MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis park workers will return to work Monday after the union and board signed a tentative agreement Friday to end the contentious strike that spanned more than three weeks.
LIUNA Local 363, the union representing more than 300 workers, will vote on the contract next week, but no specific date or location have been announced.
The agreement comes after the two sides entered a mediation session Thursday afternoon in St. Paul. By Friday morning, officials with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) announced a tentative agreement.
According to KARE 11's Gordon Severson, the agreement includes a 10.25% wage increase over the next three years and a $1.75 market adjustment for most job titles.
"I think it was our collective action and voice. I think it was the workers that pushed through," Business Manager of LIUNA Local 363 A.J. Lang said at a press conference Friday evening. "... I think we put in more work on this contract than probably any other contract, in terms of negotiating, but the members on the picket line, at the board meetings, with petitions in the community gathering signatures ... that's what pushed this over the top."
The strike began on July 4 after LIUNA Local 363, the union representing more than 300 workers, rejected the board's final offer. After several negotiation sessions, two unfair labor practice charges — one filed by each side — the union and board were able to get a tentative deal done.