After six months of campaigning, the 10,000 member, Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE) turned back a series of raids when it collected 60% of the vote in a March 1999 runoff election against the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The state of Minnesota ordered the runoff when neither MAPE, AFT or AFSCME (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees) received a majority of the votes in an earlier January vote.

Deb Schadegg, MAPE president, characterized the raids as "extremely time-consuming and very wasteful." According to President Schadegg, the raids actually began in the summer of 1998. SEIU (Service Employees International Union), the Auto-workers, AFT and AFSCME joined the fray and began simultaneous raids against the independent public employee union. After an AFL-CIO "no-raid" hearing, AFT and AFSCME were "sanctioned" to challenge the independent union’s right to represent 10,000 Minnesota Professional employees.

"It was amazing that AFSCME tried to raid our union," the MAPE president commented. "We had an election in 1981 and left AFSCME, because our issues were always getting lost at their bargaining table."

Indeed, MAPE members are quite proud of their union (originally called Professional Employees Minnesota and later changed to MAPE). Another MAPE member recalled that in 1981, individual professionals "begged, borrowed and scraped together enough money" just to keep the independent afloat before it could begin collecting union dues in its first contract with the State of Minnesota. "Even though the state teacher’s union was initially a source of support, our founding members were determined to carve our independence in stone, pay off the start up debts and set our course as Minnesota’s largest independent union."

AFSCME and AFT opened their treasuries, launching expensive media campaigns and hiring polling firms to do home telephoning canvassing of MAPE members. According to MAPE sources, both AFSCME and AFT each spent more than $1.3 million of their members’ dues money in their attempt to raid the independent. MAPE spent $240,000 during the campaigns. "It hurt to have to spend those funds on this campaign. We had specifically ear-marked that money for steward and leadership training." President Schadegg also wondered out loud, "How can independent unions protect themselves against big unions willing to throw around millions to raid?"

In the months since fending off the raids, the Minnesota independent union has been locked in a tough contract fight with the state of Minnesota. The state wants to impose a pattern contract on MAPE that it had established for other state workers in a recent contract with AFSCME. According to MAPE, the state’s offer would actually result in a wage cut. The 2.5% wage increase proposed by the State would cause a cut in take home pay, because employee health care contributions are allowed to increase significantly in the State’s final offer. Other fairness issues — including job security, and annual progression step improvements — are disputed. In August, more than 700 MAPE members demonstrated at the Capitol Rotunda and again on the steps of the Capitol building, in opposition to the state’s offer. MAPE members are now preparing for a possible strike in their fight to win a decent settlement.