Augsburg University staff have formed a union

October 29, 2020 by

Supporters of the Augsburg Staff Union, organizing with OPEIU Local 12, gather outside the university president’s office after delivering a letter requesting voluntary recognition.

Professional and clerical workers at Augsburg University put the Minneapolis school on notice today that they have organized a union with Local 12 of the Office and Professional Employees International Union.

In a letter delivered in person to the university president’s office, members of the Augsburg Staff Union called on President Paul Pribbenow to recognize their union voluntarily, without calling in a third party to slow down the collective-bargaining process.

“As a progressive institution in the community, we expect the Augsburg administration to walk the walk by voluntarily recognizing our union now that a majority of our staff have had the courage to come forward and request it,” said Maxwell Poessnecker, director of LGBTQ+ student services at the school and a member of the union’s organizing committee.

Pribbenow had left his office for the day when the union delegation arrived. Organizers said they would allow the administration one week to respond before escalating their drive for recognition.

The bargaining unit would bring together about 170 Augsburg staff members, “ranging from Admissions to IT,” OPEIU Local 12 said in a press release.

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Outside Pribbenow’s office today, supporters said they believe the goals and priorities guiding their organizing process are in step with the university’s values. Augsburg can live up to those values, Assistant Director for Transfer Admissions Kate Asfeld said, by voluntarily recognizing the union.

“Obviously, we’re all really passionate about serving the students that we work with and the greater Augsburg community,” Asfeld said. “One of the things that drove me to work at Augsburg was how it’s been a leader in diversity, equity and inclusion.

“I think this (organizing effort) is in line with that vision and mission of Augsburg.”

Inclusion should mean all stakeholders have a seat at the table in decisions affecting the Augsburg community. But that’s not how things currently work – and it shows, financial aid counselor Uriah Ward said.

“We’ve seen cuts in pay. We’ve seen low pay. We’ve seen consistently decreasing benefits, like health insurance and retirement. And there’s nothing we can do about it,” Ward said. “With a union we have the power to come together and actually advocate for ourselves.”

Additionally, union members hope collective bargaining will address racial and gender pay gaps, parental leave, advancement opportunities and tuition credits.

The union drive is over a year in the works, but Augsburg staff members said their campaign gained new urgency with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has colleges and universities bracing for budget shortfalls and higher-ed workers taking on new risks to serve their students.

“At the end of the day, our goal is to empower and protect our staff members, so we all have the ability to serve our students well,” Asfeld said.

The fledgling union is circulating a petition for students, faculty, alumni and members of the broader community to show their support for workers’ right to a voice on the job. Sign it here.

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

Labor-endorsed candidates back investments in public education, from pre-K to higher ed

November 4, 2016 by

Supporters line the sidewalk outside St. Paul Public Schools headquarters during a rally in support of the teachers' contract campaign.

Bold investments in public schools and early learners. Higher education that’s affordable for working families. An aggressive approach to narrowing the achievement gap between white students and students of color.

Labor-endorsed candidates have high hopes when it comes to education in Minnesota, but they will need to win a majority in the House – and maintain one in the Senate – to see their hopes turn into results.

“With a DFL majority in the House and Senate we can continue our work to build a positive future for Minnesota working families by investing in education at all levels,” labor-endorsed Sen. Greg Clausen, a longtime administrator in the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school district, said.

Clausen speaks from experience. With DFL majorities during his first two years in office, 2013-14, lawmakers expanded all-day kindergarten statewide and paid back money borrowed from school districts – over Gov. Mark Dayton’s objections – during a budget shortfall in 2011.

But efforts to think big during the last session, including Dayton’s push for a major investment in pre-kindergarten, fell flat. In a compromise, lawmakers settled on 2 percent annual increases in state funding and a modest pilot program for pre-K.

Don Slaten, a union retiree from Hastings seeking office in House District 54B, said he was disappointed to see school funding fail to keep up with inflation. “Republicans offered six-tenths of a percent, and they finally settled on 2 percent,” Slaten said. “We can do better.”

Slaten and other labor-endorsed candidates want to expand the $25 million pre-K program to meet existing demand. Nearly 7,000 four-year-olds missed out on pre-K because the pilot project lacked sufficient funding.

