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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Julie Sandstede (DFL)

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RELEASE: Rep. Sandstede votes to ratify public worker contracts

Monday, May 11, 2020

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.

“At their core, the contracts we’re approving today are really about respect. These agreements have been worked out between labor and management, and they contain fair pay and benefits,” said Rep. Julie Sandstede (DFL – Hibbing). “Many of the workers covered by the agreements are front-line workers like nurses, and we’re counting on them more than ever during this pandemic. These dedicated Minnesotans deserve the economic security that comes with approved union contracts and I was proud to support the legislation delivering them.”

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.