SAINT PAUL – Today, the Minnesota House of Representatives voted to ratify state employee contracts. Approximately 50,000 state employees are covered under these contracts which are currently in effect.
“Our state workers are deeply dedicated to their jobs. They care for our veterans and vulnerable Minnesotans, they keep our correctional facilities safe, and right now, many of them are on the front lines battling the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Rep. Rob Ecklund (DFL – International Falls). “The contracts we voted to ratify today were all negotiated in good faith between labor and management, and they include reasonable, fair compensation. We owe our state workers and their families the opportunity to emerge from this crisis with economic security.”
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.