Farm Aid to go on after tentative agreement is reached between union, U of M

The show will go on for Farm Aid 40 in Minneapolis after a tentative deal was reached between the University of Minnesota and members of Teamsters Local 20. 

Farm Aid, a concert that has helped farmers for decades, will be held at Huntington Bank Stadium next weekend as previously scheduled. 

However, a strike that began earlier this week involving service members for the university system put that event in jeopardy. That’s because production crew workers for Farm Aid are also union members and weren’t going to work to stand in solidarity with the service workers, who clean buildings, do ground maintenance, make food, drive trucks and more. 

Late Friday night, a post on the Teamsters 320 Facebook page included a statement announcing the strike’s end following the agreement. Farm Aid also posted to social media, confirming the show will go on. 

On Friday, organizers posted to social media, saying Willie Nelson has spoken with Gov. Tim Walz and said he is “grateful that he understands what’s at stake for Farm Aid.” Nelson, as well as fellow performers Neil Young and John Mellencamp, have held the event in different cities for the last four decades and raised more than $85 million. 

“We both know that, ultimately, it’s up to the University to do the right thing, and soon, so that Farm Aid 40 can go forward,” Nelson said.  

Earlier this year, unionized service workers overwhelmingly voted in favor of a strike. Union officials claimed the university’s then-proposed contract included a 2.5% wage increase for the first year and 1% for the following two years. The contract would be in effect for two and a half years, and union leaders add that it would not only allow the school system to pay new hires higher starting wages than current staff in the same position but also increase health care costs by 10%.

Union leaders go on to claim the university isn’t addressing harassment involving food service workers, adding university data shows disciplinary action against dining employees rose by 96% within two years, and women receive more than half of suspensions and terminations. Leaders add Chartwells Higher Ed. is a division of Compass Group, which has paid more than $30 million in fines and penalties since 2000, including more than $840,000 in penalties for employment discrimination and $9.6 million in employment-related offenses.

In a statement, the university said at the time it “has negotiated and will continue to negotiate in good faith with Teamsters 320 and made efforts to reach an agreement on an updated contract since negotiations began on March 27.” 

Details of the latest proposed contract haven’t been disclosed at this time.