ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota nurses at 15 hospitals voted "overwhelmingly" to ratify new three-year contracts, according to the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA).
Around 15,000 nurses in the Twin Cities and Twin Ports area voted for contracts to address ongoing issues and unfair labor practices. Tentative agreements were reached a week earlier, which averted a strike originally planned for Dec. 11.
“With these contracts, the staffing levels set by our hospital executives will never get worse than they are today, as nurses won a new voice in the process and better protections to appeal for the safe staffing levels we need,” said Mary C. Turner, RN at North Memorial Hospital and President of the MNA, in a statement. “This is a historic victory for nurses and patients at the bedside, but our work is not done. Nurses will continue fighting to oppose the corporate healthcare policies that threaten our hospital systems and the care our patients deserve.”
The contracts include new language to address the issues and concerns being faced by nurses across the state like "chronic understaffing," according to a press release. The new contracts will give nurses more say in how staffing levels are set and will prevent future reductions in staffing without "consensus between nurses and management."
“It took nine months of negotiations for our hospital executives to understand that nurses would not back down in the fight for better care and working conditions in our hospitals,” said Chris Rubesch, RN at Essentia in Duluth and First Vice President of the MNA, in a statement. “These contracts are a critical step to address the chronic short-staffing and other corporate healthcare policies hurting patients and nurses at the bedside."
Nurses are also set to get a pay raise under the new contracts, with an 18% increase for nurses in the Twin Cities and a 17% increase for nurses in the Twin Ports. This wage increase is the largest won by the MNA in over 20 years.
MNA says that nurses will continue to fight against corporate health care mergers and are committed to reintroducing the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act at the Minnesota Legislature.
In response to questions surrounding ratification, M Health Fairview released a statement to KARE 11:
"We urge those with questions to take the time to learn more about our shared mission before rushing to judgment. We look forward to sharing our vision during conversations in the coming weeks with Minnesotans across our state."
The Twin Cities Hospital Group also released a statement to KARE 11 regarding the ratification:
The Twin Cities Hospitals Group is pleased Minnesota Nurses Association members ratified new three-year contracts. We believe the contracts are fair and meet the needs of our nurses, hospitals, and patients. The focus of each member of our care teams remain on caring for our patients and our communities.
Essentia Health released the following statement:
Essentia’s Twin Ports nurses represented by the MNA have ratified the tentative contract agreement reached last week. The three-year contract covers more than 1,300 registered nurses working at Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center, Essentia Health-Duluth and Essentia Health St. Mary’s Hospital-Superior.
We’re grateful to reach an agreement that ensures our nurses will continue to provide the expert, compassionate care that our patients expect and deserve from Essentia Health. We thank our colleagues and our communities for their support during this process.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities in our YouTube playlist: