Minnesota nurses union goes after former members who worked during strike

Three nurses filed a complaint against the Minnesota Nurses Association Wednesday with the National Labor Relations Board, according to the Star Tribune. All three, who work at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, say they received letters from the MNA saying they may be subject to reprimand, censure or expulsion, although they had already quit the union before a 24-hour walkout by 12,000 nurses in order to work behind the picket lines on June 10.

Is it possible the union just didn't have its act together? Perhaps. Since the July 1 settlement that came at the end of contentious contract negotiations, MNA sent letters to 77 nurses for working behind the picket line, spokesman John Nemo told the Star Tribune. "A handful" of letters, he said, were mistakenly sent to those who had quit the union. About 220 left the union before the strike.

"It was not the MNA's intent to send any of these letters to non-MNA or non-union nurses, and we apologize if in fact that did occur," he said.

The MNA issued a statement Thursday saying that data entry errors led a few letters to be mistakenly sent to a few of the 77 nurses who had in fact resigned their membership before June 10, KARE11.com reports.

Glenn Taubman, a lawyer with the National Right to Work Foundation, which is giving the nurses free legal advice, sees it differently. The union is blatantly trying to harass or intimidate nurses "who wouldn't toe the line," he told the Star Tribune. Because they resigned before the strike, the union has no power to fire, discipline, or bring charges against them.

To learn more:
- see the Star Tribune story
- read the Minnesota Public Radio account
- check KARE11.com's story

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