Do not come back until you have signed our contract

Striking Minneapolis park workers filed an unfair labor practice lawsuit Monday after park officials told them they would not be allowed to return to work as planned Thursday unless they agree to a collective bargaining agreement.

Workers who comb needles from Minneapolis parks, clean toilets, empty trash cans, clear trails of fallen branches and monitor swimming pool chemistry under health codes have been on a 7-day strike since July 4 after months of stalled labor negotiations. They have struck at some of the city’s most popular venues, including Minnehaha Falls Park and the Lake Harriet Bandshell, where concerts, including one scheduled for Monday night, have been canceled.

Park managers and workers have not returned to the bargaining table since collective bargaining collapsed at midnight on July 1. As the strike continues and tensions rise, Laborers International Union of North America Local 363 has filed an unfair labor practice lawsuit against the park, claiming that managers simply threatened to impose an indefinite lockout on striking workers.

“This behavior raises serious questions about the integrity and true intentions of the park service in the contract negotiations,” said Local 363 executive director and arborist AJ Lange.

The park administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In its “last, best and final” offer on July 1, the park board proposed a 10.25 percent pay raise for most full-time positions, which would cost $4.6 million, according to a park board statement. In contrast, the union’s latest proposal would cost about $6.7 million over three years.

“Park leadership is confident that the MPRB’s plans, including adjusting work priorities and staff locations, will help the MPRB continue to provide core services and minimize impacts to the public,” the statement said during the strike. “The MPRB has been negotiating in good faith for more than seven months.”

Much of the talk at Friday’s picket line centered on the park’s demand for wage concessions, including extending the probationary period for new employees — the period during which someone can be fired without notice for any reason — from six months to one year and allowing discretionary annual pay increases, allowing management to withhold automatic raises for individual employees at will.

“No other bargaining unit we represent in this worker-friendly state writes that into the contracts,” said Keith Glenn of Local 363, who negotiated on behalf of the workers. “That means we can say, you’re doing a great job, but I don’t like you, you’re not getting a raise.”

Striking workers also said they were concerned about a July 2 email from the park’s human resources department that stated, “If a Local 363 employee chooses not to report to work, he or she must continue to strike for the duration of the strike.” It also said, “A strike is considered terminated when an agreement is ratified by Local 363 members.”

This means that after the seven-day strike announced by the union has expired, the park administration will lock out the workers involved in the strike until the union accepts the collective agreement offered.

“It’s scary,” said Anthony Smith, a park worker and union representative for 10 years. “We decided to go for a week-long strike after talking to members because the vast majority of members felt that the longer the strike goes on, the more their families will be affected. And then on top of all that uncertainty, you add fearmongering and threats. We’re talking about people losing their vehicles, their homes, their jobs and not having any income for who knows how long.”

Local 363 accuses Superintendent Al Bangoura and the park administration of violating federal labor protections for striking workers.

The Park Board is a semi-autonomous governing body of the city of Minneapolis. The park’s arborists also care for all public trees. City Council President Elliott Payne and members Jason Chavez and Aurin Chowdhury addressed the workers’ picket line on Friday.

“Minnehaha Falls Park, where we’re currently located, is a jewel of our community and one of the few places in the city of Minneapolis where you can have a waterfall in your backyard, which is pretty incredible,” said Chowdhury, whose district includes Minnehaha Falls Park. “Minneapolis appreciates the work you do every day to make these parks the best in the country. If we’re going to say that and make that claim, we better treat our employees the best we can.”