MINNEAPOLIS — Union members and leaders with SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa have announced plans for a seven-day strike unless they are able to reach a contract agreement with Allina Health.
At an online press conference Thursday, union leaders announced May 15 as the start date for an unfair labor practices strike.
The union said there have been more than 90 bargaining sessions between the union and employers at Allina Health. Allina Health said that total includes sessions for all three bargaining units: senior mental health coordinators, lab, and occupational & physical therapists.
Legally, the union is required to give employers a 10-day notice before going on strike. Allina Health confirmed Thursday evening that they had received notice.
"Allina Health is frustrated by SEIU’s choice to threaten a strike, especially after progress at a bargaining table yesterday. Throughout negotiations, we have offered fair agreements that recognize the priorities of all parties and are bargaining in good faith to reach agreement on these first contracts," the hospital system said, in part, in a statement.
"These are workers that stepped up during the pandemic and deserve to be respected, protected and paid," said Brenda Hilbrich, SEIU Healthcare MN & IA executive vice president.
The main sticking points revolve around wages and PTO. According to the union, Allina Health's proposal would mean many experienced workers would not get raises for three years. Meanwhile, SEIU claims new hires with no experience are receiving 5% to 6% higher wages than people with the same jobs who worked through the pandemic.
"During this time, Allina also reduced our PTO accrual rate and our carryover which continues today and now they are pushing wage proposals that wouldn't even result in wages increases, especially for our most senior employees who deserve much more," said Alycia Garubanda, a speech language pathologist at Abbott Northwestern Hospital who is on one of the bargaining teams.
The union wants to see PTO restored to what it was before the pandemic. During the press conference, several Allina Health employees talked about worker shortages and burnout among staff.
"Allina Health is prepared to make the necessary adjustments to ensure we meet the community’s care needs for the duration of a potential work stoppage. To ensure care for our critical patients, some non-critical care such as routine tests may be delayed if there is a work stoppage."
Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Mercy and Unity Hospitals and Allina Central Lab would be included in the strike.
More than 500 workers (physical therapists, lab techs, senior mental health coordinators, and more) voted, with more than 95% supporting an unfair labor practice strike.
This potential strike comes more than a year after nurses in Minnesota declared a strike against employers over contract issues.
Read the full statement from Allina Health below:
Allina Health is frustrated by SEIU’s choice to file a 10-day strike notice, especially after progress at a bargaining table yesterday. Throughout negotiations, we have offered fair agreements that recognize the priorities of all parties and are bargaining in good faith to reach agreement on these first contracts. Allina Health is prepared to make the necessary adjustments to ensure we meet the community’s care needs for the duration of a potential work stoppage. To ensure care for our critical patients, some non-critical care such as routine tests may be delayed if there is a work stoppage. Patients would be contacted directly if there is any change in their appointments.
We are seeing unions become increasingly comfortable withholding care through strikes to achieve their agenda, despite the significant risk to the community. This trend is concerning, especially when the stakes for care to our patients are extremely high. Strikes don’t benefit anyone and divert our limited charitable resources away from our mission to serve our community.
Allina Health is grateful for all members of our care teams. We are hopeful we can bring these negotiations to resolution in a manner that recognizes the contributions of our employees and is fiscally responsible for the organization so that we can be a sustainable asset for the community.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist:
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
- Add KARE 11+ on Roku here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Roku Channel Store.
- Add KARE 11+ on Fire TV here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Amazon App Store.
- Learn more about the KARE 11+ app for Apple TV in the Apple App Store.
- Learn more about KARE 11+ here.