First priority: Pass our contract. MAPE's first priority during this legislative session will be to get our contract ratified. The contract was passed with the support of 89% of our voting members, signed by members of the Pawlenty administration and unanimously ratified by the Legislative Coordinating Commission Subcommittee on Employee Relations. Now it is time to urge the Governor to sign our contract! Sample Letter for Campaign Subject: Please support early passage of the MAPE contract Dear [ Decision Maker ] , I am a proud state employee and a member of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees. I am writing to ask that you support early passage of the MAPE contract. Please sign our contract! Last year we negotiated what the vast majority of our members consider a fair contract. The agreement was signed by members of the your administration and approved by 89 percent of our voting members. In September, the Legislative Coordinating Commission Subcommittee on Employee Relations unanimously approved this contract. There is just one step left: Gubernatorial approval. Signing this bill will give MAPE members peace of mind knowing that our collectively bargained benefits, like health care, will not be in jeopardy. Please support passage of the MAPE contract. Sincerely,

Campaign Launched: January 11, 2008

Background Information

Our contract is the fundament building block on which our union is built. This process began over a year again with the MAPE negotiations team surveying members in regards to what they would like included in the contact. At the same time, Team MAPE was successful in getting a salary supplement, providing additional state money specifically for employee salaries, passed through the legislature.

The 2007-2008 MAPE contract is regarded as one of the best we have ever earned. It includes two 3.25% across the board pay hikes, one for each year of the biennium. We also negotiated an innovative prescription drug plan that will save money for both employees and the state.  

The contract was agreed upon last summer in the final hours of “push week.” It was then passed by the MAPE board of directors, supported by 89% of voting members and signed by the members of the Pawlenty Administration.

In September the MAPE contract was unanimously ratified by the Legislative Coordinating Commission Subcommittee on Employee Relations. This step activated the contract and our members and now working under its terms. MAPE members received back-pay, going back to July 1^st, as compensation for the time when the contract was not yet in place.

Legislative passage is the final step for our contract. While passage itself is essentially a forgone conclusion, considering the fact that members are already working under the terms of the contract, Team MAPE is working to encourage its passage as early as possible during the legislative session. 

Early passage will give MAPE members peace of mind knowing that our collectively bargained benefits, like health care, will not be in jeopardy.