By Graham Scher – R & J Broadcasting | September 11, 2025

University of Minnesota workers across its five main campuses in Crookston, Duluth, Morris, Rochester, and the Twin Cities, kick off their union push to join SEIU Local 284. This comes just days after fourteen hundred U workers, represented by Teamsters Local 320, rejected the school’s last, best, and final offer.

284 Executive Director Kelly Gibbons says four main units are working to unionize for expanding workplace democracy, promoting career security, working in healthy settings, and closing the salary gap.

Democratic Senator Omar Fateh, who works at the U, signed a union card and says he will help bargain for the unit. The four departments involved include IT, Marketing and Communications, Student Services, and Grants and Contracts.