After 13 negotiation sessions, including 27 hours of bargaining in the last one (which ended Wednesday afternoon), the Minnesota Nurses Association and SMDC Health System reached a tentative contract agreement, averting a strike,the Duluth News Tribune reports.
"I'm kind of tired, but at the same time quite exhilarated about the end result," Steve Strand, an SMDC nurse and negotiator told the News Tribune.
More than 900 RNs will vote Friday on the three year contract, which their union is urging them to greenlight.
The boost in raises in the tentative contract is better than what their peers at St. Luke's Hospital and in the Twin Cities recently received. Instead of increases of 0 percent, 1 percent and 2 percent over three years--which the other nurses received--SMDC nurses will fare better in the second year with a 1 percent wage hike for the first six months and another 0.8 percent increase the rest of the year, should they vote in favor of the contract.
SMDC mediation went from 10 a.m. Tuesday until 1:30 p.m. Wednesday when agreement was reached, according to the News Tribune.
SMDC Health System, a member of Essentia Health, serves a regional population of 460,000 in northeastern Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
To learn more:
- read the Duluth News Tribune article
- here's the Minnesota Nurses Association blog about the agreement