Union representing University of Minnesota service workers files strike notice

By Krystal Frasier

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    MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (WCCO) — Thousands of students and employees at five University of Minnesota campuses and research facilities may have the start of their school year interrupted, as members of Teamsters Local 320 have now filed their notice of intent to strike.

According to the union, which represents service workers, a strike could begin on Aug. 20 after a mandated 10-day cool-off period. A vote to authorize a strike was held in late July, and 97% of service workers at the university approved the matter.

The last contract with service workers at the University of Minnesota ended on June 30. Union officials say the latest proposed contract includes a 2.5% wage increase for the first year and 1% for the following two years. The contract would be in effect for two and a half years, and union leaders add that it would not only allow the school system to pay new hires higher starting wages than current staff in the same position but also increase health care costs by 10%.

Union leaders go on to claim the University isn’t addressing harassment involving food service workers, adding university data shows disciplinary action against dining employees rose by 96% within two years, and women receive more than half of suspensions and terminations. Leaders add Chartwells Higher Ed. is a division of Compass Group, which has paid more than $30 million in fines and penalties since 2000, including more than $840k in penalties for employment discrimination and $9.6 million in employment-related offenses.

In a statement, the university said it “has negotiated and will continue to negotiate in good faith with Teamsters 320 and made efforts to reach an agreement on an updated contract since negotiations began on March 27.”

“The union and broader University community are aware of the financial challenges that higher education faces in the near and long term,” the school said. “The University is not immune to those challenges. The University has plans in place should a strike occur and is fully committed to minimizing any disruption this action might cause for our students, faculty, staff, and community.” If workers walk off the job, enhanced strike benefits were approved by the union, including $1,000 a week, which reportedly exceeds the weekly pay of some workers across the university system.

The union says it represents nearly 1,500 service workers who clean buildings, do ground maintenance, make food, provide service for dorm buildings, drive trucks, take care of animals used for research and more.

In Sept. 2022, the same group announced it was going to hold a strike authorization vote, citing the university “repeatedly refused to address chronic understaffing, poverty wages, and abusive employment practices.”

The following month, a strike vote was authorized. Those decisions came as the union said workers dealt with understaffing and low wages, with a worker saying those reasons were behind few food options inside a residential dining hall. That same month, a three-year deal was reached to avert a strike, which included a $20/hour starting wage for all members, a provision for a minimum of 30 hours of work per week in the summer, “extended health care benefits,” as well as “market adjustments and cost-of-living increases” for members’ wages.

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