Unity and Progress Slate

Union Strength

Under the leadership of President Jamie Gulley and the Unity and Progress team, our Union has become the largest and fastest growing local union in Minnesota.


  • We have doubled in size and power over the last 5 years.
  • We established a million dollar strike fund to support members in contract negotiations.
  • We increased pension benefits and won union health care plans for thousands of members.
  • We won a $15 minimum wage for all hospital and clinic members in the Twin Cities and Rochester, Minnesota and are leading the fight for equal pay in greater Minnesota facilities.

Union Wins

The Unity and Progress team has fought for our members. 


  • We fought Mayo Clinic's efforts to sub-contract dietary worker jobs and cut pay and benefits by $4 million dollars a year and won an even better contract as a result of our campaign.
  • We fought Mayo's concessionary bargaining in Albert Lea, leading the first ever Mayo strike and fighting back against the retaliatory lock-out.
  • We fought back concessions in all contracts for the past 6 years.
  • We changed the law to extend the right for home care workers to unionize and raised standards from $7.25 an hour with no benefits to $13.25 an hour with paid time off, paid holidays and training programs and more.
  • We won more than $2.5 million in back-pay for members, setting a record of 46 cases through arbitration over the past 3 years, including arbitrations that raised pay at Chippewa County Medical Center by 10% and doubled the disability pension payments for members in the Twin City Hospital Workers Pension Plan.

Union Pay and Benefits

The Unity and Progress team has won higher pay and better benefits for our members. 


  • We used our political program to change the Medicaid reimbursement rules to raise up greater Minnesota nursing home wages, winning a $4 an hour increase in pay for members, with total increase in wages exceeded $150 million dollars.
  • We defended the best in the industry health care benefits for members at HealthPartners.
  • We established the highest pay and benefits package for service workers in the Midwest in our Mayo Clinic, Allina and Twin Cities Contracts.

Union Political Achievements

The Unity and Progress team has fought back right wing attacks on our Union and the labor movement. 

  • When it was clear the Supreme Court was going to force an open shop on our public sector members, we wrote a manual on how to build a strong union in an open shop environment to help other unions.
  • When the Department of Homeland Security wanted to end work visas for more than 1,000 of our members who are refugees from Liberia and working in long term care, we twice fought back and won extensions for the DED program.
  • We advanced an independent political program that established paid sick leave as a right by law in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth and won passage of ordinances that will raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour when the phase in is complete. 

In every fight are guided by our local Union slogan- When we Fight, We Win! When we are in a fight, that fight does not end until we win.