Thursday marked the second day of protest by one-third of about 3,150 technical, clerical and health-care workers at the University of Minnesota. The biggest issue is a battle over wages, with union officials unhappy with the university's proposed 2.25 and 2.5 percent raises, saying they don't keep up with inflation. University officials maintain that when service anniversary step increases of 2 percent are considered, the offers are fair. Union officials said that professors at the university have contacted AFSCME for help finding off-campus space for nearly 120 class sections, impacting an estimated 4,000 students out of more than 50,000 on campus, in a show of support for the striking laborers.
See "Instructors defy orders, move U classes off campus to support strikers", Chao Xiong, Minneapolis Star Tribune, September 6, 2007