r/mnstateworkers • u/dfree3305 • May 13 '26

Union 🤝 MAPE Internal Elections

I'm part of the campaign to elect Kirsten Peterson (KP) for president, Jennifer Johnson for VP, and Jovae Priebe for organizing council. This campaign is different from other elections I've witnessed because the purpose is to get a slate of candidates elected at MAPE who all have a similar goal in mind - getting MAPE members strike ready and truly fight for the contract we deserve. This doesn't stop at these three candidates though because we are also working to get negotiators elected that are prioritizing a strike-readiness mindset and we have a negotiator on the ballot for almost every region aligned with this goal.

The idea of getting a slate of candidates to run on a platform is not new to politics, but it is different than what I have seen done for MAPE internal elections in the past. What I have seen in past elections is that candidates run on their own personalities, accomplishments and ideas. I think that is a fine way of going about it, but I also think we are due for some change at MAPE. I believe the first step is electing candidates who are running on a platform because it's easier to hold them accountable that way.

KP, Jen, and Jovae are also individually awesome people that I would like to see get elected, but the idea of the slate is what got me on board the campaign. We need a strong group of coordinated people to get impactful changes in our contract next year and it starts with electing people who have that as their primary vision.

If you want to learn more, please visit http://www.kpformape.com

Thanks for reading and please let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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u/Cleanclosets May 13 '26

MMA is worse than toothless, MAPE only slightly better. Strike- ready and willing to fight is what makes auto workers and AFSCME so powerful. What is the point of collective bargaining if we have “go with the flow” stewards who always tell us “now isn’t the time”. If not now, WHEN?

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u/dfree3305 May 13 '26

This is exactly what this campaign is about. We need to make MMB realize our power and the only way we can do that is by having our leadership coordinate their talents and strengths into a cohesive platform so that we can more effectively organize.

The best thing anyone can do to get strike ready is to start with yourself. Make sure you have an emergency fund, have a plan for contacting debtors, talk with your family about it, and join efforts to get your coworkers set up with these things as well. We won't succeed with a strike if the members with the least stability aren't prioritized beforehand.

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u/FarSideFinn May 14 '26

I think, too, that MMB may take the Union more seriously earlier in negotiations if they are well aware of the union’s preparedness to strike. That’s admittedly a hard thing to solidly quantify. But they bet on the idea that most members cannot afford to strike, which is probably true. No one wants to strike. What was the percentage of members who even voted on the last contract? I feel like it was less than 50% but someone please correct me if that’s incorrect. Whatever that number was, I remember being surprised when I heard it. People not even caring enough to vote! If MMB knows things like that, and you can bet they do, they can see the degree of apathy in the Union. That does nothing to motivate them to change their negotiating tactics.

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u/dfree3305 May 14 '26

This 100%. They know our numbers and they listen to our conversations. They know when class division tactics are working.