University of Minnesota service workers strike on campuses across state

Service workers at the University of Minnesota are going on strike following the rejection of the school’s latest labor contract.

The workers are members of Teamsters Local 320, which represents more than 1,400 employees who clean buildings, prepare food and handle other tasks across the university’s five campuses.

“We want a fair contract, and we’re very close. I still think, I hope, this can be resolved, and we can go back to our day-to-day being at the university,” said Grady Johnson, a union steward and gardener at the Twin Cities campus.

The workers’ strike began Monday night on the Crookston and Morris campuses and expanded to Duluth and satellite campuses Tuesday morning. Workers at the Twin Cities campus were to join the strike Tuesday night.

The union’s current contract expire