AFSCME Council 5: Staff at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid organize, vote in NLRB election

About 110 staff members at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid will vote by mail in a National Labor Relations Board election this month to determine whether to unionize as part of AFSCME Council 5.

Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid is the state’s largest nonprofit law firm, providing free legal services to people with low incomes.

The union reported that “an overwhelming majority” of the workers had signed a petition in support of unionizing. Management, however, declined to offer voluntary recognition after workers filed the petition with the NLRB.

Since then, management challenged the union effort to establish a “wall-to-wall” bargaining unit including all of the organization’s offices and job categories.

The NLRB will issue a ruling on who is eligible for the bargaining unit, if necessary, after counting votes in the mail-in ballot February 21.

[UPDATE, March 20, 2024: The NLRB's Region 18 reported that the February 21, 2024 vote was 70-25 in favor of unionizing with AFSCME Council 5. The bargaining unit will include all full-time and regular part-time Attorneys, Staff Attorneys, Attorney – YLPs, and MACP Fellows, paralegals, administrative support staff, and others. Workers excluded from the bargaining unit include all Supervising Attorneys, Directors, interns, non-professional employees, managers, guards, and supervisors.]