MINNEAPOLIS -- The union representing 1,500 service workers at the University of Minnesota has announced a strike authorization vote.þþOn Monday, Teamsters Local 320 said the vote is happening after the university ÿrepeatedly refused to address chronic understaffing, poverty wages, and abusive employment practices.ÿ The workers' contract expired on June 30.þþThe union says it represents the workers who prepare food, clean buildings, service dormitories, maintain HVAC systems, care for research animals, drive trucks and do other activities across the university's five campuses.þþÿWe don't want to go on strike. We want to continue to do our jobs to keep the university up and running for UMN students, but we can't do that when we're not making enough to pay our bills and put food on the table. We can't do that when we're barely making enough to survive,ÿ Sara Parcells, a University of Minnesota building and grounds worker, said in the union's news release. ÿUMN brings in billions of dollars each year off the backs of workers like me. It's time UMN supports working people in Minnesota and pays its essential workers a living wage.ÿþþThe union says a survey, which included more than 450 current and former service workers at the university, found that more than 62% reported not being paid enough to afford basic monthly expenses.
Source: cbsnews.com
