University of Minnesota Workers Poised To Strike
Minneapolis, MN – At the beginning of October, clerical workers at the University of Minnesota said no to a wage freeze and skyrocketing health care costs, and voted to go on strike. The clerical workers’ union, AFSCME Local 3800, is leading a fightback to stop the university administrators from balancing the budget on the backs of the lowest paid workers and students.
Workers can start a strike in late October, after a mandatory ‘cooling off period.’ This will be the first strike in at least a generation at the University of Minnesota.
The U of M got less funding from the state this year, as a result of Governor Pawlenty’s overall attack on social services and public education for poor and working people. While Pawlenty’s cuts were real, Local 3800 President Phyllis Walker points out, “The U always finds money for the things it thinks are important. The U is still bringing in billions of dollars. It’s time to make the people who make the U work day in and day out a priority.”
Walker also says that, during the legislative session, “The union organized a series of protests at the state capitol to demand taxes on the rich to bring in more funding for public education. But unlike in previous years, the U administration didn’t lift a finger to get more money. Now they want to make the lowest-paid workers shoulder all the cuts.”
Local 3800 has 1800 members. 93% of them are women; many are single mothers and many already have second jobs. University President Robert Bruininks has cynically asked the lowest-paid workers at the university to “share the pain,” by hitting them with a wage freeze and hiking their health care costs by thousands of dollars.
The union negotiating committee said from the beginning that it was not willing to negotiate concessions for the members. Negotiating committee member Carol Bruner said, “After three months of ongoing attempts to negotiate a fair contract, the U repeatedly rejected our attempts at justice. The administration wants clericals to take cuts in health care and pay. They gave us no choice but to prepare to strike.”
While preparing the union members to strike, the union leadership is also waging a campaign to isolate and embarrass the U administration for their anti-worker position. The union has formed a Labor-Community Strike Support Committee that organizes support among students, professors and non-union employees at the university. The workers have also received support from labor, community and religious leaders, as well as state politicians. The depth of support was demonstrated at a rally of 500 people on Sept. 30. On the same day over 100 professors signed a full-page ad in the college newspaper supporting the workers.
The union has also done a series of protests and press hits every time the administrators make a move. This protest campaign started in early September and has kept the administration on the defensive.
On Sept. 10, a week after crying poverty at the negotiating table, President Bruininks announced that the university had just finished a record-breaking fundraising effort, which brought in over $1.6 billion in new money. Clerical workers crashed the fundraising announcement party with picket signs and a rival press conference. Local 3800 President Phyllis Walker said, “It takes audacity for President Bruininks to publicly brag about how much money the U is taking in while at the exact same time, his management negotiating committee is crying poverty and demanding that the lowest-paid workers at the U shoulder the greatest burden of budget cuts. We can plainly see that there is plenty of money at the U. The hypocrisy couldn’t be clearer.”
Clerical workers marched into Morrill Hall, the administration building, on Sept. 25 and held a press conference questioning Bruininks’s new effort to raise funds to build a new $150 million football stadium – at the same time that clerical workers are being told there is no money. Then workers marched into Vice President Carol Carrier’s office and confronted her about the cuts. Bruininks’ annual state of the university address on Oct. 2 was protested by workers and students together.
The union plans to pressure the university from the inside by going on strike, while hitting them from the outside with broad community support and a constant media campaign. They are using all means at their disposal to force the university to negotiate a fair contract.
As they move toward a strike, the workers are gaining confidence and support. As workers prepare to walk off the job and on to the picket lines, they are confident they can win. Union President Phyllis Walker said, “Nobody was sure if our members would stand up and fight. But when the negotiating committee stood up for what’s right, our members were right there with us. When 1800 women stand up at the U and walk off the job, we are going to make history. With our solidarity and the support we’re getting, we will defeat their cuts.”