FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Shannon Cunningham
651-269-1418
Shannon.Cunningham@mnnurses.org
(Duluth, MN) – June 18, 2025 – In the final scheduled bargaining session before their contract expires, nurses at Aspirus St. Luke’s were met not with compromise, but with cuts. Instead of working toward solutions, hospital executives introduced an economic proposal loaded with rollbacks: limiting sick time, vacation, dental, and health coverage for two-thirds of acute care nurses. This also comes after weeks of Aspirus St. Luke’s criticizing nurses for failing to present their full economic proposal, despite not offering one of their own until now.
This last-minute move by Aspirus comes after two months of negotiations, where hospital leadership continually refused to engage nurses on their top concern: safe staffing levels. Last week, an Aspirus spokesperson flatly stated to local media, “Our position on ratios will not change.” Today, corporate hospital negotiators doubled down, suggesting nurses should pick up extra shifts to fill scheduling gaps themselves.
“Reducing benefits at the last minute is not only disrespectful, it’s dangerous. They’re offering less support and asking us to do more with it,” said Andrea Rubesch, an Oncology-Hospice nurse at St. Luke’s. “This proposal punishes overworked nurses for working the amount of hours they committed to when they were hired.”
Management relies on nurses to keep care running. Yet, Aspirus is already talking about bringing in replacement workers, instead of working with the local nurses who serve and live in this community. This shows a clear refusal to bargain in good faith.
What’s next?
In response to violations of federal labor law, nurses will vote June 23 to authorize a possible Unfair Labor Practice strike.
Despite the setback, MNA nurses are pushing to keep talks alive. They have agreed to add another bargaining session on Thursday, June 26, just days before the current contract expires on June 30.