Minnesota Association of Professional Employees
Encyclopedia
The Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE) is a Minnesota
-based labor union
representing professional and technical workers employed by the state of Minnesota. This bargaining unit includes employees who perform a wide array of specialized, professional services from accounting to zoology. Within Minnesota, MAPE is the largest state bargaining unit with over 12,100 employees.
and the Minnesota Legislature
controlled state employees' rights and benefits. With the passage of PELRA, state professional workers were initially represented by the international American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME) - a union that currently represents many of the state's technicians, maintenance, and clerical workers.
As time passed, state professionals discovered that the workplace issues they faced were different than many of the workers in AFSCME. Therefore, in 1980, these professionals voted to break away from this larger union to form their own independent union. This founding group of 4,500 grew to become the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE), which now has over 11,850 members. As it does not have a national umbrella organization over it, MAPE is one of the largest independent unions in existence.
In order to make sure that the central organization is meeting the needs of all members in all regions, MAPE convenes a Delegate Assembly every Fall, typically in the first week or two of September.
As MAPE has grown and new members joined, the organization has naturally evolved. Since 1999 MAPE has worked hard to be a proactive, member-driven group. A new region/local structure was designed to promote grassroots activism.
limits proposed by the state, and so in September, 2001, members of the two biggest unions representing state workers voted overwhelmingly to strike. The Minnesota Association of Professional Employees announced that 84.2 percent of its members who voted rejected the state's final contract offer and authorized a strike, and earlier that day, leaders of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 6 filed an official notice with the Bureau of Mediation Services and the state's Department of Employee Relations that more than 13,000, or 90 percent, of its voting members had approved a strike.
Negotiators for the unions and the state held a preliminary meeting at the Bureau of Mediation Services on Sept. 6. The Bureau conducted additional sessions from Sept. 12 to Sept. 16.
The major sticking point was wages. The state had offered a wage increase of about 2.5 percent per year but said that additional increases based on years of service could increase that to about 5 percent for many workers. The members were asking for increases of approximately 6 percent per year for the coming years.
Governor Jesse Ventura
kept a low profile. But he did order special training exercises for the Minnesota National Guard
in the event that he would order them to replace striking state workers.
The partial state government shutdown of July 2005 was an unprecedented fiasco which will live on in the minds of MAPE members and other state employees who were sent home for eight days that summer with no knowledge of when they would be allowed to return to work. The governor and legislature failed to pass a state budget by the constitutional deadline of midnight on June 30, 2005 and therefore had no authority to pay thousands of the state’s employees for work performed. The politicians further attempted to divide state employees by deeming some “essential,” and sending the rest home. The “make half” settlement allowed those workers sent home, through no fault of their own to receive half of the pay or vacation hours lost ten months after the fact.
Over the past five years, MAPE has expanded to include some school district, county and municipal government professional employees with separate bargaining agreements. These employees have sought out MAPE because they see the value and strength of having a union protecting their rights and benefits.
MAPE continues on its mission to protect and promote the interests of public employees. MAPE is committed to lobbying for its members to have all the resources they need to provide quality public services to the state’s citizens.
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
-based labor union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
representing professional and technical workers employed by the state of Minnesota. This bargaining unit includes employees who perform a wide array of specialized, professional services from accounting to zoology. Within Minnesota, MAPE is the largest state bargaining unit with over 12,100 employees.
Origin of MAPE
In 1972 with the passage of the Public Employee Labor Relations Act (PELRA), state workers were given the right to join a union. Prior to 1972, the governorGovernor of Minnesota
The Governor of Minnesota is the chief executive of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty different people have been governors of the state, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory. Alexander Ramsey, the first territorial...
and the Minnesota Legislature
Minnesota Legislature
The Minnesota Legislature is the legislative branch of government in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is a bicameral legislature located at the Minnesota Capitol in Saint Paul and it consists of two houses: the lower Minnesota House of Representatives and the Minnesota Senate...
controlled state employees' rights and benefits. With the passage of PELRA, state professional workers were initially represented by the international American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is the second- or third-largest labor union in the United States and one of the fastest-growing, representing over 1.4 million employees, primarily in local and state government and in the health care industry. AFSCME is part of the...
(AFSCME) - a union that currently represents many of the state's technicians, maintenance, and clerical workers.
As time passed, state professionals discovered that the workplace issues they faced were different than many of the workers in AFSCME. Therefore, in 1980, these professionals voted to break away from this larger union to form their own independent union. This founding group of 4,500 grew to become the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE), which now has over 11,850 members. As it does not have a national umbrella organization over it, MAPE is one of the largest independent unions in existence.
Structure of MAPE
In order to support a variety of worksites and employees located all over the state of Minnesota, MAPE has broken the state down into 21 separate regions. Members of each region are served by electing their own slate of officers to represent them at the local level.In order to make sure that the central organization is meeting the needs of all members in all regions, MAPE convenes a Delegate Assembly every Fall, typically in the first week or two of September.
