All News

Feb 26

Member Spotlight: Janaya Martin

Member Spotlight is a space to share your story with our union sisters and brothers.

"Now, as I count down the weeks to the arrival of my new little one, I feel a sense of calm I hadn’t before. This baby is likely my last and will also be the first (of three) that I will get to stay home and bond with for a full 12 weeks."

Feb 04

2015-2017 Contract Ratified by our Membership

After an incredible contract campaign that won key demands from the University Administration, we counted our members' ballots last night on whether to accept the tentative agreement. The members of AFSCME Local 3800 and Local 3801 (Clerical, UMD) voted by majority to ratify the Tentative Agreement for 2015-2017.

Jan 11

Ballots on Tentative Agreement Have Been Mailed

On Thursday, December 10, 2015 our AFSCME Clerical Bargaining Table Committee reached a tentative agreement with the University for the July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2017 contract. Our committee recommends that you vote in favor of this agreement.

Oct 05

Negotiation Update #7 - U still has not moved on our priority issues

On Tuesday, September 29, our bargaining team met with management for the seventh round of negotiations. Our members joined the negotiations session to give their personal testimonies in support of our top four negotiation priorities: 1} dignified wages; 2} parental leave equity; 3} restoration of the Regent’s Scholarship; and 4} addressing workplace bullying. We left the bargaining table with one small agreement but did not move further on other negotiations and are now moving to mediation.

Sep 08

Negotiation Update #6 - Management walks out during negotiations

On Tuesday, August 25, our bargaining team met with management for the sixth round of negotiations. Management came into bargaining today & once again made no moves on wages & indicated that they have no interest in agreeing to any of our contract proposals. They specifically said, "the contract as it stands works for management" and they're only interested in housekeeping issues and not interested in "extraneous" proposals.

Aug 18

Negotiation Update #5 - University's wage proposal remains at 0.375%

Below is the latest negotiations update. The University's wage proposal remains an insulting 0.375%.

The University's response to equitable parental leave: "No."
Restoring the Regent's Scholarship: "No."
Addressing bullying supervisors: "No."
Increase our job security: "No."

Aug 18

Negotiations Update #4: We still can't survive--let alone thrive--on 0.375%

On Tuesday, July 21, the University upped their wage proposal to 0.375% each year. This adds about 2.5 cents/hour per worker to the original proposal of 4.9 cents/hour per worker. This is outrageous! The U negotiator also made clear that they don't intend to discuss or move on wages at the next bargaining session on August 13.

The University Administration needs to continue hearing from clerical workers that 0.375% is not an acceptable wage increase. Thanks to everybody who sent messages to President Kaler, VP Cathy Brown, and Chair Johnson earlier this week. We believe that the administration increased their proposal because of these emails, and will put more money on the table if they continue to hear from us.

If you haven’t done so, please add your name to an email petition to Administration with our message: we can’t survive--let alone thrive--on 0.375%.

Jul 17

We Can't Survive , Much Less Thrive on 0.25%

On Thursday, July 9th, we heard the University’s opening wage and health insurance proposals.

The Administration proposed a general (also known as Across The Board) increase of 0.25% per year. A 0.25% raise for our 1621 clerical workers is worth $158,311 a year. To put that in context, over 220 administrators have salaries higher than what the U wants to spend on raises for 1600 people. Even the University’s negotiator acknowledged, when making this proposal that, “the Across the Board proposal is not very good.”

Jun 18

Divide Grows at the University

By Michael Kuchta, AFSCME Council 5.

IB Image The University of Minnesota is building a caste system that increasingly takes care of those at the top while it pushes lower-paid, frontline workers further and further behind, union activists told the Board of Regents Friday.

“The University’s wage and benefit policies increase the gap between the haves and have-nots, and it’s got to stop,” says Cherrene Horazuk, president of Clerical Workers Local 3800.