Minnesota Nurse’s Association Votes to Authorize a Strike

DULUTH, Minn.– Today, the Minnesota Nurses Association announced they have voted to authorize a strike.

That involves more than 15,000 nurses statewide.

It doesn’t trigger an immediate strike, but it gives union leaders the power to call for one if they choose.

Union President Chris Rubesch made the announcement at a news conference.

He listed a number of things the union is hoping to gain from the negotiations.

“These proposals are important to us because they’ll keep our patients healthier avoid adverse hospital events like falls or hospital acquired infections or the misuse or late administration of medications. They’ll keep nurses safer by adding staff and reducing the risk of workplace violence, and they save money by reducing costly hospital readmissions. They help to retain nurses who are leaving the bedside early due to moral injury and unsafe working conditions,” explained Rubesh.

Another opportunity for negotiations begins tomorrow, a mediator will be present.

The current contract ends on June 30th.

The Chief of Nursing at Essentia said they’re determined to reach an agreement.

“So tomorrow, we’re excited. We have a mediator joining. So, we’re hoping that that mediator will help us find common ground and really have productive time at the bargaining table. Both parties have also agreed readily to staying late into the evening to try to achieve, you know, some progress at the bargaining table as well. Our contract, as I mentioned, is up on June 30. That doesn’t mean that we can’t continue bargaining, and we do hope that MNA will continue to come to the table with us even after tomorrow,” explained Beth Young, Associate Chief of Nursing at Essentia Health.

Aspirus–St. Luke’s also released a statement about the strike vote, it reads:

“Unfortunately, it appears that the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) has authorization to call a strike against Aspirus St. Luke’s (ASL), Essentia Health and many metro hospitals. Their grounds for calling the vote are entirely dishonest and without merit. There have been no allegations of unfair labor practices (ULP) against ASL filed with the National Labor Relations Board, as is required by law. At this point, it is clear that any ULP the MNA might file would be done to justify strike actions, rather than to address any actual concern. We are deeply disappointed. The 2022 strike called by MNA resulted in fractured relationships and significant, undue financial and emotional strain to all involved. What’s more, the strike had zero upside for the nurses. The agreement we finally reached included nothing that couldn’t have been achieved through continued bargaining without a strike. We remain committed to bargaining in good faith and a strike will only divert resources away from our employees and patients to replacement staff.  The MNA must give ASL at least 10 days’ notice of its intent to strike. Based on the vote today, the earliest date for any strike action would be July 4. It is likely that the MNA is trying to schedule strikes at multiple hospitals across the state at the same time. This makes it harder to bring in enough temporary nurses – and increases the potential of unsafe staffing. If their goal was truly to ensure safe staffing across the State of Minnesota, they could do that by acting against each hospital individually rather than creating a statewide disruption.  Knowing this was a possibility, ASL has been preparing a contingency plan to bring on temporary nurses and will be prepared to activate that plan within that 10-day “advance notice” window. We have a mission to treat every patient seeking care, and we will not fail in delivering on that commitment.” -Aspirus St. Luke’s