They also want to make investments in higher education, where state funding dipped by 55.8 percent from 1980 to 2011.

“By defunding higher education, we have essentially imposed a tax on behavior that we absolutely want to encourage – obtaining a secondary degree,” Matt Klein, the labor-endorsed candidate in Senate District 52, said. “Our state is a top draw for employers because we have an educated workforce. If we create barriers to higher education, our state economy will suffer.”

Education Minnesota President Denise Specht said legislative horse trading and last-minute compromises haven’t served students well.

“Gridlock doesn’t hurt the people at the top, but the rest of us need the Legislature to do its job and give a hand up to working families,” she said. “In education, that means investing in our state’s future by giving every child access to high-quality pre-K and taking on the teacher shortage so every student has the opportunity to learn from an experienced, well-qualified teacher.

“Preparing young people for successful lives has never been more challenging. Educators and parents need more partners at the Capitol.”

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Students, teachers, unions urge lawmakers to invest state budget surplus

December 3, 2015 by
U of M grad student Courtney Gildersleeve speaks at a town hall meeting on how to use the state's $1.2 billion budget surplus.

U of M grad student Courtney Gildersleeve speaks at a town hall meeting on how to use the state’s $1.2 billion budget surplus.

 

The projected $1.2 billion state budget surplus, announced by state officials today, creates an opportunity for lawmakers to strengthen communities and continue growing Minnesota’s middle class in the 2016 legislative session, union members and allies said.

And the first place lawmakers should look to invest is education.

That’s the message three Metro-area legislators heard from students, teachers, academics and religious leaders during a town hall meeting in Dinkytown today, as stakeholders from across the education spectrum offered a united front in support of investing surplus funds in education “from cradle to career.”

Sen. Greg Clausen talks with participants in a town hall forum on the state budget surplus in Dinkytown.

Sen. Greg Clausen talks with participants in a town hall forum on the state budget surplus in Dinkytown.

“The Legislature is listening,” Sen. Greg Clausen (DFL-Apple Valley) assured participants in the meeting at University Baptist Church. “We need to invest in education. There’s no question about it.”

Rep. Carlos Mariani, a DFLer from St. Paul, said the healthy surplus is a positive indicator for Minnesota’s economy. “It means our state is working,” he said. “It means our tax structure makes sense.

But lawmakers and labor leaders, including Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bill McCarthy, warned against the inevitable calls to squander the surplus on election-year tax cuts.

“Instead of giveaways to corporate CEOs and employers who choose to pay low wages, lawmakers should embrace policies and investments that support working people,” McCarthy said. “We can ensure all Minnesotans are paid fairly for the work they do and have time for family. We can invest in schools so that every child can attend pre-K. We can improve our state’s infrastructure, boost our job creation tools, and strengthen the public services that vulnerable Minnesotans depend on.”

Eliot Seide, director of AFSCME Council 5, added: “The Legislature shouldn’t raid workers’ wallets to give unneeded tax breaks to billionaires and big businesses.  Those tax giveaways create income inequality, budget deficits and government shutdowns.”

At the town hall meeting, educators urged investments in pre-kindergarten and per-pupil funding for public school districts, as well as targeted investments to address the achievement gap between white students and students of color.

“A lot of people are losing hope because they don’t have a decent education, because they don’t have a decent job,” said Chase Elliott, a parent and a member of the Minneapolis-based community group Neighborhoods Organizing for Change.

The need for investment extends into suburban communities, too. Farmington fourth-grade teacher Jennifer York, a member of Education Minnesota, said cutbacks in recent years have forced her school district and others to lay off support staff, like school counselors, nurses and family-support workers.

Farmington teacher Jennifer York urges lawmakers to invest "every dollar" of the surplus in education.

Farmington teacher Jennifer York urges lawmakers to invest “every dollar” of the surplus in education.

Pre-kindergarten teacher Amanda Reineck, meanwhile, said professionals in her field remain among the lowest-paid in the country. “Many excellent teachers have left the profession because the pay was not enough for them to support their families,” she said.

