As you’re no doubt aware, the contract between MGEC and the State of Minnesota expired on the last day of June. While it is always a source of frustration to have a contract expire before a successor labor agreement is in place, this is consistent with the history of bargaining with the State, and is common in the public sector more broadly. We have a set of mutually agreed upon dates with the State to bargain the next contract, beginning in September and running into December on a roughly two-week cycle. In our ideal scenario we will not require all the dates and can arrive at a ... Read More >>
Bargaining updates
MGEC 2025-2027 Contract Negotiation Update
MGEC Officers and staff have met with the Minnesota Office of Management and Budget (MMB) to set up dates and protocols for the negotiation of the next labor agreement. We share the frustration of working under a contract that has expired while the next one is negotiated, although it is common in public sector negotiations. The MGEC Bargaining Committee has met several times over the last several months to identify bargaining priorities. Given that MMB reads our member communications such as this one, we prefer a strategy where they don’t know what our asks will be before we get to the ... Read More >>
Bargaining Update
The results of the MGEC membership survey are in! We are now in the process of collating and analyzing the results to determine what our membership needs. To those FULL MGEC members who completed the survey, THANK YOU. Your voice is critical as we move forward. MGEC has notified both the State of Minnesota and the Bureau of Mediation Services (BMS) of our intent to begin negotiations. This is the first step in the bargaining process and lets the BMS know that bargaining is on the horizon, which can be helpful if we decide that we need to bring in a mediator to reach a settlement. It ... Read More >>
Health Insurance Bargaining
Unlike regular contract negotiations where each of the state’s unions negotiates their individual contracts with the State, the healthcare plans offered to employees are negotiated jointly in a coalition. Because having different healthcare plans for each collective bargaining group would lose economies of scale and be difficult to manage, this approach has been beneficial to state employees by using the leverage of a massive pool of insured people to achieve plan offerings that meet people’s needs and are fiscally prudent. Healthcare negotiations run in tandem with normal contract ... Read More >>
Bargaining Preparation
2025 is almost here! As we get ready to open a new calendar, we are also preparing to negotiate the next collective bargaining agreement with the State of Minnesota; the current agreement expires June 30, 2025. You’ll hear more information about the bargaining process and will be invited to participate in a survey in the coming months. Our power at the bargaining table is directly correlated with your participation in MGEC. Being a member of MGEC is critical! If you are already a member, THANK YOU! If not, it’s never too late to become one. Don’t let others decide your future – join and ... Read More >>
Why Didn’t My Pay Change?
MGEC Contract Implementation Update We are receiving a deluge of communications from the MGEC membership about the date of the payroll implementation of the new contract. We hear you! Here’s what we know: Communications from MMB to MGEC as well as all agency payroll staff advised that all of the negotiated changes - including the 5.5% effective 7/1/23 - as well as all of the other benefits would be implemented 12/20/23. That pay cycle started 12/20/23 and ended 1/2/24; The 12/20/23 change should be reflected on the upcoming paycheck to be paid 1/12/24, which is visible in the ... Read More >>