Duluth, MN – On Friday, July 19, striking workers were on the picket line at Essentia Health, Duluth Clinic 2nd Street. Friday marked the 11th day of an open-ended strike by around 700 Registered Nurses and Advanced Practice Providers (APP) who formed a union in 2024.

The workers are demanding that management sit down with them and negotiate their first union contract, more than a year after they won their union election and formed a union. In February of 2024 the RNs at Essentia Clinics voted to join the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) and soon after, in July 2024, the Advanced Practice Providers also joined MNA.

Now, more than a year later, Essentia management is refusing to negotiate a first contract with the advanced practice workers and has filed an appeal with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seeking to throw out the results of the election.

Essentia’s argument claims that advanced practice workers do not constitute a legally eligible bargaining unit under NLRB standards. However, this issue was litigated by the NLRB in 2024 and, after hearing both sides in a federal hearing the NLRB, ruled that the bargaining unit was valid and went ahead with the election. Once the workers won their election and formed a union Essentia was legally compelled to begin negotiating with the workers. To date, they have failed to do so and have said publicly that they will continue to refuse to do so as long as their appeal is unresolved.

At this time the union is in place and Essentia is legally required to negotiate with the workers until a time when the ruling is reversed, if it is. MNA has filed federal charges with the NLRB citing that Essentia committed an unfair labor practice by not bargaining with the newly-formed union.

Since Donald Trump was sworn into office in January of 2025, he has fired a sitting member of the NLRB board in Washington DC, meaning that the board no longer has a quorum to rule over cases which are appealed. This sets up a situation in which by appealing the ruling, regardless of validity of the appeal, the case will not be resolved at least until there is quorum again at the NLRB which could be in months or years.

On day eleven of the strike, the picket lines remained large and energetic with around 100 workers picketing at the 2nd Street clinic and another picket location at another Essentia clinic. Many cars driving by on 2nd Street honked and waved. Pizzas were delivered to feed the striking workers, and members of other unions in the area came out and walked the line in support of the strike.

Julie Flotten is an RN in the1st Street oncology building. Flotten said, “We have been working diligently just to try to get Essentia to create a contract with us, and confirm our jobs, not float us to areas that we are not trained, have transparency with us as employees and as an employer just give a promise in writing of how they are going to treat us so we can take care of our patients.”

Flotten went on to say, “We didn’t get hired to become float nurses. I worked really hard to become an expert in oncology. Essentia wants to be able to float us around based on numbers where they have low staff or wherever the need might be, but I wouldn’t be really good in OB or GI or neurology. I am really good in oncology, and so we want to have all of our colleagues work in the area that they are specialized in so they can deliver the best patient care.”

Brittany Ortler is a Nurse Practitioner in the gastroenterology department. Nurse Practitioners, along with Physicians Assistants and Midwives, form the advanced practice providers bargaining unit. Ortler stated, “We felt that the voices of the advanced practice providers were really not being heard at Essentia, and we felt that uniting the group together to unionize was really the only option that we had.”

Ortler continued, “We overwhelmingly voted to have a union. Since that time, after we voted, Essentia appealed that vote up to the National NLRB. The national NLRB – we gave them some time, and then the [U.S. presidential] election came and January 20 happened and the national NLRB no longer has a quorum so they are unable to even hear our case at this time, so we have asked Essentia to drop the appeal, we’ve asked them to come to the table to bargain with us, we’ve asked them to conditionally bargain with us while we are waiting for the appeal and they have just simply refused to acknowledge really that we exist and that we have rights to bargaining, so we are on an unfair labor practice strike.”

When asked what she would say to Essentia management, Ortler said, “We want to have a voice in how we care for our patients, the time we get to spend with our patients, whether that be being able to say no to having two patients scheduled at the same time and having to split your time between them both. We really feel strongly that we should be able to have a voice in how our patients are cared for,” adding, “We want to protect our patients, we want to protect ourselves, and we want to ensure that we are providing the best care for our patients as we can.”

