A contract negotiator for the Minnesota Nurses Association has a feeling how Monday’s strike authorization vote will go.
“They’re effectively (saying) ‘do you think you’re going to strike?’ and ‘how long do you think we’ll be out for?’” said Rachel Anderson, who’s going through bargaining for the first time.
“We have that pent-up sensation, like, how much more can you expect us to take, right?” she said right before casting her own vote at Fairview Southdale in Edina.
Voting among more than 15,000 nurses lasts all day at the 13 Minnesota hospitals in the Twin Cities and Duluth.
That’s where nurses are impacted by the contract talks.
A super majority is needed to authorize a strike, with the results revealed on Tuesday.
Authorization of a walkout means the union’s next step is to determine when a strike can start.
That could happen at any time after a ten-day notice is given to hospital administrators.
The main issues are staffing and workplace safety.
“The two go hand-in-hand, if you want safer hospitals,” said Anderson. “The work we provide is manpower, and there’s no substitute for that.”
The contract now in effect between the MNA and hospitals was reached in late 2022, five days before a nurse’s strike was scheduled to start.
That came after a planned three-day strike that cost hospitals about $100 million to hire replacements and other daily care for patients.
More talks are scheduled for Wednesday.
Nurses in the Twin Cities are working without a contract and have met for negotiations since March, while talks in Duluth began in April
Hospital administrators say they will continue to bargain in good faith.
In a statement The Twin Cities Hospital Group says the following:
"Our hospitals have been committed to good faith bargaining throughout these talks. We’ve come prepared with reasonable proposals that improve patient care and wage proposals that keep our nurses among the highest paid in the country. Consider this: our unionized nurses received an 18 percent increase in their last three-year contract, and the nurses' initial wage was another 18 percent over three years during these talks. With this strike authorization vote, it is disappointing to see the union’s repeated efforts to disrupt, distract, and delay once again. We remain committed to these talks and to concluding this bargain.The Metropolitan Healthcare Partnership represents several hospital systems across Minnesota during the 2025 nurses’ union (MNA) contract negotiations. These include (in the Twin Cities area) Children’s Minnesota, Fairview Health Services, HealthPartners Methodist, North Memorial, and (in Duluth/Twin Ports) Aspirus St. Luke’s Hospital.Other hospital systems are also currently in contract talks with the nurses’ union, including (in the Twin Cities) Allina, and (in Duluth/Twin Ports) Essentia.Nurses’ union contracts for metro area hospitals expired on June 1, 2025, and contracts for Duluth/Twin Ports expire on July 1, 2025"