Contract Negotiations


 FINAL 

 

Here is the copy of MMA's final 2023 - 2025 contract

 


Update

 

December 12, 2023:

Middle Management Association (MMA) has been informed by Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) that the 2023-2025 MMA contract was implemented on Monday December 11, 2023. Assuming all goes well with the system process, members should expect to see the MMA General Adjustment / Retro pay on their January 26, 2024 paycheck.

 


November 27, 2023: 

Middle Management Association (MMA) supervisors approved the 2023-2025 tentative agreement with the State of Minnesota (MMB) by 87% of voting members approving the agreement. 77% of the eligible voting members voted on the contract. Thanks to all who voted. The next step will be for the parties (MMA and MMB) to approve the redline version of the contract and sign the agreement. MMB will be working on when members will receive their hourly rate retroactive back pay to July 1, 2023. We will update supervisors as information becomes available. 

For your review, here is the summary of the 2023-2025 tentative agreement and health insurance changes.


November 14, 2023:

Voting will go live at 12:00 a.m., Wednesday, November 15, 2023, to ratify the 2023 - 2025 MMA tentative agreement.

 

An email will be sent with a link to a ballot to ratify the 2023 - 2025 tentative agreement. The email will be sent to all dues-paying MMA members (Full Members). 

 

Some notes regarding the email.

  • The email will come from either MMA, Gary Kloos or BigPulse. No matter what it shows, it is coming from BigPulse the independent contractor for the voting process. 

  • If you don’t see the email in your “Inbox”, check your junk, spam, or trash.

  • Depending on your computer settings, you may not be able to open the TA from the email, but you can open it from the actual ballot screen.

  • The TA that is published on this site and linked in the ballot are the changes to the previous 2021 - 2023 contract.  

  • You can only vote once.

  • You cannot forward the ballot to another email address.

  • Once you’ve voted, you cannot change it.


November 13, 2023:

The MMA Board of Directors met on Saturday, November 11 to vote on the Tentative Agreement (TA). They voted to approve the TA to go to the membership.
Here is the complete TA

The TA includes:

Summary of master language contract changes

Summary of the insurance changes

Inequities

Supplementals

Corrections

 Health

Human Services

Veterans Affairs

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities

Natural Resources

Public Safety

Revenue

Transportation

 

The next step in the process is to have the MMA membership vote to ratify the contract. If you are a dues-paying member, you will receive an email from Middle Management Association (MMA) asking you to vote. This email should happen the week of November 13 and you will have 10 days to place your vote.

 

Non-dues paying members may become a Full Member who pays dues by completing this form.


November 9, 2023: Here is a summary of contract changes for the next 2023 - 2025 MMA contract. This summary does not include agency supplementals to the contract.

The tentative agreement will be sent to all paying members (Full Members) next week. You do not need to do anything further at this time.

If you are a non-paying member (formerly Fair Share) and wish to vote. Join today using this link to a  Full Member form.

 

MIDDLE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION

SUMMARY OF CONTRACT CHANGES 2023-2025

 

PREAMBLE

Update effective date.

ARTICLE 1 – ASSOCIATION RECOGNITION

           No change.

ARTICLE 2 – DUES CHECKOFF

            No change.

ARTICLE 3 – EMPLOYER RIGHTS

            No change.

ARTICLE 4 – ASSOCIAITON RIGHTS

            Representatives will be allowed reasonable time to share official Association notices.

ARTICLE 5 – STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS

            No change.

ARTICLE 6 – DISCIPLINE AND DISCHARGE

Section 2. Disciplinary Action.

  • Association or Supervisor may request written reprimand be removed from Supervisor’s file.

  • Association or Supervisor may request suspension of 10 days or less fewer be removed from Supervisor’s file.

 

ARTICLE 7 – GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

Section 3. Arbitration Hearing Site.

Technical change from Assistant State Negotiator to State Negotiator or a designee.

 

Section 8. Expedited Arbitration.

Technical change to add number “9” to final sentence.

ARTICLE 8 – VACATION AND SICK LEAVE

Section 1. Vacation Eligibility and General Conditions.

  • 7.5 hours vacation accrued per pay period for supervisors after 12 – 18 years.

  • 8 hours vacation accrued per pay period for supervisors after 18 – 24 years.

Section 2. Vacation Schedules.

Appointing Authority must respond to vacation requests within 15 days.

Section 6. Sick Leave Use B. Others.

  • Change all use of “employee” to “supervisor.”

