Also on Tuesday, December 5th, MDH held its quarterly “meet and confer” with the unions who represent its staff. Two of the prominent subjects of the conversation were student loan reimbursements and a potential federal government shutdown.
Even though the state of Minnesota has made few-if-any reimbursements for employees’ student loans, it continues to cite them as an employee benefit. And while the state attempted to remove them altogether in their proposals made in the recent round of bargaining, MGEC was able to continue the ability for the state to make loan reimbursements by continuing the pilot letter in the contract. But these reimbursements have always been at the employer’s discretion, and they have shown an unwillingness to do it. But all the unions spoke with one voice to press MDH to take this issue seriously and to fulfill the promise made in the pilot letter.
Also discussed was the ongoing risk of a federal government shutdown. The current congressional funding agreement expires in January and it’s anyone’s guess about what will happen next. MGEC’s concern is heightened because so many of MDH’s positions are federally funded. What we heard from MDH leadership is a commitment to move funding around in the event there is a federal shutdown. Shifting funds and employees to match resources will be done as long as possible to keep MDH employees working. As noted in the last newsletter, MGEC did not sign a Memorandum of Understanding that, in our view, would have limited our contract rights if a shutdown occurs. We will pass along any information as the next funding deadline approaches.