To Essentia management, Flotten said, “Meet with us! Take this seriously! Take this as seriously as we are! People are losing their livelihoods right now. We don’t want to be out here walking when we are trained to be working, It’s a shame for our patients. None of us want to be out here on the sidewalk. It is not a vacation. The only glimmer is that we have made stronger relationships with one and another and made us stronger that way,” and, “Essentia needs to meet with us and bargain every day, and bring the advanced practice providers to the table and recognize their union, and to respect that these first contracts deserve a fair contract.”

#DuluthMN #MN #Labor #Nurses #Strike #Healthcare #MNA #NLRB #Feature

Two days into the nurses’ strike, on July 10, around 430 MNA members, advanced practice providers (APP), also walked off the job in dozens of locations. These workers began an open-ended strike of their own against Essentia Health. APP includes nurse practitioners, physician assistants, midwives, and clinical nurse specialists across 69 locations of Essentia. The union workers are running joint picket lines and events.

The striking nurses formed their union in February 2024, and the APP workers joined in July of 2024. Union membership was then certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This legally compels management to begin bargaining with the newly unionized workers.

Now, a year after the workers won NLRB certification, Essentia Health is appealing the ruling that granted the workers their union. That appeal could take anywhere from months to years to be relitigated, and until then the employees’ bargaining unit is legally certified. This requires management to bargain in good faith with the union. The boss’s position is that they refuse to fulfill their obligation to bargain until their appeal has been ruled on.

The MNA strike will continue until Essentia Health management decides to return to the bargaining table with the union members.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Labor #Healthcare #Strike #MNA

Minneapolis, MN On Monday June 26, more than 15,000 registered nurses at hospitals across the Twin Cities metropolitan area and Duluth, who are represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) voted to authorize a strike.

The MNA members work at 11 different hospitals in the Twin Cities area, as well as Essentia and Aspirus Health in Duluth. They have been in negotiations for over three months with their employers without reaching a contract deal that they feel is worth voting on and putting into place.

According to MNA, management has not been bargaining in good faith and has been unwilling to consider proposals from the union which would address staffing levels to improve patient care, as well as attracting and retaining quality staff. Instead, the hospitals are prioritizing lining their own pockets at the cost of workers and patients.

Pam Whaley, an RN from Methodist hospital, said, “When hospital leaders refuse to engage seriously at the bargaining table, they’re telling us that safety isn’t their priority.”

The strike authorization vote gives the bargaining committee the authority to call a strike if they deem it necessary. No strike dates have been announced yet. MNA says they remain committed to winning their demands at the bargaining table, but if that route does not provide options, they can send a ten-day notice and begin a strike any time after that 10-day notice period has expired.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Labor #MNA

Minneapolis, MN – Members and supporters of Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) picketed with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis on Sept. 25. The MNA went on strike at Allina hospitals on Labor Day.

WAMM member and former director Nikki LaSorella expressed the significance of the nurses’ strike, “This is about economic justice and we need to stand up with all people who are being treated unfairly because it impacts our economy.”

Colleen McGlip, also a WAMM member, participated in the picket, “I’m out here today because I care. These nurses are good strong fighters!” Doug McGlip, her husband, a former Teamster Local 1145 member, explained that solidarity is what motivated him to come out, “People have to pull together. An injury to one is an injury to all.”

This is the third WAMM picket in solidarity with MNA strikers. WAMM members have also been participating in the strike support committee Workers United for Nurses. WAMM plans to continue to support the nurses’ union throughout their strike.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #strike #WomenAgainstMilitaryMadness #WAMM #MinnesotaNursesAssociation #MNA #Strikes

Minneapolis, MN – More than 400 rank-and-file members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) joined the picket lines of the nurses on strike at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Friday, Sept. 23. They held a solidarity rally and walked the picket lines together with striking nurses, undeterred by the rain. Eight buses and many cars full of AFSCME members went together from the AFSCME Council 5 convention in Bloomington, which brought together AFSCME members from throughout Minnesota.

