No end in sight for Minneapolis park worker strike
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
The Minneapolis park worker strike hits the two-week mark Thursday, with no resolution in sight.
The big picture: Just under half of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board's roughly 300 full-time and seasonal unionized employees have walked off the job for the first time in the department's 141-year history amid a stalemate over their contract.
The latest: Talks blew up Tuesday after two days of mediation, and the sides are trading blame.
- Park board officials demanded that the union put its latest offer up for a vote while labor leaders accused the board of making unreasonable asks.
What they're saying: "At this point, our strike is in full force," AJ Lange, business manager for LIUNA Local 363, said at a news conference Tuesday night. "They don't seem to want us to get back to work."
- A park board spokesperson said they want a vote on their "final offer" before returning to negotiations, noting that talks have already stretched on for seven months.
State of play: The park board says it has offered a 10.25% raise over three years, which would cost $4.6 million, plus changes meant to make operations "more efficient and productive."
- Lange says the union agreed to the wage proposal, but balked at other employment-related provisions he argued would cause "irreparable harm to workers" and curtail the union's power.
Yes, but: MPRB President Meg Forney disputed the union's portrayal in a Wednesday statement, saying there is "no agreement on the wage package" and that "significant language differences" remain on other issues.
Zoom in: Union officials have suggested that the stalemate is partially to blame for downed trees still blocking some parks and sidewalks days after last weekend's storms, as an estimated 71% of park board arborists are out on strike.
- Those workers are responsible for maintaining and clearing branches from city-owned trees, including the some 200,000 planted between sidewalks and curbs.
The other side: Park board spokesperson Robin Smothers told Axios that while the "overall cleanup for this storm may be slower due to the strike," it often takes several days to assess and clear the damage when big storms hit on the weekend.
- As usual, city public works crews and Xcel Energy are helping them with the task.
Zoom out: The park board says the department is continuing to deliver on core services during the work stoppage, though lower priority tasks like washing walls have been delayed.
- Parks, pools, and golf courses remain open.
Yes, but: Some local performers, including the Minneapolis POPs, Minnesota Orchestra, and Minnesota Sinfonia, have canceled or moved park concerts in solidarity with the striking workers.
The intrigue: The union asked Mayor Jacob Frey to act as a convener and play a role in bringing the two sides back to the table.
- A spokesperson for Frey told Axios on Wednesday that the mayor agreed to get involved in that capacity if the park board was also willing.
But the park board shot down that idea on the same day, saying the process set out in state law "does not have a role, in this case, for the Mayor to act as a convener."
- "The best path forward is to let established bargaining practices continue," Forney said in a statement.
Frey told Axios in a statement while "it is their prerogative," he is "disappointed" in the park board's decision.
- He urged both sides to return to the negotiating table.