Minnesota State, Union Officials Agree to End Strike

Some of the 23,000 Minnesota state employees who has been on strike since Oct. 1 started returning to their jobs on Oct. 14 after state and union officials in Minnesota reached tentative settlements in a dispute over wages and health insurance benefits, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. Among those on strike were a number of health care workers (deFiebre, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 10/15). The strike included members of two unions, Council 6 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (New York Times, 10/15). The strike, the largest government strike in state history, "disrupted" a number of state health care services. For example, the state had to hire about 1,000 National Guard members to care for patients at state nursing and veterans' homes (Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 10/15). The strike had a "great" impact on six state campuses for drug addicts and mentally ill residents and on about 100 community-based homes for the retarded (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 10/2). It also "increas[ed] stress" on services such as health inspections, the New York Times reports. State epidemiologists credited the strike for the state's "slow response" to an E. coli outbreak early last week that affected 15 children in a Minneapolis preschool.

Deal Details
After three days of negotiations, AFSCME Council 6, which had sought a 5% annual wage increase, agreed to a 3.5% increase for the next two years. MAPE had sought a 4.5% annual wage increase for its members, but agreed to a 3% increase for the next two years (New York Times, 10/15). The state had offered AFSCME employees a 3% annual wage increase and MAPE employees a 4% one-time wage increase (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report 10/2). Union officials said that members would also receive "significant improvements" in their health care plans (Grant, AP/Boston Globe, 10/15). State negotiators reduced the maximum amount that an employee with family health coverage could pay in a year from $3,200 in 2002 to $1,600 and from $3,800 in 2003 to $2,200. State employees will pay no premiums for individual health coverage and "slightly more" than the $50 per month that the state had proposed for family coverage (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 10/15). "I consider this a win, a clear win, for our members," AFSCME Council 6 executive director Peter Benner said. Julien Carter, commissioner of the state Department of Employee Relations, said, "All sides ought to be pleased at how they came through this." The unions and a state legislative panel still must approve the offer, which may take several weeks (New York Times, 10/15).