Almost 5000 nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) have been on strike since early September against Allina. Before the solidarity picketing on Friday, MNA President Mary Turner spoke to the delegates at the AFSCME convention, where she was received with warm solidarity and standing ovations for the nurses’ bold determination to strike against Allina’s greedy demands that nurses accept significant health insurance cuts.

AFSCME Executive Director Eliot Seide announced that AFSCME had donated $10,000 to the nurses’ strike hardship fund and would continue to make additional significant donations if the nurses are forced to continue their strike. Several AFSCME local leaders also announced that their locals would make donations to the nurses’ strike fund so the nurses can stay on strike as long as it takes to win.

Later that evening, federal mediators called Allina management and the Minnesota Nurses Association back to the bargaining table this coming Tuesday, Sept 27.

#MinneapolisMN #strike #MinnesotaNursesAssociation #AFSCMECouncil5 #MNA #Strikes

Support the Minnesota Nurses!

Here in Minnesota, 12,000 nurses in six Twin Cities hospital systems have stood up to say “enough is enough” and have decided to go on strike. All workers and everyone who supports justice should do everything we can to help the nurses win this fight. The nurses need our solidarity — their victory will be a victory for all workers. Join the picket lines, come to the rallies, put up a yard sign, write a letter to the editor, and talk to your coworkers and neighbors.

What Are the Nurses Fighting For?

The hospital corporations that the workers are striking against — which made nearly $700 million in profits during 2009 — are trying to increase staffing ratios to make each nurse take care of more patients at a time. The nurses are fighting for lower staffing ratios, so that they doesn’t have to take care of too many patients at one time. National studies prove time and again that lower nurse-to-patient ratios are critical when it comes to patient safety and quality of care.

The nurses are also fighting to defend their pensions, so they can retire in dignity after a lifetime of caring for others. Twin Cities hospitals are proposing to slash the nurses' pension fund by one third, moving it back to 1968 economic levels.

Why are the hospital executives so bent on risking patient safety by increasing nurse staffing ratios, and why do they want to cut the nurses’ pensions? Do they think that will result in better care for patients and a better life for nurses? Obviously not.

The hospital corporation executives only care about one thing — making money. They want to make more and more money for themselves, even if it means worse care for patients and taking away nurses’ livelihoods. It’s unconscionable — making money at the expense of sick people and the nurses that care for them.

But the economy is in crisis. And when capitalism goes into crisis, all that matters to the rich is preserving and increasing their bottom line. The way they do that is to try to make the workers pay through layoffs, pay cuts, or making workers do more work in less time. One way or another, the capitalists always try to squeeze the workers harder when capitalism is in crisis. The only way to stop this is for workers to fight back.

Stand Up, Fight Back!

The nurses are standing up and fighting back against their bosses’ greed. They are declaring that the safety of their patients, and their ability to retire securely after a lifetime of serving the needs of others, is more important than profits. They are right, and everyone who supports justice should stand with them.

Most workers live paycheck to paycheck, so going on strike and going without pay indefinitely to take a stand is a big deal. In fact its heroic. By standing up together and going on strike, the nurses are setting an example for all workers. Around the country, and even around the world people are watching the nurses strike, seeing the power that workers have, and gaining inspiration to fight back. The fight of the nurses in the Minnesota Nurses Association is an example to all workers. Stand with the nurses. Solidarity forever!

#MinneapolisMN #strike #MinnesotaNursesAssociation #MNA #nurses

According to a statement from the MNA: “Despite MNA nurses significantly modifying their staffing and wage proposals, there was little progress made in today’s negotiations with the Twin Cities Hospitals.”

The statement continued: “Many of the employers’ concessions and take backs remain on the table. Despite the hospitals’ claim in a press statement (that was released as bargaining was still going on) that the proposed decrease in pension contributions was off the table, the fact is that it is contingent on a number of things: MNA nurses must accept all the take backs and concessions the hospitals are proposing, none of which address patient safety or staffing issues. The MNA membership must approve a contract with these concessions. The nurses must pull their 10-day strike notice. Only if all those things happen will the employers make a ‘recommendation’ to their pension bargaining team to keep the nurses’ pension as is.”

