An immediate strike from staff at Minnesota State colleges has been averted after Minnesota State made a last-minute offer to workers.

Administrative and Service Faculty (ASF) and representatives from Minnesota State met early last week for mediated bargaining. According to an update sent to Bemidji State University and Northwest Technical College employees, negotiations between the two entities concluded last week without a tentative agreement.

However, Minnesota State made a final offer in an effort to reach an agreement. The union is now reportedly submitting the final offer to its membership for a ratification vote. The vote will take a few weeks to conduct, which will either ratify the offer or reauthorize a strike.

ASF voted in July to authorize a strike if Minnesota State failed to address wage inflation, income disparities with other Minnesota State bargaining units, and commission and equity and salary compression study.

Had an impasse been declared between the union and the college system, ASF employees would have started to strike on Tuesday, Aug. 22. Due to the vote, Minnesota State universities and colleges do not expect a strike in the next few weeks.

By — Lakeland News