  • Delete reference to same and opposite sex.

  • Paid parental leave may be used for stillbirth or death of a child.

Section 9. Vacation Conversion to Deferred Compensation.

Supervisors may convert up to 50 hours of vacation to deferred compensation; increase from 40 hours.

 

ATICLE 9 – HOLIDAYS

Section 5. Work on a Holiday.

Exempt supervisors may choose to receive pay, vacation or compensatory time for hours worked on a holiday.

 

ARTICLE 10 – LEAVES OF ABSENCE

            Section 4. Unpaid Leaves of Absence E. Association Leave

            Written requests must be submitted to a State Negotiator or a designee.

 

ARTICLE 11 – HOURS OF WORK AND OVERTIME

Non-exempt Supervisors

  • All non-exempt supervisors will be treated the same without regard to the Progression Code.

  • Vacation, sick leave, holidays, compensatory time taken shall now be considered hours worked for all non-exempt supervisors.

  • Part-time non-exempt supervisors shall not receive overtime pay until working at least full-time hours within the workweek or work period.

  • All hours in comp bank over 120 hours will be paid in cash.

Exempt Supervisors

  • All now treated the same EXCEPT that time management for all at salary range 19 and above shall not result in overtime payment or guarantee hour-for-hour time off for extra hours worked.

  • With pre-approval and when specifically assigned or directed to work additional hours within the pay period, will receive overtime pay.

  • Holidays, sick leave, and compensatory time taken shall be considered hours worked for overtime purposes.

  • All hours in compensatory bank over 120 liquidated in cash at discretion of Appointing Authority.

  • The Appointing Authority may increase the compensatory bank maximum in extraordinary circumstances.

  • Appointing Authority shall not be obligated to liquidate overtime in cash over the compensatory bank maximum.

  • The compensatory bank shall only be used as leave or converted to deferred compensation.

  • The compensatory bank shall terminate if a supervisor leaves the seniority unit.

  • Promotion to an exempt supervisory position may result in liquidation of some or all current compensatory bank.

All Supervisors

  • A Supervisor may decide to take cash or comp for overtime hours worked.

  • Compensatory bank maximum of 120 hours.

  • All or a portion of compensatory bank hours may be liquidated in cash once per fiscal quarter at the pay-period closest to the beginning of the quarter.

  • Upon termination, payment of unused compensatory time shall be paid into the HCSP except if lower than $500, will be paid in cash.

  • In cases of layoff or death, unused compensatory time will be paid in cash.

  • DNR supervisors who work overtime for out-of-state firefighting shall be paid in cash.

Section 5. On call.

 

A supervisor in on-call status shall receive one-hundred dollars ($100) for a 24-hour period, not to exceed a maximum of seven-hundred dollars ($700) per week.

 

New Section 8. Telecommuting Plans.

 

  • The Appointing Authority must provide 14-day notice prior to changing or cancelling a supervisor’s telecommuting arrangement.

  • If the Appointing Authority denies a request to telework, upon supervisor’s request, must provide reason for denial.

  • Supervise may appeal denial of request.

  • Not subject to grievance procedure.

ARTICLE 12 – SENIORITY

            No change.

 

ARTICLE 13 – LAYOFF AND RECALL

Section 1. Layoff.

Change “him/her” to “them.”

 

New Section 9. Return to the Bargaining Unit.

 

A Supervisor returning from layoff must accept a vacancy before bumping into the position of another Supervisor.  

 

Section 10. Recall.

 

Supervisor may choose to receive notice of layoff and recall by email.

 

ARTICLE 14 – FILLING OF POSITIONS.

Section 3. Filling of Vacancies.

  • The Appointing Authority requires a legitimate reason to reject a supervisor’s expression of interest in a position in the same class and seniority unit.

  • The Appointing Authority may not transfer a supervisor for disciplinary reasons.

 

Section 5. Phased Retirement Program.

End Pilot program. Same language as Letter in 2021 labor agreement.

 

ARTICLE 15 – PROBATIONARY PERIOD

Section 1. Probationary Period.

 

Notice to Association required to extend a supervisor’s probationary period.

 

ARTICLE 16 – WAGES

Section 3. First Year Wage Adjustment.

July 1, 2023 – 5.5% across the board wage increase.

 

Section 4. Second Year Wage Adjustment.

July 1, 2024 – 4.5% across the board wage increase.

 

Section 11. Health Care Savings Plan.

