Workers at two prominent Minnesota nonprofit organizations, The Advocates for Human Rights and Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, have moved to unionize this winter.
About 110 staff members at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (MMLA) are participating in a union election after an overwhelming majority of workers signed a petition to join together and bargain collectively as members of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 5.
Based in Minneapolis, MMLA is the state’s largest nonprofit law firm, and its employees are seeking to form a “wall-to-wall” union of workers from across the state, “reaching every office, unit, and job category within our organization,” according to an announcement by Council 5.
“Workers at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid fight to ensure that our clients – Minnesotans with disabilities, low-income Minnesotans – have access to dignity and justice in the civil legal system,” the statement continued. “It is long past time that the workers of Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid are afforded the same basic protections.”
MMLA denied staff members’ request for voluntary union recognition, and workers filed a petition for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board in late December.
Management has since challenged the eligibility of certain professional employees – including assistant supervising attorneys and managing attorneys – to participate in the bargaining unit with members of other job classifications, like paralegals, legal assistants, advocates and support staff.
The NLRB will issue a ruling on who is eligible for the bargaining unit, if necessary, after counting votes in the mail-in election Feb. 21.
Workers at The Advocates for Human Rights (AHR) had a very different experience in forming their union. Within 24 hours of presenting management with a union petition signed by 84% of eligible employees in December, they had won voluntary recognition from the Minneapolis-based nonprofit organization.
The new bargaining unit, AHR United, brings together 25 workers and is affiliated with Local 12 of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU).
AHR is dedicated to implementing international human rights standards to promote civil society and reinforce the rule of law, and its staff members engage volunteers in research, education, and advocacy to build broad constituencies in the U.S. and select global communities.
“OPEIU Local 12 members at AHR look forward to continuing in the spirit of cooperation and mutual respect as they head into contract negotiations early this year,” Local 12 said in a statement announcing the victory.