Star Tribune
Minneapolis park workers give 10-day strike notice
Hundreds of Minneapolis park employees could walk off the job as soon as Nov. 8, saying negotiations have broken down over wages and worker protections.
“We have exhausted all options to avoid taking this action,” said AJ Lange of the city employees’ union LIUNA Local 363 on Friday. “In the midst of a pandemic and civil unrest, we continue to work despite being understaffed and overworked.”
The union’s 10-day strike notice comes after seven months of contract talks with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB). More than 200 people who do the manual labor that maintains the Park Board’s buildings and grounds — including those who trim trees, flood ice rinks and operate pools — have been working without a contract since Dec. 31.
“The MPRB has been negotiating in good faith since March 21, 2022, with Local 363 representatives for a three-year contract for park employees that is competitive, fair and equitable,” Park Board spokesperson Dawn Sommers said in a statement Friday. “Should a strike occur, the MPRB will prioritize and adjust maintenance services to minimize impacts to park visitors.”
Workers want wage increases that keep pace with the rate of inflation, which was 8.2% as of Sept. 30. The Park Board’s last offer of a 2.25% wage increase for 2022, 2.5% in 2023 and 2.5% in 2024 fell short, Lange said.
About 75% of union members voted down that proposal in September, authorizing the union to call a strike. Negotiations since then have failed to bridge the gap.
“We have lost confidence in MPRB’s negotiation team because they are disrespectful, hostile and don’t take us seriously,” Lange said.
The union leader said Park Board negotiators have proposed restricting certain worker benefits, such as the longstanding “bid system” that gives Parkkeepers some choice in where and when they work based on seniority, Lange said. The Park Board also suggested creating a separate wage tier for those hired after this year. New employees would need a satisfactory work performance to receive an annual scheduled wage increase.
The union is concerned that if a second wage tier is created for new hires, they might be paid substantially less than current employees — which could drive a wedge between union members.
The Park Board’s offer includes eight additional holiday hours on top of existing 12 holiday days, weekend and hazard premium pay for certain workers and COVID-19 pay of $1,000, said Sommers’ statement.
“MPRB leadership believes their employee wages and benefits are fair and competitive throughout the organization,” she said.
Minneapolis parkkeepers earn $56,000 on average — arborists $62,000, gardeners $63,000, crew leaders $74,000 and foremen $85,000.
From 2012 to 2021, inflation rose 21.5% and the Local 363 park workers received wage increases totaling 22.56%, according to the Park Board. In contrast, the union’s city employees received wage increases totaling 19.4%.
Another round of negotiations is slated for Nov. 2. If the Park Board and union fail to reach an agreement, park workers are tentatively scheduled to strike at 5 a.m. on Nov. 8.
Correction:
A previous version of this story misstated the Park Board’s proposal on the probation period for new hires.
DULUTH – The Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation departments will make upgrades to the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge in the summer of 2025, in preparation for the structure to become the premiere route between this city and Superior during reconstruction of the Blatnik Bridge.
Built in 1961, the Blatnik Bridge carries 33,000 vehicles per day along Interstate 535 and Hwy. 53. It will be entirely rebuilt, starting in 2027, with the help of $1 billion in federal funding announced earlier this year. MnDOT and WisDOT are splitting the remaining costs of the project, about $4 million each.
According to MnDOT, projects on the Bong Bridge will include spot painting, concrete surface repairs to the bridge abutments, concrete sealer on the deck, replacing rubber strip seal membranes on the main span’s joints and replacing light poles on the bridge and its points of entry. It’s expected to take two months, transportation officials said during a recent meeting at the Superior Public Library.
During this time there will be occasional lane closures, detours at the off-ramps, and for about three weeks the sidewalk path alongside the bridge will be closed.
The Bong Bridge, which crosses the St. Louis River, opened to traffic in 1985 and is the lesser-used of the two bridges. Officials said they want to keep maintenance to a minimum on the span during the Blatnik project, which is expected to take four years.
Red Wing will celebrate the grand opening of its first permanent set of pickleball courts next week with an “inaugural play” on the six courts at Colvill Park on the banks of the Mississippi, between a couple of marinas and next to the aquatic center.
Among the first to get to play on the new courts will be David Anderson, who brought pickleball to the local YMCA in 2008, before the nationwide pickleball craze took hold, and Denny Yecke, at 92 the oldest pickleball player in Red Wing.
The inaugural play begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday, with a rain date of the next day. Afterward will be food and celebration at the Colvill Park Courtyard building.
Tim Sletten, the city’s former police chief, discovered America’s fastest-growing sport a decade ago after he retired. With fellow members of the Red Wing Pickleball Group, he’d play indoors at the local YMCA or outdoors at a local school, on courts made for other sports. But they didn’t have a permanent place, so they approached the city about building one.
When a city feasibility study came up with a high cost, about $350,000, Sletten’s group got together to raise money.
The courts are even opening ahead of schedule, originally set for 2025.
REDWOOD FALLS, MINN. – A truck crashing into a school bus left nine with minor injuries Wednesday morning in rural Redwood County, a statement from the Redwood County Sheriff’s office said.
The bus driver, serving the Wabasso Public School District, failed to yield when entering the intersection of County Road 7 and 280th Street, the statement said.
Deputies received word of the crash around 8:15 a.m. and identified the bus driver as Edward Aslesen, 72, of Milroy.
The nine injured passengers on the bus were transported to local hospitals, the statement said.
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