GRAND RAPIDS — Blandin Paper Company and Teamster Local No. 346 have reached a tentative agreement after nearly a month of picketing in Grand Rapids.
According to a statement from Blandin Paper, the Union will be presenting this offer to its members at noon on Friday, Aug. 11, at the Reif Center.
The agreement was announced on Thursday, Aug. 10, after two days of negotiations with a federal mediator.
The strike began July 15, with Teamsters Local No. 346 protesting a two-tier wage and benefit scale and insufficient staffing levels.
Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic has followed this strike closely, and said she was pleased to hear about the tentative agreement.
"I was out there on the picket line with them in late July and they want to go back to work. They just want to be treated fairly like everybody,” said Dziedzic.
“They are fighting for a lot of the same things that workers across the state want. Everybody wants a good job with good wages, they want a safe place to work. They want job security and retirement security and they want affordable healthcare,” she said.
“I hope it's a fair contract because we just want to see people get back to work because that will help the Grand Rapids community in particular, and the region in general.”
Listen to Dziedic's conversation on the Morning Show above.
