Minnesota Nurses Association vote to authorize unfair labor practices strike
A Minnesota nurses union voted Monday to authorize an unfair labor practice strike, as thousands of employees work without a contract and others face a contract expiration at the end of the month.
The Minnesota Nurses Association, which represents 15,000 nurses across 13 hospitals in the Twin Cities and Duluth area, says the vote gives negotiators the ability to call for a strike at any time, after providing a 10-day notice.
Nurses say hospitals have proposed policies that they disagree with, including capping sick time at 48 hours a year, implementing the ability to cancel shifts at any time, cutting overtime pay and replacing a longstanding affordable health care plan with a high-cost option.
However the sticking point, nurses say, is that hospitals have engaged in unfair labor practices by refusing to bargain in good faith, witholding information and attempting to undermine union rights.
"We don't take this step lightly. Nurses care deeply about our patients and our work. But when leadership violates the law, refuses to engage, and puts both patients and workers at risk, we have a duty to act. The vote is message. We are serious, we are united, and we will take action if needed," said Sydney Patterson, a nurse at Fairview Riverside.
The union says they've brought plans regarding safer staffing ratios, workplace violence prevention measures and scheduling to the bargaining table but "hospital executives have refused to listen." Nurses say the patient-to-nurse ratio is unsafe and unmanageable; in some instances, especially on overnight shifts, they say one nurse is overseeing six or more patients.
Nurses are also asking for more money in their current bargaining agreement, but the increase, they say, doesn't make up for the cost of living.
"That's not money for my back pocket, it's for the patients, right? It's human beings taking care of other human beings. We can't do this with AI, we can't do this with robots," said Ericka Helling, an ICU nurse at M Health Fairview Southdale.
The MNA alleges the hospitals have retaliated by surveilling union conversations and refusing to provide information that is necessary to bargain.
Negotiations started in March for the Twin Cities nurses, who are now working without a contract. The Duluth-area nurses started negotiating in April, and are facing a contract expiration date of June 30.
"Today's announcement of a strike vote puts the union's 'strike first, patients second' mentality on full display," said the Twin Cities Hospitals Group, which represents several hospital systems across Minnesota during the contract negotiations.
"It is disappointing that the union has chosen this path instead of working collaboratively to find solutions. While today's vote tally does not mean a strike is imminent (a 10-day notice must be provided), if the union decides it is preferable for our nurses to leave their patients at the bedside, our hospitals will be fully prepared to care for patients. As they must be, our teams are focused on concluding these negotiations, reaching a fair settlement, and serving our patients," their statement goes on to say.
The hospitals participating in contract negotiations include Children's Minnesota, Fairview Health Services, HealthPartners Methodist and Allina in the Twin Cities. In Duluth, Aspirus St. Luke's Hospital and Essentia are participating in contract talks.
In December 2022, MNA reached a tentative agreement to avert a planned strike, calling the contract a "historic win" for nurses and patients. That contract included language to address staffing shortages.
However nurses are accusing the hospitals of ignoring the language in the 2022 agreement, which stated that a staffing ratio could not be lessened without approval from both the hospital and the nurses.
"We didn't agree and they did it anyway," Helling said on Monday.
She added that nurses have been part of an arbitration process to resolve issue for the last 18 months.