TEAMSTERS LOCAL 320 STATEMENT ON COMMENTS BY STEVE SVIGGUM, BOARD OF REGENTS VICE-CHAIR, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Teamsters Local 320 was appalled and dismayed upon hearing the divisive comments made by Steve Sviggum, Board of Regents Vice-Chair, during a University of Minnesota (UMN) Board of Regents meeting last Thursday. 

Local 320 calls for Steve Sviggum to resign immediately. 

These comments made during the most recent meeting of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents are abhorrent, as is President Joan Gabel's lack of response to them.

Yet, this is not the first indication of a deeper problem among top leadership at the university. We have seen for years that the President and Regents have little regard for people of color at UMN. President Gabel and the Regents have persistently refused to lift its frontline service workers out of poverty. The university gave President Gabel a 35 percent raise this year, yet will not provide a living wage to custodians, cooks, groundskeepers, and other service workers – many of whom are Black. 

The UMN leadership's tolerance of Mr. Sviggum indicates that there is a need to reshape the leadership structure of this important public institution.

Contact:
Emily Orlich 
[email protected] 

SOURCE Teamsters Local 320