They’re all part of Minneapolis-based Allina Health – Abbott Northwestern and the Phillips Eye Institute in Minneapolis, United in St. Paul, Unity in Fridley and Mercy in Coon Rapids.
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Allina officials disagreed, noting that the offer to preserve two union health plans was a concession and that the health system met the union’s demands on workplace safety and staffing and offered $500 bonuses.
The Minnesota Nurses Association says nurses will go on strike at five Twin Cities hospitals after contract talks broke down.
Allina says it plans to operate the affected hospitals at normal capacity with around 1,500 temporary nurses.
That mirrors a national trend toward shifting costs on to employees with higher deductibles and patients picking up more out-of-pocket costs. That’s why Allina officials want nurses to switch to corporate plans. But union says Allina still wants to shift too many costs onto nurses without adequately compensating them.
“We should be at a Labor Day picnic, and here we are at a Labor Day picket instead”, MNA executive director Rose Roach said at a Monday news conference outside Abbot Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. Allina CEO Dr. Penny Wheeler says the hospitals will continue to deliver high-quality care. The union disputes that. Kanihan references this group, saying “Significantly about 50 percent of those nurses we’re bringing in this time are the same nurses that were here for the strike in June, so they already have some experience and familiarity with our facilities”.
The previous walkout cost Allina $20 million in temporary labor costs.
Gov. Mark Dayton’s office said in a statement released Friday that he has tried to encourage that both sides come to a deal by talking to leaders, who have engaged in negotiations throughout seven months.
The strike comes after the Minnesota Nurses Association and Allina couldn’t reach a compromise this weekend after 22 hours of negotiations.
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Before Allina can impose its most recent contract offer, it must satisfy a federal requirement that it first negotiate in “good faith”. The union also says the plans eventually would become so expensive that the nurses would have to drop out and the plans would die.
