Almost 5,000 nurses at five Allina Health hospitals in the Twin Cities voted Thursday to authorize an indefinite strike.
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The Minnesota Nurses Association says 4,800 nurses voted overwhelmingly against the contract and authorized the union’s negotiating committee to call a strike.
The disagreement is over a change in the nurses healthcare plan.
– The stage is again set for Allina Health Nurses to go on strike, but unlike their 7-day strike in June – this strike would be open ended. “They are prepared, and the communications that they’ve had with Allina since the last strike have only made the nurses more angry and more resolved to fight for a fair contract”, Angela Becchetti, a Registered Nurse at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, said in a news release.
Other hospitals that would be affected by a strike are United in St. Paul, Unity in Fridley, Mercy in Coon Rapids, and Phillips Eye Institute in Minneapolis.
The main sticking points are health care benefits and work place safety improvements.
Part of the dispute is over health care plans. Nurses say that plan isn’t as good as their current healthcare coverage.
The union’s leadership had endorsed the authorization of the strike.
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Allina’s response to the strike authorization vote wasn’t immediately available. It has higher deductibles, but Allina says it would save $10 million a year.
