Tell Hennepin County Commissioners to Respect Our Frontline County Heroes by Offering Them a Fair Contract

Hennepin County Board of Commissioners

Members of AFSCME Locals 34 and 2822 are the nurses, social workers, human services representatives, clerical support professionals who keep providing vital services to Hennepin County residents through this pandemic.

Our workers serve the homeless, both in quarantine at County owned hotels and on the ground every day in the community. Our workers keep community elders and residents with disabilities in their homes, provide protection for vulnerable children and adults, administer COVID tests, lifesaving vaccines, and respond to mental health crisis calls.  Our workers keep tens of thousands of Hennepin County residents safe, in stable housing, in connection with needed economic and medical assistance, and they staff libraries, service centers, probation offices, and recycling centers.  

Despite all of these sacrifices, Hennepin County is attempting to force a contract onto our pandemic heroes that devalues our work and will lead to continued staffing shortages at a time when county residents are most in need.

The cost of food, housing, daycare, gas, and other essentials are skyrocketing and falling further and further behind. Many of us work 2-3 jobs, some of us are receiving or eligible for welfare, and still others are saddled with student loan debt, credit card debt, or medical debt and barely surviving.

AFSCME members keep the County open and have kept people safe during the pandemic. They stood up for us, now it is our time to stand up for them!

Take Action:  

Sign this petition and tell all 7 of the Hennepin County Commissioners to support those who support the most vulnerable residents in our community by offering a fair contract to the frontline AFSCME heroes.

*Petition created and sponsored by AFSCME Locals 34 and 2822*

Sponsored by
Afscme-council-5-serenity-banner
South Saint Paul, MN

To: Hennepin County Board of Commissioners
From: [Your Name]

I am writing to you to express my support for members of AFSCME Locals 34 and 2822 in their call to get fair pay and respect for the work they do for Hennepin County residents. During the worst of the pandemic, they are providing care and support for the most vulnerable members of our community.

The Biden-Harris Administration and Congress have sent Hennepin County nearly half a billion dollars in COVID relief funds to take care of workers and provide the best care and support for community members in need. Despite the fact that the law explicitly identifies offering hazard pay to workers as one of the primary uses of the 246 million dollars of ARP funds Hennepin County received. the County has not offered workers hazard pay.

I call on you to show these dedicated public servants the respect they deserve by offering a fair contract that includes pay raises that help keep up with inflation, real hazard pay and remote work stipends, and guarantees for PPE and safety supplies. We call on you to get Hennepin County to offer a better contract that respects front-line workers.

We look forward to hearing back from you about what you are doing to propose a better offer for our AFSCME heroes.