Agate Housing, formerly House of Charity, is closing.
BY EMERY BRUSH
On Thursday, August 15, Executive Leadership at Agate Housing & Services announced that they would be closing the 510 S. 8th St. building. This building contains 42 shelter beds, as well as over 90 low-income Single Room Occupancy units. The closure of this building will also mean the closure of the nearby Food Centre, which provides hundreds of meals to the community — three times a day, seven days a week. The closure of these buildings and programs will also mean laying off 20 hardworking Union employees.
Homelessness in the metro increased 13 percent between 2022 and 2023, and there were even larger disparities found when age and race is taken into account. In 2023, people were turned down from shelter beds over 4,000 times. Meanwhile, encampments in Minneapolis are swept time and time again, and rent prices continue to rise. Minneapolis and Minnesota as a whole are both facing a homelessness crisis right now. The closure of programs like these will only exacerbate the problem and increase the gaps that already existing.
The 510 building is a historic site and has been used in various capacities to assist those in need for the better part of 50 years. I worked there for over a year myself, and saw the value the housing and programs brought, and I know the clients currently living there well. Management currently plans to officially close the building on October 9, 2024 — less than two months from the announcement. While leadership has provided additional resources to get all current clients in the building housed, the reality is that there will be over 130 fewer beds available in the metro, with winter coming fast.
And how does this affect the staff being laid off? Leadership of AFSCME Local 999, who represent the workers at Agate, was given no notice ahead of time that this decision was being made.
“Our contract states that we have a right to bargain over the effects of layoffs, and executive leadership has tried to rush us through this process, and originally attempted to complete it the day after the announcement, while we were still in shock and unprepared. Effected employees were told what their severance would look like before we even had a chance to bargain at the table. Had management come to us before making a public statement, we would have already bargained over the effects of these layoffs, and we would not be in the hard position that we are now.
“This announcement also comes directly after our 2024 Wage Re-Opener wrapped up negotiations. The agreement we reached will result in the largest increase to wages employees at Agate have ever received. When the closure was announced, members had not yet even had a chance to vote on this wage increase. The timing of this announcement in relation to 2024’s Wage Re-Opener is extremely concerning to us and has raised many questions among Union employees.”
While negotiating the effects of this layoff, Union leadership has found initial proposals from Agate leadership concerning. What management has brought to the table so far is incredibly insufficient, and as of yet, their positions have not budged. While on a recent Kare 11 interview, executive director Kyle Hanson spoke about how unfortunate it was to let these 20 hardworking employees go – but his words have not been reflected at the bargaining table.
At this time, Union leadership is in contact with the Department of Employment and Economic Development’s Rapid Response Team. This team works with employers and Union leadership to try and prevent building closures and layoffs by using their expertise and networks, and if the decision to close is inevitable, they will work with both parties to try and ensure that future layoffs do not happen. We are encouraging management to collaborate with us by working with DEED. We believe it is in our mutual best interest to work with DEED for the future of employees, clients & the community we serve, and Agate as an organization.
There are many ramifications to this building closure. The massive loss of housing and shelter in the heart of Minneapolis will be hard to recover from, and this will only serve to further harm the communities that our Union members here are so committed to serving. 20 passionate employees will be losing their jobs as well, through no fault of their own. This is an entire quarter of our membership, and will have lasting impacts to all Union members, those laid off and otherwise. We are strongly urging that management give our members a fair deal and treat all employees at Agate Housing & Services with the respect and dignity they deserve —and to collaborate with Union leadership to work with DEED going into the future.
Local 999 can be reached for comment at:
[email protected]
Emery Brush,
President, AFSCME Local 999
