AFSCME Local 66 Takes Duluth Mayor To Task Over Contract Offer
DULUTH, Minn.– Following a vote Tuesday, AFSCME Local 66 overwhelmingly authorized a strike as early as mid-January if the city of Duluth does not come back with an offer that they feel is fair and equitable.
Union members held a press conference Wednesday to voice their frustrations, calling the city’s latest offer “insulting, inadequate, and unacceptable.”
“We are being asked to do far more with much less. And while wages fail to reflect our value,” said Wendy Wohlwend, President of AFSCME Local 66.
AFSCME says the city has proposed a 1% market adjustment in the first year, and 6% over three years, while demanding concessions.
The union does not believe that’s a fair offer, especially after the police and fire unions got 8% market adjustment to their wages without any concessions in their last contracts.
“So, we are 8-12 percent behind market rate, we are asking for an 8 percent market adjustment, just like the other unions,” said Wohlwend.
“We are the heart of this city. But here’s the reality, we’re being stretched to the breaking point. Critical positions go unfilled. Leaving us over worked and burnt out. Our work loads are unsustainable,” said Shawn Eastman, co-chair AFSCME Local 66, and city of Duluth Bargaining Team.
Mayor Roger Reinert’s office disputes AFSCME’s claims about the contract offer.
In a prepared statement, a city spokesperson said:
The City of Duluth offers the following in response to the press conference held earlier today by AFSCME:
“The City recognizes that this is another step in a long process that began July 22. The City has been at the table for nearly five months and remains at the table.
The City and AFSCME participated in almost 14 hours of mediation with the State Bureau of Mediation Services on November 26. The City and the Union were both released from mediation by the Bureau following the City’s submission of a Settlement Proposal.
The City recognizes the next mediation session with the State Bureau of Mediation Services is already scheduled for January 6th. We look forward to continuing this process with the Union.
The City has offered additional compensation increases which range, over the course of the three-year contract, from 13.5% for all unit members up to 21.5% for eligible unit members.”
If both sides can’t come to an agreement by the end of the year, AFSCME Local 66 and its 400-plus employees will strike on Jan. 10, after a 10-day cooling off period.
The last time the union authorized a strike was in 2007, but the strike was avoided in the 11th hour.