As MAPE has grown and new members joined, the organization has naturally evolved. Since 1999 MAPE has worked hard to be a proactive, member-driven group. A new region/local structure was designed to promote grassroots activism.
Statewide Strike of 2001
Throughout the late 90s and into early 2000, Minnesota experienced a robust economy characterized by tax cuts and rebates. Things changed in 2001 after the “dot-com” bust and the events of September 11. Recessionary times gave way to grim financial forecasts amid rising health care costs. The struggle to maintain benefit and compensation levels for state workers finally came to a head. MAPE and AFSCME members refused to accept the high co-pays and out-of-pocket expenseOut-of-pocket expenses
Out-of-pocket expenses are direct outlays of cash which may or may not be later reimbursed.In operating a vehicle, gasoline, parking fees and tolls are considered out-of-pocket expenses for the trip...
limits proposed by the state, and so in September, 2001, members of the two biggest unions representing state workers voted overwhelmingly to strike. The Minnesota Association of Professional Employees announced that 84.2 percent of its members who voted rejected the state's final contract offer and authorized a strike, and earlier that day, leaders of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 6 filed an official notice with the Bureau of Mediation Services and the state's Department of Employee Relations that more than 13,000, or 90 percent, of its voting members had approved a strike.
Negotiators for the unions and the state held a preliminary meeting at the Bureau of Mediation Services on Sept. 6. The Bureau conducted additional sessions from Sept. 12 to Sept. 16.
The major sticking point was wages. The state had offered a wage increase of about 2.5 percent per year but said that additional increases based on years of service could increase that to about 5 percent for many workers. The members were asking for increases of approximately 6 percent per year for the coming years.
Governor Jesse Ventura
Jesse Ventura
James George Janos , better known as Jesse Ventura, is an American politician, the 38th Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, Navy UDT veteran, former SEAL reservist, actor, and former radio and television talk show host...
kept a low profile. But he did order special training exercises for the Minnesota National Guard
Minnesota National Guard
The Minnesota National Guard is composed of approximately 14,000 soldiers of the Minnesota Army National Guard and Airmen of the Minnesota Air National Guard, serving in 63 communities across the state. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal...
in the event that he would order them to replace striking state workers.
Recent history
After a devastating 2003 round of negotiations resulting in wage freezes and insurance increases, the 2005 negotiations team had a resolute goal to ‘hold the line’ on insurance increases while negotiating a fair wage increase. Many MAPE members even felt this was unrealistic but nonetheless, MAPE achieved its goal by holding the line on insurance increases while managing an across the board increases for everyone.MAPE Today
MAPE has built on coalition power over the last five years and has become a leader in the Minnesota labor community. Some of the coalitions MAPE works with on a regular basis are: Minnesota is Watching the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition Twin Cities Labor & Religion Network Upper Midwest Labor/Management Coalition on Health Care, Broad Purchasing Alliance, Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition Alliance for a Better Minnesota, and many others. MAPE also partners with other unions and non-profits and works towards building a better community for all.The partial state government shutdown of July 2005 was an unprecedented fiasco which will live on in the minds of MAPE members and other state employees who were sent home for eight days that summer with no knowledge of when they would be allowed to return to work. The governor and legislature failed to pass a state budget by the constitutional deadline of midnight on June 30, 2005 and therefore had no authority to pay thousands of the state’s employees for work performed. The politicians further attempted to divide state employees by deeming some “essential,” and sending the rest home. The “make half” settlement allowed those workers sent home, through no fault of their own to receive half of the pay or vacation hours lost ten months after the fact.
Over the past five years, MAPE has expanded to include some school district, county and municipal government professional employees with separate bargaining agreements. These employees have sought out MAPE because they see the value and strength of having a union protecting their rights and benefits.
MAPE continues on its mission to protect and promote the interests of public employees. MAPE is committed to lobbying for its members to have all the resources they need to provide quality public services to the state’s citizens.
See also
- Labor Unions in the United StatesLabor unions in the United StatesLabor unions in the United States are legally recognized as representatives of workers in many industries. The most prominent unions are among public sector employees such as teachers and police...
- Labor Movement
- List of U.S. Trade Unions
- National Labor CollegeNational Labor CollegeThe National Labor College is the only accredited higher education institution in the United States devoted exclusively to educating union members, leaders and staff. It was established as a training center by the AFL-CIO in 1969 to strengthen union member education and organizing skills...
- Organizing InstituteOrganizing InstituteThe AFL-CIO Organizing Institute , located at 815 16th St., NW, Organizing Department - 4th Floor, Washington, District of Columbia, 20006, United States, is a unit within the Organizing and Field Services Department of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations...
- Union Summer
- Change to Win FederationChange to Win FederationThe Change to Win Federation is a coalition of American labor unions originally formed in 2005 as an alternative to the AFL-CIO. The coalition is associated with strong advocacy of the organizing model...