Second, I dug into the archives on this when I was at MAPE, and it turns out that MAPE didn't really originate as a split from AFSCME. When PELRA was passed in 1973, it had NLRA-style rules about forming bargaining units, and the result was there were soon dozens or even hundreds of state employee bargaining units. Some were geography based, some were agency based, some were occupational-category based. AFSCME had many of these, but a great many were independent, or part of MFT, or other unions. One was GRAPE - the Greater Rochester Association of Professional Employees - which represented only state professional workers. This plethora of units made negotiations very challenging for the state, especially after a unit of forensic scientists at the BCA won a court case that said MMB couldn't just impose the health insurance deal they negotiated with AFSCME on everyone else.
This led the legislature to amend PELRA in 1981 to create the statutorily-defined bargaining units we have today. BMS was empowered, by this change, to assign each bargaining unit to a union, in order that there was SOMEONE they could negotiate with right away, but it was made easy for the workers in that unit to change it. BMS had to move quickly, and AFSCME was assigned cover unit 14, the state professional unit. More or less immediately, GRAPE, allied with several other independent professional employee units, filed to challenge AFSCME as the bargaining agent, and won the election and became MAPE.
So while it is technically true that MAPE's bargaining unit was once an AFSCME unit, it was only the latter in a technical sense, for a very short period of time. MAPE already existed in an independent form in SE Minnesota, and most state professional workers had not been represented by AFSCME before 1981.
It's a messy history, but it's important for present circumstances for the two unions to understand that MAPE didn't originate in opposition to AFSCME.
Thanks Dave, that's super interesting and helpful to know. It's funny, the MAPE website itself says that it was a split off of AFSCME, which is the story I always heard. Overall there just hasn't been enough written about the rise of public sector collective bargaining in the 60s and 70s, though that is starting to change. GRAPE is a great acronym, I bet the person who came up with that was proud of that one!
Yeah, I always believed the split story, too. But I found in the MAPE files some back issues of the union newsletter from the 1990s, and a now-long-retired member told the whole story in really great detail over the course of like five newsletters. It was clearly a labor of love by this person, and it's a shame that their detailed analysis is completely lost to historical memory.
Couple minor and pedantic corrections to the MAPE/AFSCME news. It's not the first time they have bargained together - MAPE and AFSCME always finish up negotiations with MMB sitting at one table. What I think is new this time (I haven't worked for MAPE for four years but this is what I'm gathering) is that the other unions covered by SEGIP, including MMA, MGEC, and the MNSCU unions, were also present at the end, which is new - normally those folks are kind of left waiting to see what the big two do.
Huh, I checked and MAPE' press release says the following "For the first time, MAPE’s and AFSCME’s Negotiations Teams bargained side-by-side, uniting the State’s two largest state government unions at the table." Any insights on why they would say that?
What was the final wage settlement that was TA'd at UNFI and Haug's?
Second, I dug into the archives on this when I was at MAPE, and it turns out that MAPE didn't really originate as a split from AFSCME. When PELRA was passed in 1973, it had NLRA-style rules about forming bargaining units, and the result was there were soon dozens or even hundreds of state employee bargaining units. Some were geography based, some were agency based, some were occupational-category based. AFSCME had many of these, but a great many were independent, or part of MFT, or other unions. One was GRAPE - the Greater Rochester Association of Professional Employees - which represented only state professional workers. This plethora of units made negotiations very challenging for the state, especially after a unit of forensic scientists at the BCA won a court case that said MMB couldn't just impose the health insurance deal they negotiated with AFSCME on everyone else.
This led the legislature to amend PELRA in 1981 to create the statutorily-defined bargaining units we have today. BMS was empowered, by this change, to assign each bargaining unit to a union, in order that there was SOMEONE they could negotiate with right away, but it was made easy for the workers in that unit to change it. BMS had to move quickly, and AFSCME was assigned cover unit 14, the state professional unit. More or less immediately, GRAPE, allied with several other independent professional employee units, filed to challenge AFSCME as the bargaining agent, and won the election and became MAPE.
So while it is technically true that MAPE's bargaining unit was once an AFSCME unit, it was only the latter in a technical sense, for a very short period of time. MAPE already existed in an independent form in SE Minnesota, and most state professional workers had not been represented by AFSCME before 1981.
It's a messy history, but it's important for present circumstances for the two unions to understand that MAPE didn't originate in opposition to AFSCME.
Thanks Dave, that's super interesting and helpful to know. It's funny, the MAPE website itself says that it was a split off of AFSCME, which is the story I always heard. Overall there just hasn't been enough written about the rise of public sector collective bargaining in the 60s and 70s, though that is starting to change. GRAPE is a great acronym, I bet the person who came up with that was proud of that one!
Yeah, I always believed the split story, too. But I found in the MAPE files some back issues of the union newsletter from the 1990s, and a now-long-retired member told the whole story in really great detail over the course of like five newsletters. It was clearly a labor of love by this person, and it's a shame that their detailed analysis is completely lost to historical memory.
Couple minor and pedantic corrections to the MAPE/AFSCME news. It's not the first time they have bargained together - MAPE and AFSCME always finish up negotiations with MMB sitting at one table. What I think is new this time (I haven't worked for MAPE for four years but this is what I'm gathering) is that the other unions covered by SEGIP, including MMA, MGEC, and the MNSCU unions, were also present at the end, which is new - normally those folks are kind of left waiting to see what the big two do.
UNFI- $1 yearly over three years for full time, $0.70 yearly for PT at top of wage scale, $0.75 every 6 months for those in progression.
Haugs- $1.05 yearly over 3 years for FT, $0.60 yearly for PT at top of wage scale, $0.50-$0.60 every 6 months for those in progression
Huh, I checked and MAPE' press release says the following "For the first time, MAPE’s and AFSCME’s Negotiations Teams bargained side-by-side, uniting the State’s two largest state government unions at the table." Any insights on why they would say that?