Minnesota nurses have begun a three-day strike this morning after failing over the weekend to reach an agreement on a new contract.
The walkout is considered the largest private-sector nursing strike in U-S history, involving thousands of nurses in the Twin Cities and Duluth. President of the Minnesota Nurses Association Mary Turner telling News Talk 830 WCCO's Jason DeRusha it's a last resort over their continued safety and staffing deficiencies that she says have become unbearable.
"These are issues and these are concerns that are driving the young nurses away from the bedside."
While many strikes happen because employees aren't happy with their compensation plan, Turner says money is not the driving issue with the nurses strike.
"We have over 100,000 nurses in Minnesota and we have lots and lots of nurses who would come back to the bedside if working conditions were better."
Jenny Engle, a nurse who is on the picket line on Monday morning says that the nurses union is in a good position.
"I think we have the power right now. Across the country, the pandemic really did do a number on health care itself. I know that these hospitals made lots of money during the pandemic and it was off of our backs."
Local hospitals have hired temporary replacement nurses to help fill the gap. The three-day walkout is scheduled to end Thursday morning.