St. Louis County snowplow drivers strike

By Tom Olsen tolsen@duluthnews.com

Adisagreement over sick leave policies led to a nearly weeklong strike that threatened to leave county roads without timely plowing and treatment in the heart of a Northland winter.

St. Louis County Public Works employees represented by Teamsters Local 320 walked off the job Jan. 15 after they were unable to broker a new contract with administration — the first strike by any county workers in recent memory.

The sticking point involved the payout of accrued sick leave upon retirement. The union bargaining team sought to have the maximum raised from 1,150 to 1,500 hours, but the county remained firm in its opposition, citing future financial liability and noting most of its other bargaining units lacked such a high cap.

For several days, workers and their supporters formed a picket line at the Public Works complex in Pike Lake and other locations throughout the county. They waved signs, lit burn barrels to keep warm and chanted — announcing their presence in a manner that prompted one county official to complain of “a lot of middle-finger, singlefinger salutes (and) four-letter words.”

The striking workers received visits from dignitaries, including U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Hermantown, and messages of support from now-President-elect Joe Biden and two of his then-Democratic primary rivals, U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Bernie Sanders.

When snow fell overnight Jan. 17-18, a skeleton crew of Public Works supervisors and other licensed staff were pressed into service in an effort to keep the roads clean and safe — no easy feat in a geographically massive county that includes 108 plow routes across 3,000 miles of roads and bridges.

The snowfall may have been a breaking point, with the two sides reestablishing contact shortly before the snow began flying that night. Representatives gathered at the St. Louis County Courthouse on Sunday, Jan. 19, and emerged in the wee hours of Monday, Jan. 20, with a deal after a 15hour mediation session.

The Teamsters, ultimately, agreed to back off their demand for the increased sick leave accrual. The county, in exchange, agreed to higher wage increases and a higher starting wage over the duration of the three-year agreement. The plow drivers also received an option to leave the county’s health insurance plan in favor of one offered by the Teamsters.

“We are thankful to have reached this agreement and to welcome our employees back to work,” Kevin Gray, county administrator, said in a statement at the time. “Both sides worked very hard to get to this point.”

Union members quickly ratified the agreement by a vote of 133-0.

“I don’t think our relationships are tarnished at all through this,” Erik Skoog, the chief negotiator, said. “The county leadership has a responsibility to the taxpayers. I have a responsibility to the members of the (bargaining unit). ... In the end, both parties won.” u