A government employees’ union is lobbying hard to save a 40-year-old community clinic that could face closure Monday.

According to a report in Workday Minnesota, the board that governs the Community University Health Care Center will vote Monday on a cost-cutting measure that would dramatically cut staff and threaten the survival of the clinic, which has been serving low-income patients in the Phillips neighborhood of South Minneapolis since 1966.

The clinic’s board is faced with a $2.5 million debt to the University of Minnesota, but AFSCME Council 5 field director Gladys McKenzie is hoping to convince board members to postpone the action until after the November 7 elections, arguing that the state and national political climate could change dramatically--and with it the potential of increased government funding.

“Monday is 23 days from elections that could dramatically alter our political landscape and create options that don’t exist now,” McKenzie said. “Clinic workers won’t abandon their patients without a fight.”