Minneapolis, MN – On the evening of Saturday, November 8, the Minneapolis Federation of Educators, Local 59 (MFE59) announced that they had reached a tentative agreement between MFE59 and Minneapolis Public Schools. This announcement came less than three days before union members were set to go out on strike.
Negotiations between MFE59 members and the school district’s negotiating team included months of bargaining with countless proposals and counter-proposals as well as mediation sessions to try to reach a deal. Now after all of that negotiating there is finally a tentative agreement on the table for MFE 59’s members, who will be voting this week to either ratify or reject the agreement.
Across the city, educators, families and community supporters of strong public schools had been organizing alongside MFE59 for Minneapolis to be what they called a “destination district.” Minneapolis Families for Public Schools organized a rally of hundreds of student families in solidarity with MFE59. Additionally, more than 120 Minneapolis-based community organizations – including mosques, synagogues and churches – signed on in support of the union’s contract fight.
The contract fight saw a variety of actions by MFE59 members, including six coordinated rallies across the city and many pickets held at the Davis Center where bargaining was taking place.
While the educators built strong community support for their strike, ultimately the teachers and education support professionals who work for the district voted to withhold their labor and strike, which was at the core of the fight.
On November 1, MFE59 announced the results of a strike vote, and by a powerful 92% majority the members voted to strike. Turnout for the vote was also 92% which is extremely high participation for this type of vote. This sent a clear statement that Minneapolis educators were willing to do what it took to reach a strong contract.
The MFE59 members were prepared to walk out onto the picket line starting Tuesday, November 11. The sentiment and resolve of the members across the union was unified.
MFE59 represents three bargaining units: Adult Education Teachers, Licensed Teachers, and Education Support Professionals. Some of the things that MFE59 was fighting for were wage increases, pay parity for adult education teachers, enforceable caps to class sizes, and holiday and break pay as well as increases to sick time for education support professionals.
While exact details of the tentative agreement are not being made public yet by the union, MFE59 will be holding informational sessions for its members this week to go over details of the agreement before a member vote on whether the tentative agreement will be ratified. The union has said that the new agreement includes smaller and enforceable class sizes, more support for special education and caseload limits, pay increases for all educators and other wins.
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