Minneapolis, MN — The first strikes against the University of Minnesota system in over 20 years occurred at 10 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 8, at the Crookston and Morris campuses. Six hours later, on Sept. 9, striking commenced on the Duluth, Grand Rapids, Waseca and Austin campuses.

The Teamsters began the Twin Cities portion of their strike at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 9. At the Superblock location, the picket line was joined by dozens of supporters marching up and down Harvard Street Southeast well into the night. Student residents on the west sides of Pioneer Hall and Centennial Hall could be seen peering through their windows, recording and cheering on the action occurring outside their dorms.

The initial picket on Sept. 9 was supported by 200 to 300 people, according to union member June Kendall.

Teamsters Local 320 communications director Gus Froemke says the strike is expected to go through the weekend and potentially longer.

“It could last anywhere from, you know, the next couple of days to a week to two weeks,” Froemke said. “People are very energized, they’re ready to go in for the long haul.”

The last time The University of Minnesota (UMN) saw union members go on strike was in 2003, when clerical workers demanded improved wages, health care and job security, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Before that, the last strike occurred in 1944.

“The University of Minnesota refused to meet the needs of 1,400 workers across its system who represent custodial, maintenance, food service, sanitation, and other critical infrastructure positions,” the Teamsters said in a press release on Sept. 8. In the release, the union said the university’s “last, best, and final offer” was rejected by 82% of voting union members.

UMN’s “Last, Best and Final Offer” was made public in the early hours of Aug. 19 and set to expire at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 5.

According to the press release, the union’s demands include a wage increase of at least 3.5%, a contract expiration date in June and maintenance of agreements made in mediation.

The 3.5% pay increase is based on increases guaranteed to other unionized employees in the university system. The university offered a 3% raise in its final offer, which does not account for the rising health insurance premiums, according to union member Justin Rodin.

“Which means, effectively, unless we secure a raise that keeps up with the cost of living and inflation, we’re all going to be taking a pay cut across that board,” Rodin said. “So, a 3.5% raise is one of our red lines.”

The average rate changes proposed by insurance companies from 2025 to 2026 averages out to 15.2%, according to data from the Minnesota Department of Commerce. Medica Insurance Company, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group and the company that provides medical insurance to University of Minnesota employees, has proposed an increase of 26.03%, the highest change listed by the MNDOC.

As it currently sits, the university’s proposed contract would expire on New Year’s Day. Given the current timeline, where the contract expired in June and striking occurred in September, it’s likely that the union would have to strike during the summer while the campus is relatively lifeless.

“We would have no leverage ever again,” Rodin said. “Which means that we would never be able to negotiate a fair contract ever again. It would be in the U’s favor indefinitely.”

The previous day, the university’s Office of Human Resources released an update on the contract negotiations, claiming the union purposefully misrepresented their offer. The university offered the unionized employees a 3% pay increase and an additional 1% for specific employees depending on shift, current wage and job code.

Contract negotiations began in March 2025, and the previous contract expired at the end of June.

“They kept offering us shit deal after shit deal,” Rodin said. “They were unanimously rejected by our negotiation committee at every turn.”

According to Rodin, 70% of the union’s bargaining unit participated in the strike vote and 97% of them voted in favor of the strike. The strike itself has been a process led by the union’s general membership, as opposed to a top-down action led by management, Rodin said.

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Related: The 90th Anniversary of the 1934 Truckers’ Strike Honors Minneapolis’ Militant Labor History

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At around 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 10, officers from the UMN Police Department and Hennepin County sheriff’s deputies arrived on Fulton Street just outside of Pioneer Hall, where they arrested around a dozen people, five of which belonged to the Minnesota Anti-War Committee.

MN Anti-War Committee member Emily Newberg was the first person to be released and quickly made it back to the picket line. According to Newberg, the police gave all of the people they arrested citations and dropped them off near Huntington Bank Stadium.

“Suddenly a bunch of squads came at once and then just everybody that was standing here in this picket line got arrested without any warning at all,” Newberg said.