Required HCSP contribution increased from one percent (1%) to one and one-half (1.5%) percent.

 

Section 17. Recruiting Incentive (Pilot).

            Extended through implementation of 2025-2027 Labor Agreement.

 

Section 18. Employee Referral Incentive (Pilot).

            Move language of Letter into body of contract.

Pilot extended through implementation of 2025-2027 Labor Agreement.

 

Section 19. Equity Adjustments (Pilot).

            Pilot extended through implementation of 2025-2027 Labor Agreement.

 

Section 20. Student Loan Reimbursement.

  •  Move language of Letter into body of contract.

  • Change all use of “Employee” to “Supervisor.”

ARTICLE 17 – INSURANCE

            Coalition negotiated language.

 

ARTICLE 18 – EXPENSE ALLOWANCES

            Section 5. Meal Allowances.

  • Breakfast reimbursement increased from $10 to $11.

  •  Add reference to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) high-cost localities.

NEW LETTER – Licensed Peace Officers Certified to New Bargaining Unit.

 


November, 7, 2023: The MMA bargaining team has come to a Tentative Agreement (TA) with the state. The team is now finalizing the paperwork for the approval of the Board of Directors to take it to membership on Saturday, November 11th. If the Board approves the tentative agreement, members should see an email from MMA to place their vote on the tentative agreement the week of November 13th. Once the membership ratifies the tentative agreement, MMA will notify MMB and the contract will go into effect. Only paying members will receive the email to vote. If you are a non-paying member and wish to vote on the tentative agreement, go to the MMA website www.mmamn.org click on “join today”.


 

October 2, 2023: Last Thursday was MMA's nineth meeting for contract negotiations with the State.  An agreement could not be reached because membership was seeking more of a comprehensive economic package than the 5.5% and 4.5% wage adjustment that was offered.

 

Proposals still being considered are increasing on call pay as well as adding two steps to the top of all pay grids and removing the bottom two steps.

 


MMA is proceeding with mediation.  No dates have been set.

The bargaining team met with MMB two full days last week, on September 20-21. These are the 6th and 7th meetings held to date with MMB.

In Wednesday’s opening remarks, MMA expressed concern to the state team about the lack of economic proposals to date.

 

The following items were included in this week’s sessions:

  • Aligning contract language with new state statute definitions of “family member”
  • Clarifying language for overtime, on-call, and compensatory banks for exempt and non-exempt supervisors
  • Pay inequities
  • Pilot and incentive programs
 

In addition, updates were provided on:

  • Pay inequities: MMB provided their update on inequity approvals Thursday afternoon. The approvals did not satisfy all MMA-submitted inequities requests for dozens of supervisors across the state.
  • Agency Supplementals: Supplemental agreements remain in progress.

MMB completed bargaining with AFSCME and MAPE prior to meeting with MMA, and because those contracts have now been ratified by their members, MMA is monitoring those contracts closely.

The team remains committed to maintaining association rights and ensuring contract changes benefit the greatest number of members possible.


Additional bargaining dates are scheduled for this week, September 27-28, 2023.

 


MMA’s last contract negotiation meetings with MMB were August 8 - 9. During those sessions, our team continued to review proposals from both sides as well as convened in small groups to discuss the overtime provisions in the contract.

 

Many MMA members are asking why MAPE and AFSCME members are voting on their contracts and MMA is still in negotiations. The fact is MMB sets the bargaining dates with each respective bargaining unit; therefore, we are working within the dates provided to us. As we continue discussions with the State, our team is working hard clarifying and enhancing proposals that have the greatest impact for our membership.

 

The next bargaining sessions are scheduled for September 20 - 21. We will provide an update after them.


 

Nothing new to report from the July 19 session.

This process is really slow. We'll share an update when we have something new.


 

2023 - 2025 Bargaining Kick Off

The MMA bargaining team met with the state for the first time on Thursday, July 13. The two groups exchanged opening proposals (see attachments). As you will notice, the state did not provide MMA any financial proposals. This is disappointing because we feel the state had sufficient time to prepare for negotiations since they set the schedule for bargaining. The next time the two parties will meet is Wednesday, July 19.

State Opening proposals

MMA Opening proposals

 


 

2021 - 2023 Contract

The 2021-2023 Labor Agreement between Middle Management Association and the State of Minnesota is provided for your convenience here in a PDF format. The State Legislature must vote to approve the contract when they convene in session in January 2022. This agreement is in full affect until that time. We will post any updates as they occur.

2021-2023 Contract