1000’s of Minnesota nurses threaten to strike amid contract negotiations By Reuters

(Reuters) – 1000’s of nurses in search of a brand new contract with hospitals in Minnesota are threatening to stroll off the job later in December, the Minnesota Nurses Affiliation introduced on Thursday, lower than three months after staging a three-day strike over working circumstances.

Nurses plan to go on strike on Dec. 11 within the absence of an settlement, in response to a press launch. The union of 15,000 nurses mentioned many members have labored with no contract for the reason that finish of Might. They voted on Tuesday to authorize an unfair labor practices strike that would final not less than by way of yr finish.

The nurses are staffed at 16 hospitals, together with at medical facilities within the Minneapolis and Duluth metropolitan areas. The union accused hospitals of unfair labor practices, together with wage collusion and direct coping with union members.

Contract negotiations within the Twin Cities and Twin Ports areas have been ongoing since March.

“Our hospitals are in disaster, and our CEOs have failed nurses and sufferers,” MNA President Mary Turner mentioned in an announcement. “They’ve failed to resolve the disaster of affected person care, and so they have failed to resolve the disaster of working circumstances pushing nurses away from the bedside.”

Affected hospital techniques embody College of Minnesota-backed M Well being Fairview and Allina Well being, amongst others.

Nurses at St. Luke’s Lake View Hospital additionally voted to hitch within the strike.

Allina Well being mentioned in an announcement on Wednesday it’s “deeply disillusioned” by the strike authorization and famous that either side had made progress in negotiations. The well being system known as for an unbiased mediator to resolve oustanding points.

“Whereas we’re hopeful a deal might be reached, we need to guarantee the general public that now we have plans in place to proceed caring for our neighborhood with as few disruptions to care as attainable,” the assertion mentioned.

M Well being Fairview didn’t instantly return a request for remark.

A contract for nurses within the Minneapolis space expired on the finish of Might, whereas nurses within the Duluth area have labored with no contract since late June. A contract for nurses at St. Luke’s Lake View Hospital in Two Harbors (NYSE:) lapsed in September, the affiliation mentioned.

Employment in healthcare throughout america stays beneath pre-pandemic ranges, in response to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The company reported in September that the health-care business employed about 37,000 fewer individuals than it did in February 2020.

The group carried out a three-day strike in September to protest understaffing at some 13 hospitals.