“Union-busting.” An “insulting settlement.” Even some tears. The UpTake’s Noah Kunin and Charles Gearin captured reactions by members of the University of Minnesota’s AFSCME union as they found out about a settlement with management. The responses ranged from surprise to anger, and a prediction from one member that the settlement — which will send workers back to their jobs on Saturday — will result in the departure of some staff.

Isaack Mola, a graduate instructor in the political science department and a participant in the recent hunger strike, says management is wrongly making salary comparisons with private sector counterparts, instead of workers at other state agencies.

“This administration sees this university as… nothing more than a private corporation,” he said. “The fact that they’re not willing to pay their workers what other state workers are earning and are comparing themselves to the private sector. This is a public institution; it’s a land-grand institution and we need to fight to ensure that it remains a public institution. It’s part of the commons. It belongs to the people.”

“While rank-and-file members are unified that this is bad deal for AFSCME they are divided on whether or not AFSCME is stronger as a result of the strike,” writes Kunin. “Older members tended to be pessimistic on future collective bargaining with the University of Minnesota while younger workers were optimistic that increased collaboration with other unions and greater public support would make the University ‘think twice’ the next time.”