MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Teamsters Local 320 announced Saturday a tentative agreement that will prevent 1,500 University of Minnesota service workers from striking.
Secretary Treasurer and Principal Officer of Teamsters Local 320 Brian Aldes said the agreement came around 2 a.m. Saturday after 51 hours of mediation that began Wednesday at 9 a.m.
“We’re going to put that strike on hold to give members an opportunity to vote on the tentative agreement that covers across the board increases for 2022, 2023, and 2024,” Aldes said. “Employees are able to maintain their health insurance benefits over the course of three years, market adjustments for 26 job classifications, and in-range step movement for everybody who is in-range.”
Most importantly, Aldes added, the agreement includes a $20/hour minimum wage.
“It will allow the 1,500 service workers who live in poverty to lift themselves up and out,” he said. “The $20 per hour minimum wage is retroactive to June 20, 2022. We were able to protect the service workers seniority and negotiated language to provide summer work opportunities for workers who aren’t guaranteed work year-round. Overall, it’s going to be something for the membership to consider and it should improve their quality of life.”
Saturday marked the first day the 1,500 workers could have walked off the job, but instead the group had planned to strike starting Wednesday.
The group included grounds crew, food preparation, and service workers.
“An agreement like this sets a precedent for all workers and is going to give workers who belong to other unions across the state to say, ‘Look, the time is now to do the right thing and pay a living wage,'” Aldes said. “I think this encourages people to belong to unions. Give yourself a collective voice, that’s where the real power comes from. Workers individually wouldn’t have been able to do this.”
The University of Minnesota sent an email to all students, faculty, and staff after the agreement was reached.
“Today, the Teamsters (IBT 320) and the University of Minnesota reached a tentative three-year agreement for all our represented Teamsters employees after three days of mediation. The strikes planned for the Twin Cities and Duluth campuses next week will not occur while Teamsters members vote on the agreement. If approved, the agreement will then go before the Board of Regents for approval. We are pleased to reach an equitable settlement that fairly compensates our Teamsters employees. We will provide you with updates as more information becomes available.”
Teamsters Local 320 said in a statement that the tentative agreement is retroactive to July 1, 2022 and ends on June 30, 2025.
Comments