Donna Blackwell

Minnesota Paid Leave (MPL) now joins the list of other leaves available for new parents, those with health conditions, as well as others who qualify for other uses, such as to take care of other members of the family.  While each state agency is responsible for implementing their own policies, this is a significant enhancement of benefits for employees who need additional paid time to take care their families and themselves.  It’s important to note that MPL runs concurrently with other leaves; it is not the case that when one ends another begins, and so on.  They all run together on the same ... Read More >>

Measured as a proportion of members relative to total MnDOT employees, MGEC leads all bargaining units in participation in the Student Loan Reimbursement Program. In the most recent application round in September, 39 MGEC applications were approved, delivering $71,413.84 in benefits to our members. While MAPE had 48 approved applications, they represent a significantly larger share of MnDOT’s workforce, making MGEC’s participation rate notably higher. It took a long time to get this program up and running at MnDOT, and MGEC is working with other bargaining units to push other agencies to ... Read More >>

While 2026 is not an active bargaining year for MGEC, that doesn’t mean we’re not active!  We are highly involved in several grievances ranging from disciplinary issues to the ongoing FLSA-exempt issue where the state seems to insist that our members work for no compensation.  Guided by our Board and Advocacy Committee, it is important that we never drop the ball defending your rights under the MGEC contract.  We expect some of these issues to go all the way to arbitration.  There is no such thing as the “status quo” in labor relations, and we must remain vigilant to protect what we have.  ... Read More >>

On Thursday, December 4th, about 20 MGEC members met with Interim Executive Director Tony Kelly and MGEC Representative Mark Trogstad-Issacson.  Over pizza, details of the new labor agreement between MGEC and the state were discussed, and some other topics came up in a way that otherwise might not have if there wasn’t delicious pizza and face-to-face interaction.  Most of the members were from the DOT, but we did have a member come from the Board of Water and Soil Resources! Members had questions about the nature of this year’s negotiations and sought context around the board’s decision to ... Read More >>

Greetings MGEC members, I want to start off by saying THANK YOU to our current Board and staff.  I've had the pleasure of serving with so many fantastic people this year. Our Board has a wide range of experiences and each person brings significant value to our organization. Our staff (Tony and Donna) truly care about MGEC and our members. Having a staff of only 2 people poses its challenges, but Tony and Donna go above and beyond on a daily basis to continue to improve MGEC.  I'm proud to be a member of MGEC because of you all! 2025 was definitely a busy year of transition for MGEC.  ... Read More >>