Updated Sept. 12, 10:30 a.m.
Fifteen-thousand Minnesota nurses across the Twin Cities area joined picket lines at 16 hospitals this morning, kicking off a three-day strike described by their union as the "largest private-sector nurses' strike in U.S. history."
Nurses and hospitals have been in negotiations for over five months over issues of pay, short staffing, retention and care quality, according to Minnesota Nurses Association, a National Nurses United affiliate. Nurses have been working without a contract since May 31.
The affected hospitals and health systems include: Allina Health, Essentia Duluth, Health Partners, M Health Fairview, North Memorial Health, St. Luke's Duluth and Children's Minnesota.
The nurses' current demands include a 27% to 30% increase in wages over three years, leaders of the union as well as Twin Cities Hospitals Group, which represents several of the affected organizations, said Sunday.
Hospitals have returned with a proposal of 10% to 12% increase over three years alongside other step increases, saying that the union's demands are "not economically feasible or responsible to our community members who would ultimately pay the price."
Twin Cities Hospitals Group also noted that the union has "steadfastly" rejected requests for mediation. Other spokespeople for the affected hospitals told press that the union's decision to strike before exhausting mediation and other potential options harms their patient communities.
Minnesota Nurses Association said the hospitals and health systems are prioritizing profits and executive compensation. The group has published a website detailing the compensation of each health system's leadership, quality performances and spending decisions.
Essentia Health and Allina Health have released statements saying they have made staffing adjustments and plan to remain open during the demonstrations.
The Minnesota Nurses Association announced Aug. 16 that its members had voted “overwhelmingly” to authorize the strikes upon delivery of a 10-day notice to their hospital employers, which are located in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and Saint Paul) and Twin Ports (Duluth and Superior).
The Twin Cities have been working without contracts since May 31 while Twin Ports workers’ contracts expired June 30, according to the union.
Nurses said the core of their negotiations focused on short staffing and retention, which they said are driving overworked nurses from the profession and damaging patient care.
“Corporate healthcare policies in our hospitals have left nurses understaffed and overworked, while patients are overcharged, local hospitals and services are closed, and executives take home million-dollar paychecks,” said Chris Rubesch, a registered nurse at Essentia in Duluth and first vice president of the Minnesota Nurses Association, in a statement from the union. “Nurses have one priority in our hospitals, to take care of our patients, and we are determined to fight for fair contracts so nurses can stay at the bedside to provide the quality care our patients deserve.”
Twin Cities Hospitals Group—which represents Fairview Health Services, Children’s Minnesota, North Memorial Health and HealthPartners’ Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital, all of which are subject to strikes—said in an Aug. 15 update that the union has rejected requests for mediation.
So far, the parties have reached “tentative agreements” on matters of workplace safety, diversity and equity but remain apart on economic issues, according to the group.
For instance, the hospitals say they’ve proposed wage increases exceeding their initial offers but that the nurses’ current demands of more than 30% wage increases over three years “are not economically feasible or responsible to our community members who would ultimately pay the price.”
Additionally, wage/hour/shift differences sought by the union “would increase differential costs by more than triple the current rates in some cases,” the hospitals wrote, while staffing proposals “would make managing care volumes at individual hospitals harder to staff according to changing patient care needs.”
The nurses’ union said in its announcement that hospital CEOs “have refused to address” short staffing, retention and patient care and instead “insisted on focusing on wages.” The union said its nurses have been offered “just 4% in average annual wage increases.”
In June, the union’s members held an informational picket across the 15 hospitals and have since launched a “Tell hospital CEOs to put patients before profits” ad campaign.
No specific dates for the strikes have yet been announced. Demonstrations could also be called off should a deal be struck.