University clerical workers go on strike Pickets up at U campuses around the state Tom Juravich, University of Massachusetts Labor Center, on the strategy of a strike Photos Local union leader Laura Thielke Picketers More from MPR Both sides in strike play the numbers game (10/23/2003) Union ready for the long haul (10/22/2003) Strike took U officials by surprise (10/22/2003) Your Voice Join the conversation with other MPR listeners in the News Forum.

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University workers strike in small towns too
by Tim Post, Minnesota Public Radio
October 24, 2003

Local union leader Laura Thielke says so far they've been treated well by the town of 5,000 people. (MPR Photo/Tim Post)

University of Minnesota clerical workers are in the fourth day of their strike. Hundreds of workers have walked the lines at the U's Twin Cities campus. There are smaller groups of workers on strike at the university's Morris campus. In a community the size of Morris, nearly everyone knows the striking workers walking the picket line, but that doesn't always work in their favor.

Morris, Minn. — Seven striking clerical workers stand on a grassy corner near the University of Minnesota campus at Morris. Their signs give a simple message: on strike. The workers are demanding a contract that doesn't raise their medical costs.

Local union leader Laura Thielke says so far they've been treated well by this town of 5,000 people.

	Picketers

"We're getting some nice honks or waves," Thielke says. "Very few people have been mean or refuse to look at us when we drive by. We're getting lots of donations of food and money."

They say everyone knows everyone else, so there's a face to their effort.

Downtown at the Common Cup Coffee House, Al Monroe and his wife are just finishing up an afternoon work break. Monroe says he's talked to some of the striking workers. "I have to see it their way," he says. "I support them in that respect."

Monroe says because Morris is a small town, he knows the people on strike "and I understand the situation and can sympathize with it."

Sympathy from a community is what striking workers yearn for. Of course they want the university to notice they're gone, but having the community's support is just as important.

The average person would give anything to have a job out at the university. If you ask anybody, that's their goal, to work at the university. They're complaining about the medical insurance; that has gone up for everybody. - Anonymous resident

Mary Edwards is an economics professor who specializes in labor at St. Cloud State University. She says community solidarity for striking workers can often be easier in a small town like Morris.

"In a smaller town you say, 'Hey isn't that Jim Jones?' Because you know them specifically you've all of a sudden got a face on, and your face isn't the labor masses anymore," Edwards says. "If they can get the backing of everyone else than they got the whole town for them than that's great."

But Edward says that'll be hard in a place like Morris. Outside of the university, Morris is primarily an agricultural community, where support for unions isn't strong.

Edwards also says the strike in Morris could stir envy among the public. That's not good, especially for jobs that are funded in part by residents' tax dollars.

In Morris the university pays more than the private sector.

"The rest of the people are going to say, 'Ah ha. We are supposed to have budget problems now. These guys are paid an awful lot more than I am. These guys at least have total compensation more than I do, you expect me to put out more money, where does it come from?'"

It doesn't take long to find someone in Morris with that opinion. One woman who wouldn't give her name, says striking workers with jobs averaging $30,000 a year shouldn't expect sympathy from her.

"The average person would give anything to have a job out at the university," she says. "If you ask anybody, that's their goal, to work at the university. They're complaining about the medical insurance, that has gone up for everybody."

The striking clerical workers say they haven't forgotten there are plenty of people in Morris who make less than they do for similar jobs. But they hope this strike will improve condition and pay for other workers in community. They want to maintain their wages and hold the line on insurance premiums.

Meanwhile the University of Minnesota says it's offered the best contract it can. University officials say all of their employees will feel the effect of budget cuts.

The strike will come to an end and workers will stop walking the picket lines. But in the small town of Morris, something like this will be hard to forget.

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