Tentative agreement reached between union workers, Minneapolis Park Board

Krystal Frasier and Kelsey Christensen KSTP

A union representing Minneapolis park workers who have been on strike for weeks says a tentative agreement has been reached with the Minneapolis Park Board.

The LIUNA Local 363 Business Manager and Minneapolis Park workers held a press conference late Friday afternoon to discuss the tentative deal.

The union will vote on the agreement next week. If it passes, employees will return to work on Monday, July 29 or their first scheduled shift after that date.

The Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board (MPRB) says it signed two tentative agreement contracts — one for full-time workers and the other for seasonal employees — Friday afternoon and is optimistic the contract will be accepted by the Local 363 members.

At the press conference, the workers said one of the key contract points was getting a market adjustment pay increase of $1.75 for many employees.

LIUNA MN and ND posted on social media early Friday morning, saying bargaining will resume at 10 a.m. Friday to finalize details about those who went on strike returning to work. More than 40% of union workers who are typically responsible for cleanup at parks have been off the job for 23 days.

In addition, the union says a rally scheduled to be held on the south side of Lake Nokomis from 3-7 p.m. on Friday regarding the strike has since been canceled.

A tentative agreement has been reached after more than 3 weeks on strike: https://t.co/GUTG9EgqCX
— Kelsey Christensen (@KelseyReports) July 26, 2024

The agreement was announced after another round of mediation with the Park and Recreation Board broke down.

Park workers had walked off the job on July 4th, and the union voted to reject an offer from the board last week, with 91% of voting members rejecting that offer.

Details of the agreement haven’t been provided at this time; however, the two sides have agreed on some terms such as wage increases, which was a big sticking point.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reached out to the Park Board for comment and was told it had reached a tentative agreement with Local 363, and that final details are still being hashed out.

One Minneapolis resident who spoke with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS at the lake said they’re happy to see a deal in the works, and more help for future storm clean up.

“I think it’s great that the park employees stook up for themselves and they were able to come to an agreement,” said Dana Kingery. “It’s great that they are able to do more, especially since the weather has been so crazy this year.”