Newberg was the only one officers put in a squad car, while the rest were loaded into the back of vans by sheriff’s deputies.

Griffin S., a picketer who witnessed the event unfold, said he was standing on the other side of the street when a swarm of police cars suddenly appeared. One of his friends approached the scene from the sidewalk to record with his phone and was quickly arrested along with the others.

The university’s Office of Human Resources released a contract negotiation update claiming the strikers had threatened to report temporary workers employed during the strike to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Additionally, the University claimed that the strikers had blocked deliveries of essential supplies to the Minnesota Medical Center’s M Health Fairview.

“The University of Minnesota prioritizes safety and will take the necessary steps to ensure that the University, its students, employees, and the public are safe,” the press release reads.

“The was the biggest line of bullshit I’ve ever heard in my life,” Froemke shouted into a megaphone at an audience of union members and supporters gathered on the steps of Coffman Memorial Union.

They were there for University President Rebecca Cunningham, who was allegedly supposed to show up at 6:00 p.m. to make a statement. That never happened.

The previous Teamsters contract was ratified in Nov. 2022 and set the minimum wage to $20 per hour, where it remains today. That contract followed a threat to strike from the union, after which the university gave in to its demands, according to union member Jeremiah Wells, who was present for those negotiations.

“I don’t know what we did, it just went very quickly,” Wells said. “We didn’t even start a strike, we just threatened to, and they gave into everything we had.”

In 2024, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development estimated that the yearly basic-needs cost of living for the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area for the state’s average family size of three to require a minimum hourly wage of $24.53.

Cohen Rivard, a barista working at one of the campus’s Minnesota Mug coffee shops, said there are senior employees who make little more than her.

“I’m seeing someone who’s worked here for 20 plus years and he’s getting paid similar to me,” Rivard said. “That is insane.”

Over the same period, administrative salaries have hardly slowed down. In 2022, the base salary for then-President Joan Gabel was $672,300. Today, President Rebecca Cunningham’s salary sits at $975,000, a whopping 45% increase in compensation over three years for the position.

Additionally, the university’s fiscal year 2026 budget includes a 7.5% increase in tuition for non-resident undergraduates and a 4-6.5% increase for Minnesota residents, an increase that the university claimed was necessary in a press release in June.

“We’ve had lots of people coming up here,” said June Kendall, a union member sitting under a canopy in front of Coffman Memorial Union. “Couldn’t be better, I would say. Students, faculty, non-related people, everyone’s been showing up. And the students are in the same boat, their tuition went up this year.”

Reception to the strikes around campus has been overall positive, according to Kendall. Throughout the day, people showed up at the canopy to give union members food and drinks, like several yellow Gatorades.

But it has’t all been positive. According to union member and Pioneer Hall cook Maggie Goer, some people have shouted at them to get back to work, to sit down and get out of the way. Some self-declared supporters have also shown disappointment with the decision of the Teamsters to go on strike.

“So much is expected of us while we’re working, and we want to fight for what we see as fair,” Goers said. “And they treat us like we’re in front of them. Like we’re invisible or we’re kind of like scum.”

Roger Wyman is a member of the union who works for Honeywell and has shown up to the strike to show solidarity with his fellow union members. Wyman arrived on the campus at 4:30 a.m. and worked the picket until 5 p.m. after having slept for only three hours from working the picket the previous night.

Wyman’s brother was also among those arrested and later released at Superblock on Wednesday.

“I’m tired, but I’m not beat down emotionally,” Wyman said. “I’m ready to keep going.”

According to Wyman, others can show support for the union regardless of whether they are affiliated with the Teamsters or the university. Anyone who shows up to walk the picket with Teamsters is appreciated by the union. “Anyone who wants to support us, we love solidarity,” Wyman said. “We’re going to be happy for anyone who wants to show support.”

A rally to “defend UMN Teamsters” is planned for Friday, Sept. 12 at 5:30 p.m. at the Northrop Plaza.

Cover image of strikers at the University of Minnesota on Sept. 10, 2025 contributed by Henry Stafford.

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