The strike began on Feb. 7th, 2023, Food service workers stepped to the picket line to send a message to Hastings District 200. They felt they deserved higher pay for the work they do now and what …
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The strike began on Feb. 7th, 2023, Food service workers stepped to the picket line to send a message to Hastings District 200. They felt they deserved higher pay for the work they do now and what they did during the pandemic. The strike is now over after six weeks, pending Hastings School Board approval set for Wednesday, March 29.. The district and the union, SEIU Local 284, reached a tentative agreement announced March 23.
Workers reviewed the details of the plan on March 24, and the members voted to ratify the agreement. According to the union, the one-year contract is above the district’s last offer, but the full details were not yet available. Some key pieces to the new contract were:
Sara Rapp, Food Service Worker at Hastings High School, had the following to say about the agreement:
“While this agreement does not reflect what we feel we are worth, our struggle for recognition and respect took a big step forward because of our solidarity. Now we have a better contract than we otherwise would have gotten without our fight. Hourly school workers across the state are fighting to win more for staff and students, and our strike was an important part of that fight,” she said.
Kelly Gibbons, Executive Director of SEIU 284, shared her thoughts about what this settlement reflects:
“These workers showed amazing solidarity in the fight to improve the conditions for workers and students. Legislators must create a living wage for hourly school workers and provide the funding to pay for it. There should not be tax breaks for the wealthy while hourly school workers around Minnesota, like the Hastings food service workers, are in crisis. Staffing shortages and high turnover in these critical positions are because of low wages that we need to end once and for all,” said Gibbons.
The school board approved the contract and the workers returned to work Thursday, March 30.
