution towards workers’ pension plan and a 25 percent increase in the amount of tuition reimbursement available to workers annually.

The new contract with Allina means 99.5 percent of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota members working in 16 Twin Cities hospitals will earn $15 per hour or more, according to the union.

Allina workers had pushed for contract provisions that would minimize the potential for hospitals to be caught short-staffed, pointing to over 1,000 staffing emergencies – defined by Allina as any time a staff member works more than 120 hours in a two-week pay period – resulting from staff cuts in recent years.

Vivian Straumann, a Licensed Practical Nurse at United Hospital in St. Paul, pledged to continue the fight for safe staffing.

“This contract is a step forward for every union member, but there is a lot more that we need to do to improve patient care in our hospitals,” Straumann said. “We will not stop raising the issue of staffing levels until we are satisfied that we have the right number of people to keep ourselves, our patients and our hospitals safe. Staffing levels are directly linked to our patient’s health and our ability as frontline workers to deliver the highest quality of care possible. ”

Click here to read the full release from SEIU Healthcare Minnesota.

The new contract covers over 3,000 Allina hospital workers, including nursing assistants; Environmental Services staff; cooks and dietary staff; Licensed Practical Nurses; X-ray, surgical, and sterile processing technicians and other workers at eight Allina hospitals, including Abbott-Northwestern, Buffalo, Mercy, Owatonna, St. Francis, United, Unity, and Phillips Eye Institute.

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On lobby day, Service Employees find bipartisan support

March 4, 2015 by
Rep. Denny McNamara offers support for SEIU home care workers like Rosemary Van Vickle (red coat), who are pushing lawmakers to OK their tentative contract agreement with the state.

Rep. Denny McNamara and other legislators pledge support for SEIU home care workers like Rosemary Van Vickle (red coat), who want lawmakers to OK their tentative contract agreement with the state.

 

A bipartisan group of Minnesota legislators lined up on the Capitol steps today to show support for a bill to ratify and fully fund home care workers’ first contract with the state.

Winning legislative approval for the contract, ratified by members of the newly organized unit in voting last month, is one of a handful of priorities members of the Service Employees International Union talked with their lawmakers about today during the union’s annual lobbying push.

Union members at a (mercifully) brief outdoor rally laid out other top priorities, including equitable funding for the state’s public schools and legislation enabling all Minnesotans to obtain driver’s licenses, regardless of immigration status.

SEIU Local 26 member James Matias emceed the rally on the Capitol steps.

SEIU Local 26 member James Matias emceed the rally on the Capitol steps.

Rep. Denny McNamara, a Republican from Hastings, said progress on the license issue would be a “small step” in fixing the nation’s broken immigration system. He also pledged to carry a bill in the House to ratify the pending contract for home care workers.

“The contract offers some really great things going forward, and I’m really proud to be a part of it,” McNamara said.

Indeed, the contract would raise the wage floor for 27,000 home care workers statewide to $11 per hour. It would fund training opportunities, protect workers against lost wages and provide full-time workers with five days of paid time off annually.

“These important gains won’t happen until the Legislature funds and ratifies our contract,” Crosby home care worker Rosemary Van Vickle said. “We need lawmakers to do the right thing.”

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

SEIU home care workers reach tentative agreement with state

January 15, 2015 by
Pro-union home health care workers celebrated the results of their organizing election last August.

Pro-union home health care workers and clients celebrated the results of their organizing election last August.

Five months after their historic vote to form a union, home health care workers represented by SEIU Healthcare Minnesota today announced they have reached a tentative agreement on a first contract with the State of Minnesota.

The agreement includes several gains for the new bargaining unit of 27,000 workers in publicly funded home care programs statewide. The contract would raise the wage floor to $11 per hour, fund training opportunities, protect workers against lost wages and provide full-time workers with five days of paid time off annually.

Members of the union will take a ratification vote on the tentative agreement in the coming weeks. If members vote to accept it, the agreement will come before the Legislature for final approval.

Home care workers took an innovative approach to negotiating what could become the first new union contract with the state in decades. The union’s bargaining team for negotiations included not only SEIU Healthcare Minnesota members, but clients who receive home care services as well.

Home care recipients were at the forefront efforts during the 2013 legislative session to extend collective bargaining rights to home care workers. Recipients like Maplewood resident Nikki Villavicencio, who joined the union’s bargaining team, argued that better wages and working conditions for caregivers means increased stability and higher-quality care for clients.

“This is an important step in our fight, so that both workers and care recipients like my family can finally live the lives we choose,” Villavicencio said in a press release issued by SEIU Healthcare Minnesota to announce the tentative agreement.

Funding for wage and benefit advancements in the tentative agreement, the union said, will be included in Gov. Mark Dayton’s budget proposal to the Legislature, expected in the coming weeks.

Home care workers’ union has voluntary membership, meaning there are no “fair share” dues assessments. Voting on the tentative agreement will be open to home care workers who are SEIU Healthcare Minnesota members.

“Home care workers, like workers in other low-wage industries who have raised their voices for a more fair society, are fighting to live, not just survive,” said Francis Hall, a home care worker from Crosby and bargaining team member. “This contract is a critical step towards that goal, but we know that our work of winning dignity, respect and a decent livelihood for home care workers has just begun.”

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