Striking Minneapolis park workers and park board reach tentative agreement

Striking Minneapolis park workers and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, representatives from both the MPRB and LIUNA Local 363 tell Bring Me The News.

The tentative deal was reached during mediation sessions on Thursday. The two sides resumed negotiations at 10 a.m. on Friday in hopes that there could be a deal in place before the weekend.

Thursday's session was preceded by more contentious back-and-forth between the two sides as striking workers loudly sat in on an MPRB meeting. Workers followed the protest with a Thursday morning petition delivery that the union says contained "thousands of signatures for a no-confidence petition" concerning the park board and Superintendent Al Bangoura.

Still, the union and the park board found some common ground on Thursday. A.J. Lange, business manager for the union, told KARE 11 that the union has agreed to the MPRB's wage offer of a 10.25% wage increase over three years with a $1.75 market adjustment for select positions.

What remains, according to Lange, are provisions about the number of stewards the union can have, how workers get paid when filling in for managers, and details around annual performance reviews.

While it's still possible that no deal is reached, both sides appear optimistic. A vote from union members could come as soon as Friday afternoon, but is more likely to take place early next week if a deal is struck on Friday.

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