Minneapolis park workers strike extended indefinitely

Thursday could have marked the end of a week-long strike by unionized Minneapolis park workers – but instead it began a new chapter of uncertainty.

LIUNA Local 363 union leaders announced Wednesday that the strike will not end as originally planned and that workers are prepared to continue the strike until the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board agrees to resume collective bargaining.

“We have repeatedly asked them every day to return to the bargaining table. But they refuse to talk to us,” said AJ Lange, the union’s executive director. “And we will fight until we get a fair contract and the respect we deserve.”

Lange announced the renewed strike as park board members arrived for a regular meeting. After the rally, workers filed in and filled the meeting room, where Minneapolis Parks Superintendent Al Bangoura showed no sign that the news would change anything.

“A very fair offer was made, and the leadership of 363 refuses to put it to a vote by their members. Why don’t they put it to a vote… instead of unilaterally forcing their members to strike?” Bangoura said, stressing that he would only resume negotiations if the union voted on the current offer – what the park authority called its “last, best and final” offer.

Workers shouted back, saying the strike was their response to demands for better pay and improved safety measures. Union members said the board’s latest offer, which has been public since last week, was worse than the one that prompted 94 percent to strike.

Some staff were given microphone time at Wednesday’s meeting when the floor was opened for brief comments, but rules on the length of comments were thrown out the window as tensions mounted. At one point, park ranger Davion Evans spoke spontaneously for more than eight minutes.

“I love my family. I love this job, but you’re making it hard for me. My wife has to work two jobs. I should have two jobs, but I have to come here,” Evans said. “How can we have a family? How can we come together? …

Evans continued: “The middle class is under attack. There is no middle class anymore. It is slipping away bit by bit, and you can help us keep what we have.”

The committee listened to Evans as he continued to speak, but eventually his right to speak was cut off. Union leaders pushed for more workers to speak, but Parks Committee Chair Meg Forney called a recess and left the room, followed by the parks superintendent and other commissioners. The workers remained.

Minneapolis City Council members Jason Chavez and Robin Wonsley were also at the meeting and said they were there in solidarity with the workers. Wonsley said they would draft a resolution officially supporting them.

“You fund what you care about and what you prioritize – and you should prioritize the workers who make the city function and thrive every day,” Wonsley said.

Some park board members have said they have prioritized worker compensation — and that the union’s proposed wage increase would push the tax increase even higher than they had asked negotiators to accept. They have said what the union is asking for would cost at least $2 million more and raise property taxes. Wonsley shot back.

“And if there are concerns about funding or levy impacts to meet that need, then … meet with the city council, which ultimately approves the parks department budget as well as the overall city budget,” Wonsley said.

“There are ways to move money,” Chavez said. “The money should be there as long as they are willing to pay it.”

Some park board members have proposed raising the tax amount enough to pay the union the amounts it is demanding, but no formal proposal was made at Wednesday night’s meeting.

As the meeting continued, the opinion became widespread that something might happen, that some kind of action might take place during the night.

But that hope was dashed. The meeting was adjourned, the stalemate remained, and the workers chanted on their way out, a cry that will continue to be heard throughout the ongoing strike.

The union has planned additional pickets in parks across the city every day through Sunday.