U of M workers picket across the state as Teamsters strike continues

Hundreds of University of Minnesota workers picketed at campuses across the state on Wednesday.

More than 1,400 U service workers are on strike after the Teamsters Local 320 voted down the U’s final offer in contract negotiations. This is the first strike since the union’s creation at the U in the 1970s.

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12:26 p.m. On Tuesday, SEIU Local 284 announced it is working to start another union at the U, representing technology, communications, grant writing and student services employees. As of July, the U had 13 unions.

At the U, medical residents and graduate students have each debuted new unions within the last two years. A 2024 change in state law opened the door for new unions to form at the U. Graduate students signed their first contract last January; it was their sixth attempt to start a union there, with efforts dating back to the 1970s. Their 3,000 to 4,000 members joined forces with the United Electrical Workers, a national union.

The Committee of Interns and Residents is a union that formed during the summer; its 1,000 members joined SEIU Healthcare, a Minnesota and Iowa-based union.