St. Paul, Minnesota — Today, the Minnesota House of Representatives voted to ratify state employee contracts, HF 2768. Approximately 50,000 state employees are covered under these contracts, which are currently in effect. State Representative Todd Lippert (DFL - Northfield), voted for the legislation.
“Our state employees are going in every day and doing the work of keeping Minnesota together,” said Rep. Lippert. “With the pandemic, many of them are doing their work at increased risk, making it more important than ever for us to keep our promise and deliver the support they deserve.”
State employees include nurses on the front lines of COVID-19, corrections officers, cleaning and sanitation workers, public health workers doing the essential job of testing, monitoring, tracing, and mitigating COVID-19 in Minnesota; and staff that create and administer the conduits of federal and state resources to affected Minnesotans, including small businesses, hospitals, schools, and families.
The costs for the labor agreements were included in last year’s state budget. Failing to ratify these contracts will mean pay cuts for essential workers, putting their wages below employees in similar jobs in the private sector.
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