Who We Are
The Minneapolis Professional Employees Association (MPEA) is the certified collective bargaining unit, i.e. the union, representing approximately 600 professional workers employed by the City of Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, and the Minnesota Visiting Nurse Agency. MPEA is governed by its own constitution and bylaws, managed by an Executive Board consisting of MPEA members from all three employers, and staffed by an attorney/business manager and an administrative assistant. The Executive Board is elected biennially by those represented employees who choose to become MPEA members. You may learn more about who’s who in MPEA by clicking on the link to Know your Board Members in the right column.
MPEA provides critical services to the employees it represents. First and foremost, it negotiates the employees’ terms and conditions of employment with the above employers, and, on behalf of the employees, it enters into collective bargaining agreements with the employers expressing those terms and conditions. You are invited to click on the contract links in the left-hand column and read the myriad of terms and conditions—and benefits—the agreements provide to the employees. In addition, MPEA is charged with enforcing the agreements’ provisions. When an employer breaches an agreement, MPEA will pursue a remedy, which may include taking action from informal discussions with management to the filing of a formal grievance. A formal grievance may be filed by the union on behalf of an individual employee, or, in rare cases, it may be filed on behalf of the membership as a whole. In addition to representing employees in grievances, MPEA also assists employees in day-to-day workplace problems that may arise. Further, the union holds management accountable to complying with existing labor and employment laws. And, behind the scenes, MPEA collaborates with management to find sources and solutions to provide employees with the best possible benefits, including health and dental insurance, life insurance, and other benefits that enhance an employee’s life, and the life of an employee’s family. MPEA also meets and confers with employers to develop workplace policies that are not only in the best interests of the employees, but that also help increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the employers’ businesses.
In the final analysis, however, MPEA is the solidarity and synergy of its members, who are organized to pursue for themselves a meaningful, fulfilling, and rewarding employment experience.