DHS members “lobby” their commissioner at the Capitol about student loan relief

MAPE leaders from the Department of Human Services (DHS) held up signs and wore "Student Loan Relief Now" buttons supporting student loan reimbursement at a DHS Engagement Rally at the Capitol on Aug. 7.

According to campaign organizer Christine Retkwa, a senior healthcare data researcher with DHS and member of Local 2101, a Student loan reimbursement program is critical to many DHS members. "This is important because we have folks debating which utility bill they cannot pay so they can pay their student loans. We have people paying $650 monthly on their student loans and thinking they can never have a child. Others are considering leaving their jobs at DHS, jobs they love because they can't afford to work there and pay their student debt," Retkwa said.

"So much is required of people in social services, their positions often necessitate advanced degrees, yet their salaries don't reflect this," Retkwa added. "State government must become a more competitive employer to retain and attract employees."

Dustin Jones, an Associate General Counsel at DHS within the Administrative Law Office, is carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans, with the lion's share from law school. "I have to have a law degree and be a licensed attorney to do my job. I am happily working at a state agency, but I will never make enough money to pay off my law school student loans - I am currently barely paying off the interest on those loans each year."

Jones, the father of two young daughters, says the money he would save through a student loan reimbursement program "would go a long way toward paying for the basics of life. We could improve our house (which is a 1970s fixer-upper), we could put it back into our kids' lives by sending them to camp and enabling them to participate in more extracurricular activities or simply try to get ahead and pay down various debts."

As DHS Commissioner Jodi Harpstead spoke at the Capitol, members held handmade signs urging her to implement the student loan relief policy, as the Department of Revenue already has, and other state agencies are working toward implementation.

"The reason for this campaign coming to that rally was because we knew the commissioner would be there and we knew it was a place where we could send her our message," Retkwa said.

Holding signs at rallies, wearing buttons and signing petitions are just some of the ways union members can act in a legally protected way to bring attention to issues important to members.

Commissioner Harpstead later asked to meet with members holding the student loan relief signs. Members spoke about crushing student loan debt and pointed out how DHS could become an employer of choice by offering a student loan reimbursement program. One-third of American companies currently offer some form of student loan relief as an employee retention and recruitment tool.

Retkwa said there are discussions now about arranging a meeting date with Commissioner Harpstead in September.

"It comes down to fairness. How you treat your people will result in how long employees will stay - if they think they're being taken care of, they will stay. It's a moral question. It's the Department of HUMAN Services. Our values are reflected in how we treat the Minnesotans we serve as well as those who are serving them," Jones said.

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