Strike by AFSCME employees at the University of Minnesota

AFSCME employees at the University are on strike for a living wage. I completely support the strike; while faculty and administrators (especially those at the highest levels) have had raises over the past four years, clerical and medical workers have actually lost money due to the fact that costs of health care benefits have eaten up the miserly wage raises they have had, not to mention inflation. They are not paid enough for the work they do, and it is obscene that the University has the money to build a new football stadium, but not to give a very modest increase to its lowest-paid workers, despite the fact that the legislature targeted money in its last allocation for that purpose.

STRIKE INFORMATION FLYER (prepared by faculty to support union workers)

Who is AFSCME?

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Locals 3260, 3800, 3801 and 3937 represent 3,500 clerical, technical and health care workers at the University of MN.

These are the workers who sustain students and faculty by:
• Scheduling Classes
• Enrolling Students
• Booking Classrooms and Medical Appointments
• Stocking Library Shelves
• Heating and Cooling our Classrooms
• Keeping our Computers Running
• And more…

Why would they Strike?

The University Administration has proposed:
• 2.25% wage increase (clerical and technical workers) = $850.00/yr for the average striker who makes $34,000 annually
• 2.5% wage increase (heath care workers) = 1,050/yr for the average striker who makes $34,000 annually
• This proposal does not keep pace with projected inflation rates of 3.5%

Why did I hear they were offered over 4%?

• The University Administration reports that “94% of AFSCME employees would receive 8.5% or more in increases over the next 2 years (4.25% or more in each year of the contract)” (Carrier, 8/20/07).
• AFSCME workers object that their contract agreements provide for wage increases to have two components: 1) “across-the-board” increases reflect cost-of-living; 2) “step” increases recognize longevity. The top step represents the true value of the job. It already takes many AFSCME workers 20+ years to reach that step. In the meantime, they are underpaid in relation to the real value of the job.
• The Administration’s figure combines these two components. AFSCME claims that rolling the step increase into the “across-the-board” is an attack on step increases and leads to the continued devaluation of their pay scales and standard of living. Additionally, not all AFSCME workers receive a “step” increase.
• Earlier this year, Governor Tim Pawlenty agreed to give state workers a 3.25% raise in addition to step increases.

Can the U afford to pay more?

• It costs 1.1 million for each 1% increase to AFSCME out of a University budget of 1.5 billion
• State Rep. Lyndon Carlson, who chairs the House Finance Committee, told the City Pages that the state Legislature raised the University’s budget by 150 million over the next two years “to address an increase of 3.25%.” Lyndon added, “I interpreted that as a salary enhancement above the step increases” (8-29-2007).

The legacy of Eugene V Debs

Today is Labor Day, and so I set out to learn more about why this is a national holiday. This led me to learn more about Eugene V. Debs and his extraordinary legacy of activism, struggle, principled dissent, solidarity and integrity.

David Rodiger reminds us that we also learn from what visionaries like Debs couldn't see in their moments. Debs worked in solidarity with black laborers in the Pullman strike, but his confidence in socialism led him to subsume the particularities of racism into the class struggle in some instances. I will make it a goal to learn more about Eugene Debs and his time, but also to continue to think about what we need to our understanding of labor today if we want to keep that legacy alive.