News

Important Membership Convention Update

The member-led Convention Planning Committee unanimously recommended to the AFSCME Council 5 Executive Board that we move to a virtual convention over a 2-day period (Thursday, Sept.

Statement on Employer Policies Regarding Vaccinations and Testing

AFSCME Council 5 Statement on Employer Policies Regarding Vaccinations and Testing

AFSCME State Employees Reach Tentative Agreement!

Your AFSCME Council 5 state employees master contract negotiations team worked countless hours and many long nights and early mornings has reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) with the State of Minne

Front Line Workers Need Our Help Now

Front Line Workers Need Our Help Now

Victoria Johnson of AFSCME Local 744, Council 5 at the Minneapolis Veterans Home in Minneapolis, Minnesota experiences the COVID-19 pandemic every day she steps into work. Since the beginning of the pandemic, hospitals, group homes, secure facilities, and veterans' homes have experienced significant outbreaks of COVID-19, yet public service workers continue to go to work every day to care for and protect our fellow Minnesotans.

Walker Art Center Workers Unionize with AFSCME Council 5!

December 1, 2020- After one year of focused internal organizing, workers at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota have successfully won voluntary union recognition and have now joined the AFSCME Council 5 family!

Walker Art Center workers successfully banded together to highlight how unionizing will better their workplace, grow the Walker, and form even stronger relationships with their fellow co workers. Congratulations and welcome, siblings!

When We’re United, Anything Is Possible

For the last six years, Heather Hansen has worked as a Corrections Counselor at MCF-Togo, also known as the “Thistledew Camp" and a proud member of AFSCME Local 3887. She said, “For the first time in my life, I was making a livable wage and able to provide good medical insurance for my family. Working here has given me a sense of purpose that I’d never thought I would experience.

Every Vote Must Be Counted

Be Patient; Every Vote Must Be Counted

Every eligible voter should have their voice heard and their vote counted. But due to the coronavirus pandemic and health concerns, more people decided to vote by mail than ever before and absentee ballots take longer to count because of security measures to verify the accuracy of those ballots. We need to be patient so our election officials can take the time to make sure every eligible vote is counted accurately.

Scuffy Paulson: Keeping Minnesota Moving

Minnesota winters are tough. In Rochester, several blizzards brought the entire town to a standstill. Major roads and highways were closed, sometimes for days at a time.

When weather makes it unsafe to travel, Jeff Paulson – better known as Scuffy – hits the road. Scuffy works at MnDOT District 6, which covers Southern Minnesota. In the summer, Scuffy and his MnDOT team inspect bridges, maintain signage, and fix potholes and other road damage. But in the winter, they plow snow.

We Need You To Vote!

Make A Plan To Vote!

As union members, every day we see the attacks on collective bargaining, our pensions, our health care and our overall mission of social, racial and economic justce. One significant way we know that works to push back on these anti-worker groups is to VOTE!

Council 5 Executive Board Election Results

The Election Committee has completed its count of the ballots cast by the delegates to the 2020 AFSCME Council 5 Convention and wishes to report the following results.

Minnesota House Passes Bonding/Supplemental Funding Bill; Heads to Senate

AFSCME Council 5 is very pleased that the Minnesota House just voted to pass a robust bonding and supplemental agency funding bill that will invest in making our workplaces safer, create tens of thousands of livable wage jobs and funding to save the Togo and Willow River CIP program that our members have fought so hard to save. This is one step toward this bill becoming law and we call on the Minnesota Senate to swiftly pass this legislation that will improve our communities and workplaces and invest in our public and private sector workforces.