Tensions Between AFSCME, City Of Duluth Still Strong After Tentative Contract Agreement

DULUTH, Minn. — The potential for a historic strike by hundreds of key Duluth city workers, including the all-important plow driver, has been averted.  A tentative deal between AFSMCE Local 66 and the Mayor Roger Reinert’s administration was reached late Monday night.  And now, a vote by union members will happen next week.

But on Tuesday, one day after reaching the agreement, the relationship between AFSCME and the city is not all roses – a relationship that wasn’t strong to begin with after AFSCME chose to not endorse Reinert this past election, not to mention his opponent, now former-mayor Emily Larson.

FOX 21’s Emily Halling reports:

After six months of negotiations, and more than 12 hours of mediation Monday, the city of Duluth and AFSCME Local 66, the city’s largest employee union, reached a tentative three-year contract agreement.

“I’m grateful that we were able to reach an agreement last night and avoid all those additional steps. I think importantly for Duluthians, we’re not going to see an interruption of services,” Reinert said.

The 11th-hour deal avoided the possibility of nearly 500 city workers hitting the picket line in what would have been a historic strike.

“We have employees at the water treatment plant, we have employees at the library, we have employees at the animal shelter. we have employees at city hall. Planning, Finance, every area in the city has AFSCME employees, so those are your core workers. And those are your core services. Having a strike vote not only would’ve affected our cost of, our families, and our income but it potentially would’ve affected citizens of Duluth,” said Wendy Wohlwend, President of AFSCME Local 66.

On Dec. 9, Reinert’s administration offered a 1% market adjustment in the first year, and 6% over three years, while demanding concessions, according to AFSCME, when the union wanted an 8-12 % adjustment rate, like their fellow firefighters and police officers.

But after waiting weeks leading into the new year, AFSCME said their demands were finally met.

“So, we were able to get market adjustments that would make us competitive. And we also got overarching cost of living adjustments as well,” said Wohlwend.

Mayor Reinert said he is pleased and ready to get to work.

“I was here all day yesterday from beginning to end because I was hopeful we would reach an agreement. And to be able to approve that agreement at the end and walk to the other room and shake hands, and to move forward on that,” according to Reinert.

Meanwhile, with a tentative agreement now in place, AFSCME LOCAL 66 said this months-long process that forced union members to authorize a strike shows Mayor Reinert and his administration are not pro-union.

“So, when we asked for dates from the employer in February, it took them until July to sit down and negotiate with us. Labor-friendly employers and politicians don’t take that long to meet with their largest union,” said Wohlwend.

But Mayor Reinert disagrees.

“I am passionate about our core city services. That is the reason local government exists. And AFSCME Local 66 represents the folks who do most of that work. But I also am sensitive to people’s ability to pay their property taxes. And we’ve seen real valuation increases. We saw almost a decade of an annual 9 percent increase. There’s certainly tension between those two things,” explained Mayor Reinert.

AFSCME will be holding a meeting with its members Wednesday to go over contract details before taking a vote next Tuesday, Jan. 7. The city council will then sign off.