“The MNA bargaining teams felt that this proposal was unacceptable and rejected it but requested a return to the table on Wednesday. In fact, our nurses remain committed to meeting anytime, anywhere before July 6 in hopes we can reach a contract agreement and avoid a strike.”

Minnesota nurses walked off their jobs for a one-day strike on June 10. 12,000 nurses are poised to strike at 7:00 a.m. on July 6, in the largest nursing strike in the history of the United States.

#MinneapolisMN #strike #MinnesotaNursesAssociation #MNA #nurses

The MNA must give a ten day notice of intent to strike, with early July being the earliest a strike would begin.

“This is a vote we never wanted to take,” said Linda Hamilton, a registered nurse at Children’s Hospital and president of the Minnesota Nurses Association. “The hospitals forced us to this point by adamantly refusing to address even a single proposal related to patient safety over the past three months of negotiations. But Minnesota nurses will do whatever is necessary to protect our patients. We have been and continue to be united for our patients and safe staffing levels.”

In addition to appropriate staffing levels, the nurses are protesting the hospitals’ proposal to cut pensions by one-third. The hospitals are also trying to take away many other benefits that workers have fought for and earned over the years.

The nurses will be striking to maintain their hard-fought benefits and are challenging attempts by the hospital corporations to squeeze the workers while they continue to make huge profits.

After the June 10 one-day strike, the MNA reported that some Twin Cities hospitals illegally locked out nurses. The MNA filed Unfair Labor Practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board. Depending on the outcome of this charge, the strike authorized tonight could be based on that outcome, guaranteeing that none of the striking nurses could be permanently replaced.

#MinneapolisMN #strike #MinnesotaNursesAssociation #MNA #nurses

St. Paul, MN – On June 10, nurses from around the Twin Cities are ready to walk off their jobs in a one-day strike after nearly three months of contract negotiations. On May 19, over 90% of 9200 nurses voted overwhelmingly to reject the hospitals’ offer. While the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) continued to try to bargain in good faith, the hospitals refused to respond to even one proposal put forward by the nurses’ union.

The MNA cites one of the main issues for the strike as a need for adequate staffing to ensure patient safety. Minneapolis-Saint Paul nurses will be releasing compiled information in a press conference on June 8 to detail the level of understaffing taking place in Twin Cities hospitals and the danger it poses for patients.

The other main sticking point for the nurses is the proposal by the hospitals to cut the nurses’ pensions by one third. According to the MNA, the hospitals make more than $7 billion a year in revenue and the nurses’ pension costs are barely over 1% of the hospitals’ yearly revenue.

At the same time that Twin Cities hospitals are crying wolf over labor costs, they are preparing to ship in thousands of scab nurses, who will be paid from $1600 to $2200 a day. Twin Cities hospitals made nearly $700 million in profits during 2009. While tens of thousands of working people in Minnesota are suffering loss of jobs, loss of income and loss of their homes and life savings, the hospital corporations are clearly making huge profits. But like so many other greedy corporations, the hospitals are taking advantage of the economic crisis to shrink the pool of workers and increase the patient to staff ratio, therefore reducing labor costs and inflating their profit.

As one member of the MNA stated, “The Twin Cities hospitals have sent their message to our nurses loud and clear – they want to put profits ahead of patients. As nurses, we’re not okay with that. We want working conditions that ensure our patients receive the safest, highest-quality nursing care possible.”

Meanwhile, in California, 13,000 nurses are also planning to go out on strike on the same day as the Minnesota nurses. The MNA invites others to join in support of the nurses on the picket lines between 7:00 a.m. June 10 and 7:00 a.m. June 11. A support rally will be held on the eve of the strike – June 9 at 5:45pm at Saint Matthew’s Lutheran Church, 701 Lexington Pkwy, in Saint Paul.

#SaintPaulMN #strike #MinnesotaNursesAssociation #MNA #nurses