U of M employees welcome reforms to state’s public employment law

Employees and student workers at the University of Minnesota are hailing reforms to the state’s public labor law that they say will allow more than 23,000 workers to more easily unionize.

The Public Employee Labor Relations Act was put in place decades ago to grant collective bargaining rights to workers in the state’s public sector, but critics said it effectively prevented two-thirds of the university’s workforce from forming and joining unions, in large part because of the way various workers were grouped across the system. 

For example, lecturers on the Twin Cities campus were barred from unionizing with assistants or adjunct professors from nearby classrooms and had to organize thousands of HR, IT and administrative staffers across the university’s five campuses. 

Many workers were also ineligible to join a union under the old rules.

The Service Employees International Union, in a press release after the changes were approved by the Legislature, said more than 10,000 workers who received financial aid, participated in work-study programs, won fellowships or earned stipends were denied collective bargaining rights. Moreover, student workers who received financial aid packages weren’t considered public employees and, therefore, were barred from unionizing, the organization said.

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The new rules, approved in May, will go into effect July 1. 

Currently, 31% of University of Minnesota employees are unionized, according to the school.

The UMN Labor Rights Coalition backed the bill and circulated a petition that garnered 2,200 signatures.

“With this bill, the Legislature has finally recognized all staff, faculty, and student workers at the University of Minnesota for what they are: valuable employees who deserve the same labor rights as other public sector workers,” Tracey Blasenheim, a lecturer in political science, said in a coalition press release. 

Sara Davis, president of the Twin Cities Undergraduate Student Government at the university, said in the release that “the passage of this legislation will allow for students to improve their living and working conditions.”

She added: “We are proud to have helped win this important right for students at the University of Minnesota! This bill is a crucial step towards increasing the accessibility of a college education for all student workers, in addition to supporting the faculty and staff that make that journey possible.” 

In a statement provided to MinnPost, the university said it agreed that a review of the PELRA provisions was appropriate.

However, it added: “At those hearings we asked legislators for time to engage in the type of consultation that we felt was important, nonetheless, we respect their decision to move the legislation forward.”

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The university also said that “the specific impacts of these changes on faculty, staff, and student workers are not yet known.” 

Law student Tyler Blackmon, also quoted in the coalition press release, said he was excited about working with people close by. 

“We’re thrilled that the law no longer stands in our way, and legal project assistants are ready to form our first union and work together toward the first collective bargaining agreement in the law school’s history.”

Heather Holcombe, vice president of the Twin Cities Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, said the changes underscore the value workers bring to the university.

“This outcome is a testimony to what we can achieve as workers when we stand in solidarity with each other,” she said.

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