15,000 nurses in the Twin Cities, Twin Ports, and Two Harbors voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to authorize a second unfair labor practices strike.
The vote came three months after nurses first voted to authorize a strike, which led to a three-day strike in September that took 15,000 nurses out of hospitals and onto picket lines.
Minnesota Nurses Association president Mary Turner, spoke as the vote was underway on Wednesday from the union's headquarters in St. Paul.
"Nurses have tried to make movement at the table to settle fair contracts for the nurses. We've lowered our wage ask. We're down to 20 percent. We've offered a new staffing proposal which would use key indicators for nurse and patient wellbeing to determine when our staffing levels need to be reviewed."
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So far, according to Turner, there has been no movement on either proposal.
"Hospital executives continue to say no on staffing and continue to say no on the biggest issue to improve care for patients and keep nurses at the bedside."
The union must give hospitals a 10-day notice before a strike and have warned about the impact a strike would have during the upcoming holidays.
Allina Health issued the following press release in response to the strike authorization vote:
We are deeply disappointed by Minnesota Nurse’s Association’s choice to issue a strike notice when our community is experiencing a triple threat of illnesses – influenza, RSV and COVID - and before they have exhausted all available options to reach agreement. Providing the necessary care for our community during this surge of seasonal illness, in addition to the many other health care needs of our patients, has put unprecedented stress on Minnesota’s health care system. To be clear, the union is deciding to further withdraw critical health care resources at a time when the community’s healthcare needs are high and at the risk of those who are depending on us for care.
MNA leadership continues to focus on disruption at the expense of spending meaningful time at the bargaining table. We have made some progress and believe we can reach agreement on the outstanding issues with focused negotiations. Allina Health has repeatedly asked the union to join us in employing a neutral, independent mediator to help us resolve our remaining differences. The use of a mediator is a regular part of collective bargaining and a proven method of reaching agreement as has happened with our previous successful negotiations.
Allina Health remains committed to reaching an agreement that reflects the valuable contributions of our nurses and will negotiate with the union again on Dec. 2. While we are hopeful a deal can be reached, we want to assure the public that we have plans in place to continue caring for our community with as few disruptions to care as possible.
We will work directly with patients on any necessary adjustments to ensure continuity of care and will provide regular updates to our patients and communities over the coming days. For more information, please visit allinahealth.org.
More is expected to be released at a 9 a.m. news conference on Thursday.