DCYF Meet and Confer Meeting update April 23, 2025

MAPE members at the Department of Children, Youth, and Families met Tuesday with Commissioner Tikki Brown and human and labor relations in our regularly scheduled meet and confer. While we can talk about most things, we heard loud and clear from MAPE members over the last month their most pressing concerns and questions are about the Return to Office order from Governor Tim Walz.

Notes from the meeting can be found here.

We shared that changes to telework for employees will cause people to uproot their families, lose the economic stability their lives rely on, and have both personal and broad impacts. Then we asked our commissioner to be brave, we asked her to write a letter to the governor asking him to rescind the order and let agencies figure out plans that work for their workers’ and business needs.

She said no. In her words, she took an oath and will not go against that oath by going against the governors’ wishes. Members told her how disappointed they were, that her decision not to push back on behalf of her workers was counter to the goals of this agency and felt disingenuous.

After the meeting, MAPE members joined their coworkers for a HR office hour related to RTO. During that meeting multiple employees, including MAPE leaders who were just in the meet and confer, were told to take down their virtual MAPE backgrounds. One employee shared they got a call from Labor Relations Manager Tracy Johansen who started by saying “you are not in trouble, but.” As any seasoned steward will tell you, a “but” is a clear indication there is a threat of discipline.

As a response to MAPE workers advocating for each other, HR and labor relations spent their time causing chaos and fear in our bargaining unit rather than working to address questions and concerns. Why? Because every action causes a reaction. Apparently, virtual backgrounds make them scared, and this is how they react when they are scared.  

Every action workers take is to get a reaction. This is HR’s reaction after a meet and confer where employees asked their commissioner to advocate for them against the hardships this will create. This is their reaction after employees choose to stand together.

“MAPE Strong” backgrounds have been up for months and most recently all MAPE workers were asked to put it up as part of coordinated contract actions on April 15. The only thing different about the recent HR office hours on Tuesday is that the hour before, DCYF leadership faced their employees sharing their concerns, questions and reactions to management’s lack of response with honesty. For those who are looking for a buzzword, this is called selective enforcement in response to concerted activity. A right protected under 179a.06 subd 7.

This is not just about virtual backgrounds; this is not just about turning off the chat for RTO meetings or dismissing questions in commissioner townhalls. This is about management being afraid. Afraid of their workers standing together to push back against unilateral changes to their work and asking their leadership to stand up for the values they profess they have. We don’t understand why a virtual background is so intimidating to management that they have to call people and threaten them with discipline.

What can you do:

• Keep your background if you haven’t been asked to take it down.

• Wear a MAPE shirt or button (pick them up next time you are in the office or we can drop some off to you to distribute to your coworkers!)

• Make your own MAPE sign and hang it in your office background. If you can have art, you can have union signs.

Members are also invited to remind the commissioner and her leadership that these concerns aren’t going away by sending her an email. Click here to write the Commissioner an email asking that she advocates for her workers to the governor. You can write your own email or use this copy paste email made by members.