15,000 nurses in Twin Cities, Duluth vote to authorize strike

Fifteen thousand nurses at 13 hospitals in the Twin Cities and Duluth could strike if they can’t reach a deal with their employers.

Nurses unionized with the Minnesota Nurses Association voted Monday to authorize a strike, though the union’s negotiations teams will determine if and when to call the strike.

Nurses authorized a strike at hospitals operated by Allina Health, Aspirus St. Luke’s, Children’s Minnesota, Essentia Health, M Health Fairview and North Memorial Health. The strikes, if called, could also impact dozens of Essentia Health clinics in northern Minnesota and some Allina Health infusion centers in the Twin Cities.

The nurses say their employers are violating the National Labor Relations Act by refusing to negotiate in good faith. Because the authorized strike is an “unfair labor practices strike” — based on allegations that employers are breaking the law — the nurses would have greater protections than they would if the strike was for better wages or hours.

A top priority for nurses is more staffing. Health care workers are five times more likely to be seriously injured from an assault at work than the U.S. workforce as a whole, and nurses say increased staffing can reduce the risk of violence while improving patient care.

But the union’s safe staffing proposals are a nonstarter for hospital management. 

“Nurses have brought forward serious proposals about affordable, accessible health care plans, safe staffing and protections against unsafe scheduling, the rising violence we face at work, and respect for professional sacrifices we make every day. Leadership has refused to meaningfully engage in these issues,” said Sydney Pederson, a nurse at M Health Fairview – Riverside.

Nurses said at a press conference Tuesday that hospitals have reneged on staffing agreements made in the last round of contract negotiations, in 2022, forcing nurses into a protracted grievance process that has yet to be resolved. 

A spokesperson for Allina Health said in a statement, “We are disappointed the union is once again choosing to focus its efforts on organizing its members to walk away from their jobs.”