Local 284 of the Service Employees International Union organized the town hall meeting with its affiliate group MN Academics United, which represents faculty at the U of M’s Twin Cities campus who are working to form a union.

Academics and graduate students supportive of the organizing drive called for investments in higher education that would lower tuition, provide relief from student debt and guarantee living wages for faculty, teaching assistants and frontline workers at the U.

“The working conditions of instructors are the learning conditions of students,” physics grad student Jarrett Brown said.

Speakers acknowledged their priorities are likely to be pit against each other at the Capitol next year, but remained hopeful that listening to each other was a first step toward winning together in 2016.

“I hope we’ll be holding these town hall meetings in other parts of the state,” said Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL-Minneapolis).

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Building a movement to combat student debt, CWA offers free, public clinics in Minneapolis

November 12, 2015 by
CWA members who attended the Nov. 4 student debt clinic include (L to R) Tom Laabs, Howard Terry and Naomi Holmes.

CWA members who attended the Nov. 4 student debt clinic include (L to R) Tom Laabs, Howard Terry and Naomi Holmes.

Naomi Holmes will run out of deferments on $57,000 in student debt this winter. Howard Terry took out a $30,000 loan to finish his graduate degree at the University of Phoenix. Tom Laabs’ wife, Liz, will graduate next year from the University of Minnesota with six figures’ worth of debt.

“When that school loan comes back, it’s going to be like a house payment,” Laabs said.

But Holmes, Terry and Laabs have more in common than their daunting student debt loads. The three are taking action to get relief for themselves – and bring more fairness to the student lending industry – through a series of clinics sponsored by their union, the Communications Workers of America.

[Free, public Student Debt Clinics, sponsored by CWA Minnesota State Council and CWA Next Gen, will continue Dec. 8-10 at the CWA Local 7200 offices in Minneapolis. For more information or to register, email cwa.mn.mobilizing@gmail.com.]

The first thing clinic participants learn is that they’re not alone. About 30 million Americans carry student debt, and it’s a major barrier for many families looking to work their way into the middle class.

“It’s surprising … the number of people who came to the class who have student debt or know someone who does,” Terry said after a clinic at the Local 7200 offices last week, which drew 31 participants.

What’s more surprising, he added, is how few people with student debt – about 200,000 – are taking advantage of free government programs for student debt relief, including loan forgiveness for people who work in public service and income-based repayment plans that can reduce interest costs.

Giving people the tools they need to take advantage of those programs – without paying a third party – is a big part of the CWA-sponsored trainings, which are open to the public.

“There are a lot of scams,” CWA organizer Richard Shorter said. “You can scroll through Facebook on any given day and see the advertisements.

“These organizations promote themselves as doing a good thing, but they charge fees to do the work for you when it’s free to apply. It only takes like an hour to sit down and do it yourself.”

The best resource for more information about dealing with student debt, Shorter said, is forgivemystudentdebt.org.

Participants in the CWA student debt clinics learn how they can advocate for fairness in student lending.

Participants in the CWA student debt clinics learn how they can advocate for fairness in student lending.

The clinics also provide an overview of the national landscape around student lending, including why so many people are forced to take out loans to cover the cost of higher education and the impact student debt has on families down the line.

Laabs said he was outraged to learn the inflation-adjusted cost of attending a four-year public college had quadrupled since 1980. He planned to contact his elected representatives about making college more affordable “because it’s gotten out of whack, and the cost has become just exorbitant.”

Terry added, “We pay for police forces and all these other things that are part of the public good, why don’t we start including education in that?”

CWA members said they also learned about the need for more regulation of for-profit colleges and universities, which are oftentimes not transparent with prospective students about whether their credits will transfer to most traditional institutions.

“Basically, they’re lying to people about being able to transfer credits,” Shorter explained. “A lot of people have to start all over again someplace else, myself included.”

Next Gen, the union’s young-worker contingent, developed curriculum for the clinics after surveying members about what mattered to them outside contract language and negotiations. An issue that affects 30 million Americans, Shorter said, is ripe for organizing.

“Working with our partners, we’re trying to build a movement around student debt,” he said. “This affects everybody.”

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