The two largest public workers’ unions in Minnesota said Friday they have reached tentative agreements with the state that preserves wage increases and avoids health insurance cost increases for employees.
The Minnesota Association of Professional Employees and AFSCME Council 5 together represent more than 35,000 state employees and have been jointly negotiating new two-year contracts with the state.
In a press release, AFSCME Executive Director Bart Andersen said their pending deal took more than 200 hours of negotiating to reach and is the “direct result of the incredible strength, solidarity, and determination shown by our union members.”
“Because we stood together, we beat back disastrous proposals that would have gutted our health insurance, frozen our wages, and cost our families thousands every year,” Andersen said. “We didn’t just hold the line — we advanced it!”
A spokesperson for Minnesota Management and Budget, which negotiates with AFSCME and MAPE, declined to comment until the contracts are finalized. State leaders recently approved major budget cuts to help address a looming deficit that could soon get worse if Congress finalizes proposed cuts to Medicaid.
But for now, the unions say they were able to score significant wins for their members, successfully repelling the state’s proposed health insurance changes and securing across-the-board wage increases of 1.5% in 2025 and 1.75% in 2026. MAPE also said the deal doesn’t eliminate paid parental leave, which it says the state initially proposed.
“To fight off concessions in a year like this is a real testament to our members,” MAPE President Megan Dayton said in a news release. “They showed up at the table, at the rallies and at the site. This was a contract campaign in the truest sense, and our members won it.”
MAPE has been particularly critical of Gov. Tim Walz’s recent decision to call state employees back to the office for at least half of their working days. The union says return-to-office was “not a negotiable item” but touted a minor increase in the amount of time the state needs to give employees before making changes to their telework arrangements.
