On Monday, Dec. 19, the food service workers employed by Independent School District 200 (ISD 200) voted to authorize a strike if the district and Service Employees International Union 284 (SEIU 284) cannot reach an agreement prior to the holiday break. The vote to authorize the strike passed with 92 percent support.

The process of a union strike in Minnesota requires the union to file with state offices. Once the intent to strike is filed, there is a 10-day cooling down period. At that point, the strike could begin.

A third mediation session between the food service workers and the district with the state Bureau of Mediation where we are right now, if Wednesday doesn't go very well, we could file that notice sometime in January.”

Sometime in January leaves the door open to hold onto a filing if the two sides are close to completing a new contract. That also means, if the two sides are still very far apart, the union could file as soon as Tuesday, Jan. 3 when state offices reopen after the observed New Year holiday on Monday.

Superintendent Bob McDowell said the district is working toward an agreement with the union.

“The district is aware the food service employee group voted today to authorize a strike. This vote will not distract the district from its educational mission. While the district remains hopeful a strike can be avoided, it has a strike plan in place that will allow the district to continue to operate without having to cancel any school days.”

McDowell said the group has been offered a similar wage package as other groups representing district employees.

“The district’s bargaining team will continue to bargain in good faith. The district’s proposals to date have been in line with those that have been ratified by other employee groups and approved by the School Board during this round of negotiations. The district will continue to bargain in a manner that recognizes current market conditions, the district’s overall financial condition and recent settlements with other district employee groups,” said McDowell.

Goetz countered that the union has been negotiating with the district since June, expressing that the union feels there is a large gap between what both sides want.

“We're just still quite far apart on a lot of stuff, especially wages,” explained Goetz. “Wages are always the most important thing. Both us and the districts want to shorten the pay schedule which will allow people to get to top pay quicker and raise starting pay so that people can be hired. But the district wants to do it in a way that will give much bigger raises to people who just started than people who have been here for a long time. We want to do it in a way that will give everybody good raises.”

The district currently employs 35 food service workers and that is roughly half the staff the district should have for food service, according to the union. The union is also looking for health insurance benefits and guaranteed hours to go along with the higher wages, which the union feels are key pieces to attracting new employees as well as keeping tenured employees. The general feeling with the employees is that negotiations are not progressing and a strike may be needed to inject life into negotiations, according to the union.

“We’ve been doing this for a while, and you would be surprised that sometimes people can suddenly start moving. We hope that happens. We are engaging with the process, but we are ready to strike if we need to in the new year,” added Goetz.

Both sides remain hopeful a strike can be avoided, but if a strike happens, the district is prepared.

“In the event a settlement cannot be reached, the district will provide further information to families regarding how school will operate in the event of a food service strike,” McDowell said.